Tu Go

[bilko2]

Is Vodafone going to do anything like O2's Tu Go?

IE being able to make and recieve calls to my vodafone number over WiFi

Bill

[dcarmi]

I too think this could be useful.

[SteveTomalin]

Hi Ben,

I saw this O2 facility advertised on the tube yesterday, which immnediately caught my interest.  This is something I have wanted mobile providers to offer, for a long time.  I quite often find myself in situations where I have WiFi but no Vodafone signal.  Being able to receive calls on your regular mobile number over a WiFi connection would be really beneficial. Granted, when in this situation I can periodically check voicemail remotely, using another phone or by using up Skype credit, for example (albeit somewhat of a pain), but if people are sending you txts to your mobile number, whilst the phone is in an out-of-signal location, I don't believe there is currently any way to check for txts online.  Add me to the list of people very interested, please.

Kind regards,

Steve

[diztig]

Fortunately, something even better is around the corner:

http://blog.vodafone.co.uk/2014/08/06/voice-over-4g/

'Voice over 4G' or VoLTE is basically just Voice over IP (VoIP), which means that in theory, when Vodafone implement the above, any data carrier such as 4G or WiFi should be able to carry our calls and texts too.

The beauty of this method over something like TuGo is that it should be seamless and with no separate App required eg if you move into a building where your phone loses the Vodafone signal but picks up WiFi, you'll continue to makes & receive calls and texts without having to do anything differently.

[dsw76]

Thanks for the link - interesting stuff. However there's no mention of Wifi and I can see VF using Vo4G as another incentive to encourage people onto 4G plans. In theory Wifi is just another data carrier, but it's completely different for the purposes of this technique since enabling Wifi on your handset doesn't initiate a connection to the mobile network.

[diztig]

@dsw76 You make a good point that VoLTE doesn't immediately mean calling/sms over WiFi, but as the technologies are closely related, I would be very surprised if Vodafone aren't looking at this as part of the project (not that they'll tell us either-way :smileyindifferent:).

The seamless calling/sms over WiFi is a capability built-in to the handset, and the carrier has to support it. EE (unsurprisingly) are already on the ball with this and an imminent launch:  (Removed according to House Rules)

Of course, if Vodafone offered this functionality, it would render SureSignal (SS) redundant for anyone with a compatible handset, which might hurt VF's current strategy if they look to this as a SS competitor rather than a complimentary technology.

Time will tell, I guess.

[dsw76]

Really interesting link to EE - thanks It seems like they're really focusing on this area which is great to see and actually makes me think about switching for the first time since 1997!

I'd like to know more about the supported handsets though as from what I can see it relies on some pre-installed software rather than being part of the 4G/LTE standard.

Vodafone really need to get their act together as EE will have it available in the autumn.

[SteveTomalin]

Hi Diztig,

I followed the link provided and read the blog (plus some other related sources on this topic) and I don't see any mention of Vodafone mobile phone numbers/calls/texts being supported over WiFi network connections.  As the name suggests, Voice over 4G or VoLTE appears to rely on the presence of a 4G signal and what you are suggesting seems to be purely theorectical, at this point.

Tu Go is available from O2 now!  Even if you're right about what you are saying, how far are Vodafone off from seamlessly delivering their service over both 4G and WiFi?  Seems to me that the sensible move would be for Vodafone to roll out a 'Tu Go' equivalent ASAP, as a stop gap solution to whatever bigger things they may have up their sleeve for the future.  They could lose a lot of customers in the meantime, if they don't!  I'm tempted to walk myself, particularly as O2 now offer an equivalent to the Sure Signal box (upon which I currently rely at home) as well as the new Tu Go app.  If we are talking about "in theory", Tu Go eliminates the need for Femtocell technology in any case!

Sorry if I appear to be disagreeing with you. I can see what you are getting at, but I think it is likely to be a long way off.

Kind regards,

Steve

[diztig]

Apologies if I've inadvertently upset/antagonised anyone - I just thought information about this particular technology would be of interest to subscribers of this thread, as if implemented by Vodafone, it achieves the objective of being able to make & receive your Vodafone calls and texts over WiFi (like TuGo) but without the need for any separate app or hardware, so a much simpler and more seamless experience for us customers.
If Vodafone are not already investing resources into TuGo or an equivalent, then for the reasons cited above, it's my personal preference that they start investing resources into launching WiFi calling if they're not already doing so alongside their VoLTE trials.I guess it's an evolutionary thing... First, it was "signal from a mast, or nothing". Second (currently), we have the work-arounds of 'Sure Signal' as a hardware workaround or 'TuGo' as a software workaround. Third (finally?) we'll have the seamless solution where calls/texts "just work" whenever you have some sort of signal, be it 2G/3G/4G/WiFi.

[ewanrw]

You do realise that Orange have supported calls/text over WiFi via UMA enabled handsets for several years?

Most Android devices also have the ability built in, but it needs to be supported by the network in order to connect the call. The good news is Apple are building the ability into iOS8, and they'll probably force the networks to support it, so expect it to be available soon (without a poor performing app as the interface).

ewan

[diztig]

@ewanrw - Yes, I've used - well - TRIED to use UMA on a BlackBerry with Orange/EE, but found it incredibly hit and miss. Calls eventually dial-out, but if anyone calls me, it goes straight to voicemail, so if I'm working from home, I have to divert my corporate EE phone to my personal Vodafone which has full signal across all of the Gs 😄

That's a great bit of info that iOS 8 is going support a form of WiFi calling! Really pleased to hear that. Any idea whether that's also UMA, or something else? Whichever it is, I just hope that if/when Vodafone start supporting it, the experience is far better than EE's past effort with UMA on BlackBerry 😕