Virgin Media's SmartCall app lets you make WiFi calls with landline minutes
Those of you with long memories will recall that Virgin Media announced a WiFi calling platform way back in November 2012. Nearly a year later, and the company is finally offering the system to Android and iOS users. Virgin Media SmartCall is an app that lets you make calls while roaming and charge them to your home package,cutting the cost of getting in touch with your nearest and dearest. It'll also let you make international calls through the app, and you'll be charged as if you were making the call from your domicile. Either way, nice to know that someone's looking after your wallet in these straightened times, eh?
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Make a SmartCall with Virgin Media and set your home phone free
Virgin Media, the UK's leading communications and entertainment company, has made SmartCall, the no strings-attached free WiFi calling service available to its home phone customers allowing them to use the inclusive calls from their Virgin Media home phone talk plan on their smartphones.
Whether you are using your mobile to make a SmartCall from home, a beach in Greece or on your friend's WiFi, SmartCall can save you money. The new app will give smartphone users the freedom to use their inclusive home phone calls over WiFi, regardless of where they are in the world and which mobile operator they use.
The intuitive app detects whether a SmartCall is possible and if the call is included in the user's home phone talk plan. When used abroad the app will detect which time zone you are in and whether it is still free to make a call within your call plan. As it only works over a WiFi connection and not over 3G or 4G, you can only make a SmartCall when it's free so there are no surprise bills.
Alex Perrin, director of home phone and convergence at Virgin Media said: "SmartCall is the smart way for our home phone customers to save money on their mobile bill. SmartCall will deliver what our customers have told us they want - an easy to use app with no surprise bills and genuinely free calls. With more people adding Virgin Media home phones to their bundles, we want to help customers save money and set their landline minutes free."
SmartCallers can save money on calls to landlines, mobiles, 0845/70 numbers, directory enquiries, when roaming, or even when they don't want to use up minutes or credit on their mobile bill. What's more the app can even come to the rescue when you have no mobile signal, allowing calls to be made over WiFi instead.
The savings SmartCallers could make include:
Up to £25 a year when calling 0845 and 0870 numbers from a mobile phone
£3 per call to 118 directory enquiries by accessing Virgin Media directory enquiries from your mobile2
£24 on roaming costs when in Europe £108 from the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and £180 from the rest of the world3
A PAYG SmartCallers could save up to £75 a year on top ups4
SmartCall is just one of the ways that Virgin Media is helping customers make savings on their total communications and entertainment bill. The latest tariffs include big call allowances and free phone insurance, alongside super fast broadband services, proven to be 30% faster than competitors with the new Superhub router.5
SmartCall will be available to download in the UK on the 29th October for Android phones (version 2.3 and above) and iPhones (version i0S 5 and above).
