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AND 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ... VOICE CALLS(Observer (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) 1 Are landlines dying out? Don't believe grand claims that everyone now uses a mobile phone rather than a landline. According to communications regulator Ofcom, 64% of British adults used a landline to make voice calls this year compared with 45% using smartphones. On average, we spend 29 minutes a day making voice calls, with 19 minutes of that on landlines. 2 But they may already be dead for young people However, Ofcom's figures make notably different reading when you look just at younger people. Its 2014 survey found that only 28% of 16- to 24-year-olds use a landline phone compared with 64% of all adults; 94% of this age group say their mobile is the main way they make and receive calls. 3 Messaging apps roll out voice calling This doesn't necessarily mean that people won't be talking to one another - just that they won't be doing it through traditional systems. WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging app with more than 600 million users, is expected to introduce voice calls soon, after its plans leaked as part of an update to its iOS app. 4 Traditional firms focus more on video WhatsApp getting into voice is a big challenge for companies such as Skype, which started as a voice-over-IP service (VoIP) but nowadays is equally as much about video. The quality of its video calls has improved steadily, while its recently launched Skype Qik app focuses on video messaging. 5 Apple and Google get involved Apple and Google have arguably done more than anyone to reduce the need for traditional voice calls. But they are also providing their own methods: FaceTime Audio on Apple devices; and Google's Hangouts app, which now integrates the company's Google Voice VoIP service. 6 Encrypted voice calls for more security The last year's revelations about government surveillance are spurring a flurry of activity around encryption for mobile data, but also for voice. Apps like Signal, its maker Whisper Systems and companies like Silent Circle and Cellcrypt are working hard on the necessary technology to secure voice calls. 7 Danger danger! High VoLTE-age! Whatever the app or service, many more voice calls will be transmitted over mobile data networks in the coming years. Enter VoLTE - Voice over LTE - which routes regular mobile calls over operators' data networks rather than voice networks. Apple's iPhone 6 smartphones support the technology already. 8 HD Voice makes a noise Even as VoLTE makes its appearance, mobile operators are still trying to make a feature of traditional voice calls, including several in the UK. The "HD Voice" tech offered by the likes of Vodafone, Three and EE promises "crystal-clear" calls that also filter out more background noise. 9 Live translation is on the way Skype's greater focus on video does not mean a lack of innovation around voice. In May, the company showed off a new feature called Skype Translator, which will translate calls as they happen, initially between English and German. It's due to launch in beta by the end of this year. 10 Talking to robots Where video could have helped. There was controversy last December over US health insurance cold-caller "Samantha West". Recipients of calls claimed she was a robot not a human. It emerged that West was a computer program operated remotely by telemarketers: she could even deflect questions about whether she was a robot by claiming to be human. Stuart Dredge (c) 2014 Guardian Newspapers Limited. |