Now make free calls India or International using Viber app

VOIP is the 'in thing' today and is also considered to be a cost effective technology. With millions of us building our connections worldwide, VOIP has become a boon to us. Voice over internet protocol is one among the family of communication technologies. Skype is one popular name that you will relate VOIP to. The technology first made its debut on PC's and has now moved on to iPhones and Smartphones. Well it is said that the future of communications will be completely on VOIP. 

'Viber' is one such VOIP application which is very popular in iPhones. Viber is an iPhone application that lets you make free phone calls and send free text messages to other iPhone users that have Viber installed. Viber and all Viber features are absolutely free and do not require any additional 'in application' purchase. Once you and your friends install the free Viber application, you can use it to talk and also text as much as you want. Just make sure that your friends have Viber. It doesn't matter where you or your friends are, be it on the same network or in a totally different country. You can talk for as much as you want, for free.

The best thing about Viber is, it does require a username and password to access the application. All you need to know is your friends number. Viber uses your phone number as your 'identity' and lets you make free Viber phone calls to any of your friends that have Viber. Unlike applications like Skype, Windows Live Messenger or Fring where you need to 'add buddies' and have them approve you, Viber behaves just like a phone. Just like you do not need to 'add' someone in order to call them, you do not need to add your friends in order to call them on Viber. If you know their phone number, then you know their Viber number, and you're ready to go!

Viber is a free application for making free calls from an iPhone over 3G and Wi-Fi. Now the application is available for Android, you can call or text other Viber users (including iPhone users) for free. Despite being completely free, Viber doesn't have any ads. To receive continuos updates about the missed calls and messages you can keep Viber running the background. You will be receive notifications for missed calls or when a contact joins Viber, Receive popup notifications for new incoming messages, Vibrate option for incoming messages and Haptic feedback for dialpad, option to use Bluetooth handsfree for calling.

The technology is exceptional but the billion dollar question will it work in India, the country with the largest cell phones users and with most of the business coming from the telecommunication world. Yes Viber works in India but it again depends on your service providers. It basically eats up your download internet data allowance unless you are on Wi-Fi. Since service providers charge on the amount of data that is used on their network, you will have to check with your provider as to how they will gauge the amount of usage. Feedback on the usage Viber in India is that there is still a bit a delay in the audio being clear at the start of the call, but once it sorts itself out it's perfect.

With the launch of Viber for Android and Viber for iPhone already being very popular, this would be that it will be one of best cross platform free calling app. Viber for Android is now available for beta users. If you check the Viber website, there is a link to Sign up for Viber for Android beta. As it is for beta testers, you just need to enter Email address, Viber will ask for email confirmation. Viber will then soon send the beta invitation to your mail address.

In order to allow the installations of non-Market applications, you'll need to update your android settings. On the Application Settings screen you'll see an item titled "Unknown sources" which allows you to install non-Market applications. Make sure the option is checked. If not tap the checkbox. But please note that the Viber installer (the "APK") will not activate before you get an invite from Viber. so first get the Viber Android invite.