Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has confirmed that currently Hangouts only supports inbound calls on the web and via the Chrome extension, and support for outbound calls is coming ‘soon.’
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), at it’s I/O developer conference on Wednesday introduced the new Hangouts, Google’s unified messaging application, and since then, the application is also available on Android and iOS. Users can also enable the new Hangouts on Gmail, for those who are eager to try out Google’s new offering.
Singhal Confirms Google Voice Support Is On Its Way
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s product manager Nikhyl Singhal has confirmed on Google+ that Google Voice support is on its way to Hangouts. Singhal didn’t mention any specifics on when the functionality would be making its way to Hangouts, but at least he answered a question that many users were asking.
“Hangouts is designed to be the future of Google Voice, and making/receiving phone calls is just the beginning,” Singhal noted. “Future versions of Hangouts will integrate Google Voice more seamlessly.”
Additionally, Singhal said that “Today’s version of Hangouts doesn’t yet support outbound calls on the web and in the Chrome extension, but we do support inbound calls to your Google Voice number.” They are working on supporting both – outbound/inbound calls on Hangouts and in the meantime, you can continue to use Google Talk in Gmail.
For those who want to use Google Voice, they can always revert back to old Chat system by clicking on your photo and then clicking on “Revert to old chat.” Fortunately, this method still works for those who are missing Google Voice.
It seems that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has some really big plans for Hangouts. Last week Dori Storbeck, Google+ community manager of Hangouts and Chat confirmed that SMS integration to Hangouts is coming soon. Currently, Hangouts covers the full spectrum of Google, replacing Google Talk and extending itself across all services. Also the Android and iOS apps allow users to communicate with each other across different platforms, without worrying what type of message to use, or whatever device the recipient may own.
