In the ongoing battle for more users and differentiation between messaging apps, Line, the Japan-based proprietary application for instant messaging on smartphones and personal computer, said on March 17th, 2014, that it's giving its users in eight countries access to a new product called "Line Call," a service that lets people dial landlines and cellphones from the application for a fee.
Line has given users the ability to make free calls to other Line users since October 2011 and added the free video call functionality in September 2013. Since both services are only available inside the app, Line users can now connect to people who do not have the app installed, especially to international numbers.
Line Call, first announced in February 26, 2014, is meant to be an affordable alternative to prepaid mobile service, available to members with a registered phone number. The company promises that its app-to-phone calling service provides "clear, uninterrupted, high-quality" calls.
The new service expands on Line's voice communications offerings, which let people make free VoIP and video calls to other application users. The service that is introduced in Line version 4.1.0, is to let users call people who don't use the chat app, with prices lower than those offered on landlines and mobile carriers.
Costs of all calls are calculated depending on the country or region where the receiver's phone number is contracted. Line Call shows the cost-per-minute of the call upfront, automatically displayed on the dialing screens so users knows exactly how much they are being charged for each call. For example, calls to land and mobile lines in the U.S. and China are priced at 2 cents per minute, and mobile calls in other countries range from 4 cents through to 15 cents per minute.
"The ability to make calls directly to mobile and landline phones has been one of our most requested features, and we are proud to be able to provide Line customers a more seamless and fun experience on our app while engaging those closest to them," said Jeanie Han, CEO of Line Euro-Americas Corp. "With each new platform development and service, we are able to improve our platform to strengthen our positioning as an 'all-in-one' communication app."
To initiate a call, Line users can choose between the existing free call service to other Line users, or make low-cost calls to any other number using Line Call. Users can choose either to purchase call credit, take up monthly plans, swap their Line coins for call credit, or pay-as-you-go basis.
Besides just for battling to get more users, Line Call is also a way for the company to offer an expanded service compared to its more immediate messaging competitors. As of February 2014, Line had 340 registered million users. Messaging app leader WhatsApp, which was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion, in the same month said the number of active users of its app had passed 465 million.
The news also makes Line even more of a threat to Microsoft-owned Skype.
Line Call is just another revenue-generating service that could help further boost the economic prospects for the company, which made $156 million in revenues last quarter, $120 million of that from its core product, the Line messaging app.
Line Call is currently available to application users in Japan, United States, Mexico, Peru, Columbia, Thailand, Philippines, and Spain. Other countries will be added "once tests for call quality have been passed."