Facebook has finally started rolling-out its Messenger voice-calling feature to other nations, with the service now available in India. The company quietly updated the Messenger service over the weekend to bring the functionality, which was
first introduced in the US and Canada in January last year.
Thevoice calling service in India is available via
Facebook Messenger for Android and iOS. The voice-calling service will let users call their Facebook contacts for free, using either mobile data or Wi-Fi, similar to other VoIP services.
Within the Facebook Messenger Android app, users can initiate a voice call by selecting a friend, tapping the menu option, and selecting the "Free Call" option. Within the iOS app, users can initiate a voice call by selecting a friend from their conversation list and tapping the three dots (or "i" icon if you have an older version) in the upper right hand corner, which reveals a "Call" option.
That said, users won't receive a normal phone call. Instead they'll receive a push notification on their screens with the caller's name. Also, users can only connect with a conversation partner who also has Facebook Messenger for Android installed on their phone.
Users cannot ring up a Facebook friend who is logged in through the website, and mobile or landline numbers cannot be dialled.
Earlier this month, Facebook
finally introduced its Messenger app for the Windows Phone platform, specifically Windows Phone 8. The Facebook Messenger app for Windows 8 notably doesn't support a few features available for other platforms, such as voice messaging, and chat heads.
In late February, the company
announced the closure of its Facebook Messenger service for Windows and Firefox platforms.