The Future of Calling: VoWi-Fi

As the title suggests that the future of calling is VoWi-Fi or as Voice over wireless LAN or Wi-Fi calling. It is a term that is been described to make calls with the help of WiFi. Till now the calling facility is been conducted through electric signals. These signals are transmitted through the microphone of the handset and then the radio waves travel through the speed of light. Thus it reaches to the base of another phone recipients. But now technology is getting more advanced and now it is conducted through Wi-Fi. The concept of VoWiFi is brand new in all countries. The voice-over Wi-Fi also is known as VoWi-Fi & it permits subscribers to call with their smartphone, the only aspect is the handset should support the VoWi-Fi technology.

If your smartphone is connected to a Wi-Fi network then you can pretty easily make a Wifi call. Otherwise, this service is not possible to use. The benefit of this service is that you can connect to another person more effectively and the voice reception will be crystal clear. In India, the technology is been introduced by Airtel and Jio. This service is only available in Delhi-NCR region and Chennai. In this era, there is a major issue regarding the calling facility all around the globe. In normal or VoLTE calls the call drop incident is very common, for most of the time call drop happens. Due to this issue, the caller needs to call re-connect the phone several times. Thus seeing such issue service provider is launching this new technology for their user base.

Understanding The VoWi-Fi

Nowadays the cellular call quality is not that good, even with the introduction of 3G, the call quality is improved but not that much. Earlier the calling was base on wireless technology, radio waves transmitted through towers etc. However, after the introduction of VoLTE, it was improved and now the calls are been transferred in the form of data. In this data format, the internet connection was used & data was consumed. Hence the call quality was not getting improved so the cellular companies introduce the new technology that is the VoWiFi. The Voice-over WiFi aka WiFi calling, is a format in which the calls are been transferred or transmitted in the data format. Thus the data format is been shipped with the help of your WiFi connection. This means that to start a VoWi-Fi call your smartphone should be connected to a WiFi network.

In the voice-over WiFi, the calls are made very clear and no issues are found regarding call drop or poor connection. Now some users are confused regarding the data consumption, the data consumption is very less. There is a rumour spread across that a decent amount of data will be consumed while making a call. But the fact is, a nominal amount of data will be consumed. Yes, it is true that if your smartphone is not connected to a Wi-Fi network and your Wi-Fi doesn’t have any amount of data left then the calling may not be possible. However, there is a decent amount of benefits for the consumers. It is not globally launched but it is been rolled out in some places. VoWLAN can also be conducted over an Internet-accessible device, such as a laptop. Just like for IP-DECT, the VoWLAN’s main advantages to consumers are cheaper local and international calls, free calls to other VoWLAN subscriber. Even the call quality is never dropped and it’s very clear and plain.

Also read: Real Me Buds Air With 17 Hours Battery Time Launched

Benefits of VoWi-Fi

One of the most beneficial aspects for a user is that when a call is made and it connects instantly with amazing call quality without any call drop. Now these all benefits can be enjoyed by a user. The VoWi-Fi uses IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs to carry VoIP traffic. Some of the crucial benefits of VoWi-Fi are as follows:

• Crystal Clear Call Quality

VoWi-Fi is a technology that enables every user to make proper outgoing calls. Even when there is poor cellular connectivity the calls will not get affected. This is because the connection that is been used is WiFi not a cellular tower. First of all, it is designed primarily for the users so that they can enjoy lag-free call quality.

However, it uses a strong Wi-Fi connection to make a call, and use the internet as a medium to transmit the calls. One of the best things is that if you are running short on balance then also you can make a call. Basically it uses your internet data to complete a call. However, the only requirement is that you should have a smartphone that has VoWifi enabled.

• Obtain Good Indoor Coverage

One of the most irritating thing with these regular cellulars providers is they don’t provide a seamless connection. Their connection is very inappropriate, users face many call drops and call recipients quality is also not up to the mark. Thus after the implementation of this new technology a new era of WiFi calling will start. As with this VoWiFi the coverage will always be in full swing.

This is because the call transmission is possible through internet data. Actually it uses IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs based networks to deliver Voice over IP (VoIP) calls. If to be explained in simple words, through this technology, you will allow making normal calls using Wi-Fi.  Even if you are running low on network signals or on balance. The technology is now available on Airtel and Jio networks in India with the latest Android and iOS smartphones.

Also read: Essential Latest Smart Home Devices For Your Day to Day Life

• Network Security & Operator Deployment

When talked about the security aspect, the VoWiFi is packed with all kinds of security protocol. A user doesn’t need to worry about the security sections. As it takes direct access to the network, so the quality a user will obtain is also of high quality. Basically there are two main options for the deployment of VoWi-Fi in a mobile network. So the most commonly used deployment process is by using the IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) core to integrate with the WiFi radio network via an ePDG access gateway. However, another process is by utilizing IR.92 best-effort VoIP technology from the RCS specifications. Therefore an RCS (Rich Communication Services) platform is used to enable the VoWi-Fi service in the mobile network.

Is It Different From VoLTE?

Yes, it is totally different from VoLTE setup. A regular VoLTE or Voice over LTE was a step up from regular 2G network-based calls. It uses 4G or LTE networks instead of 2G networks to make voice calls. Hence VoLTE never works on a 2G or 3G network. This is the speciality of the VoLTE network that it only operates on its own 4G network.

This enables high-quality voice calls and also makes sure that the user can even use the internet on a smartphone. Since the VoLTE network still requires you to stay connected to a mobile network, VoWi-Fi will help you make calls even without one as it uses a Wi-Fi internet connection for calling.

Steps To Enable VoWi-Fi on Your Android or iOS Device

• Open the Settings app of your Android or iOS smartphones.
• On iPhone, tap on the Mobile Data > Wi-Fi calling and press the enable button.
• The processes on Android can differ from phone to phone. However, on most of the smartphones, it will be under SIM cards and Mobile Networks setting inside the SIM settings page.
• As soon as you enable it, a new icon will start to appear.

Compatible Handsets

Here is the list of smartphones that are compatible with the VoWi-Fi features:

1. iPhone XR
2. iPhone 6s (All variants)
3. iPhone 7 (All variants)
4. iPhone SE
5. iPhone 8 & 8 Plus
6. iPhone X (All variants)
7. iPhone 11, 11 Pro
8. One Plus 6, 6T, 7 (All variants)
9. Xiaomi POCO F1
10. Redmi K20, Pro
11. Redmi 7A
12. Redmi Note 7 Pro
13. Redmi Y3
14. Samsung Note 10 & 10 Plus