Wi-Fi Calling functionality has been spreading through the major US carriers in recent years, with T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T all offering the feature. Now Verizon has announced that it, too, will launch Wi-Fi Calling.
Verizon will launch Wi-Fi Calling on December 8, with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge being the first two devices to support the feature. Wi-Fi Calling will be enabled through software updates. Verizon says that it will add Wi-Fi Calling support to other Android and iOS devices in early 2016.
Verizon’s Wi-Fi Calling will be part of its Advanced Calling functionality, which also includes Voice over LTE. Once your Verizon phone gains Wi-Fi Calling support, you’ll need to enabled Advanced Calling in your phone’s settings. Once it’s on, Verizon says that you’ll be able to transfer from an Advanced Calling phone call on 4G LTE to a known hotspot without skipping a beat.
Wi-Fi Calling is a great feature to have because it enables you to conduct calls when you don’t have a strong cellular connection, so long as you’re connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot. While Verizon often touts the strength of its network, there are some places that no cell signal can reach, which is where Wi-Fi Calling would come in handy.
As for the question of which other Verizon devices will get Wi-Fi Calling support, we’ll just have to wait and see. There are quite a few Android and iOS phones that already support Verizon’s Advanced Calling functionality, though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if many of those same devices gained Wi-Fi Calling, too.
