When will Vodafone support SMS over Wifi Calling?

[m1kegibson]

When will Vodafone come out of the dark ages and finally implement SMS over wifi calling?

Given Wifi Calling spec (voWIFI/GAN/UMA) incorporates SMS (and MMS) support, why is Vodafone's implementation limited to voice calls only - did they buy cheap kit off the back of a lorry perhaps?

[pobpob]

I am getting conflicting info from VF customer phone help.

I am told SMS on WiFiCalling is supported on iPhone 6s upwards.

Then I am told VF has not yet enabled sms over WiFiCalling.

I have also been told, incorrectly, that SureSignal is not being ceased in March, merely that VF is not supporting it.  

So it appears many VF staff don't know the situation.

Has anyone managed to use SMS over wifiCalling on an iPhone 6s or above on Vodafone?

[luffviolin]

Hi there. This is not the first time Vf do not have answers. Here is a fact or two. Vf are ALREADY enabling SMS (texts only) and I have used it on a Samsung S10 and others have on S20. They are NOT yet enabling MMS (picture texts) but may do so in the future They have already said they will give 90 days notice of Sure Signal deactivation. In the present Covid situation, they may well decide to extend the life of Sure Signal.  We don't know. They are waiting for planning permission for 'shared masts' to cover signal not-spots with several providers sharing but will not announce where the various networks will site these until planning permission is obtained. Oh how I wish they would provide more information.

[pobpob]

Can you confirm that SMS is supported over WiFiCalling?  Thanks

[luffviolin]

Yes SMS is working over Wi-Fi. There are also reports that iPhone users can do SMS over Wi-Fi depending on their operating system. I only know about Android and that is Android 11. I have unplugged Sure Signal to test SMS on my phone and it is now only a few seconds to get a bank, PayPal or Amazon text to verify the account. iPhone users should be similar, so unplug Sure Signal and test it. There are posts in this very long thread about iPhone over Wi-Fi.

[Beth]

Hi @pobpob, I can confirm SMS is available over Wi-Fi Calling. For more information on this and getting this set up please click here.

[Torridon1]

Thanks @Beth but I have a Samsung A40, which does wifi calling, but when will this get SMS over wifi?

[luffviolin]

The A40 update to Android 11 is scheduled for April according to the Samsung web site. They ARE getting round to this and the S10 was updated at the end of January, for example.

[luffviolin]

Torridon1  - PS don't confuse Samsung with Vodafone, easily done. It is Samsung who will roll out the update. Vodafone is already doing SMS over Wifi-Calling for those phones with Android 11.

[Enlli]

Does it even need Android 11? Both WiFi Calling and VoLTE are working fine on my wife's S9 running android 10

[Enlli]

Should have said including SMS