January 17 Facebook officially launches VoIP services in the United States January 20 cut off communication applications Voxer contact

Facebook does not provide more details, does not disclose whether it is an international promotion, whether it will develop the Android Messenger app, and whether it will implement VoIP calls through its website, but we believe that these services are coming around the corner.

January 17, according to the Foreign Technology blog Theverge reported that if you live in the United States, as long as the use of Wi-Fi or mobile phone data connection, you can connect with other Facebook users to achieve free calls.

Early this January, Facebook started testing Wi-Fi and cellular data to provide free calls to all of Canada's iphone users using Messenger services and promised that the service would also cover the US in the near future. Obviously, the test went well because the call button already appeared in the app. Today, Facebook disclosed to Theverge that the service was officially launched in the United States, and users did not need to download it in the App Store for updates to be available. If you're talking to another iphone, you can call for free by tapping the "I" button in the upper-right corner.

This means that if you live in the United States, even if you're on the road, you can use Wi-Fi or a data connection on your phone today to make free calls to other Facebook users. When you call someone, a notification message appears on each other's screen: "Ellis Hamberg is calling." "This service is especially important for those who have a bad signal at home or in the workplace, but often need to make a phone call," he said. For Facebook, this is a major step forward-bringing valuable functional services to the world's largest VoIP user community. After several tests, the quality of the call sounded good, and it was sure to compete with competitors such as Viber, Vonage and Skype, which were already offering similar services, but faced a smaller user base.
Since the summer of 2011, Facebook and Skype have established partnerships in video calling, but the service is limited to Facebook, and Messenger has never been able to implement video calls. Facebook does not provide more details, does not disclose whether it is an international promotion, whether it will develop the Android Messenger app, and whether it will implement VoIP calls through its website, but we believe that these services are coming around the corner.

On January 20, according to foreign media reports, Facebook announced that according to its policy of competing for social networks, Facebook no longer provides Facebook's "Find Friends" data for voice intercom app Voxer. A spokesperson confirmed that Facebook will no longer provide "find friends" data for apps that use their data to boost growth but do not contribute to Facebook.

Voxer chief Executive Tom Catis (Tomkatis) said Facebook contacted the company on January 17 and said it would turn off "find friends" data access within 48 hours. Facebook says the company sees Voxer as a "competitive social network".

But Voxer does not agree with this statement. Voxer doesn't think its products are a direct competitor to Facebook's social network or Facebook Messenger. Voxer says its "unique, patented technology allows users to deliver real-time talkback and messaging capabilities", but does not attempt to become a broader social network.

There are two rules in Facebook's platform policy regarding competing social networks. Perhaps that is why Voxer believes it is not restricted by these policies:

"Competing social networks:

(a) Developers may not use the Facebook platform to import user data into competitive social networks without our permission;

(b) Apps on Facebook may not be consolidated, linked, promoted, or transferred to any other application on a competing social network. ”

But last month, Facebook added voicemail services to its Messenger app. This week, Facebook launched the VoIP call feature for its iOS version of Messenger. As a result, there is a competitive relationship between Facebook and Voxer. However, in the face of other applications like Voxer, why did Facebook not take action and simply voxer.

Facebook told reporters that the real reason for cutting voxer data access is that Voxer didn't share any information with Facebook. If the app returns some information, such as photos or open graph stories, then they can use Facebook's find friends data for free.

If the app doesn't return anything, then they can only use Facebook's login system. Facebook believes that, at least in the area of information transmission, this should be done for a small class of applications, including Voxer. (Zeng Cui)