Viber announced today the release of Viber 4.1 for Android and iOS which includes the full global launch of Viber Out, a new feature that allows users to make low-cost calls to any mobile or landline phone number.
Viber had previously enabled Viber Out for users in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan to help users contact friends and loved ones. This feature was made possible with partnerships inked with a number of carriers around the world, including Telecom Austria, Telecom New Zealand, Hutchison, Bharti Airtel, Telecom Italia, Citic, Netvision Cellcom, Mada Communication and Omantel. Viber also partnered with Globe Telecom to allow users worldwide to call the Philippines for free.
Viber Out enables all Viber users to call anyone worldwide at low rates on Android, iPhone and even desktop devices, and the company announced that Windows Phone users will be able to benefit from the feature in the future, though a specific timeframe was not revealed.
“Viber Out gives our millions of users a new way to use Viber and ensures that they can reach any contact at any time,” said Talmon Marco, CEO of Viber. “We will continue to improve Viber Out, keeping our users connected at the most affordable rates possible.”
Viber Out works similarly to NimbuzzOut, FringOut, and other calling services, except it displays your real phone number instead of a random number, giving call recipients a chance to know who’s calling and return the call in the even the call is missed. Users can purchase Viber Out credit via in-app purchase from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, and it was also hinted that the functionality to purchase calling credit with a credit card via Viber Desktop is forthcoming.
“We will continue to improve Viber Out, keeping our users connected at the most affordable rates possible.”
Viber Out has a significantly lower price-per-call than other competing services due to lower per minute rates and the omission of connection fees according to the company. The rates are as follows:
Viber Out joins the Viber Sticker Market, launched last month, as the app’s second paid feature. Speaking of the sticker store, version 4.1 also includes new stickers, and there are plans to add more content in the future.
Viber also released a new promotional video highlighting Violet, a character TruTower readers should be quite familiar with by now. We’ve embedded the video below.
Download the new Viber experience right now via Google Play and iTunes.