Ever since Google introduced Hangouts, it has been slowly killing off its other communication apps. The first to go were Google+ Messenger and Talk, then Messaging fell away, too and Voice was the lone app hanging out with Hangouts. Now it seems that Google is ready to can Voice and at this point, it's really no big deal.
Google has slowly but surely built up the functionality of Hangouts and at this point, it's ready to become Google's sole communication app. Hangouts quickly took over Messenger's instant message capabilities, added group video chats like Skype and now it has actual voice calls, too, just like Voice. The only thing that Hangouts is really missing is the the ability for users to keep use their real smartphone number to call and give out to others.
Voice has lasted as long as it has while all its other communication app brethren died off because it allows users to make calls over Wi-Fi, using their real smartphone number. That way, when Voice users call their friends, their number doesn't come up as some bizarre, mysterious number.
Now that Google is most likely going to kill off Voice, it will probably migrate all its Voice users' account information over to Hangouts. Google is expected to add the ability to keep your own number to Hangouts, so that Voice users don't get too upset. In essence, Hangouts will be all of Google's past communication apps combined into one attractive package.
In the end, this will make things a lot easier because there will be no more confusion over which platform you will use to talk with another human being. G-Chat is is Hangouts, Voice is hangouts, Messenger is Hangouts and so on.
Reports also suggest that these VoIP-to-phones calling capabilities will also be available in the Android and iOS Hangouts app for smartphones and tablets. Google recently announced that Hangouts could be set as the default texting or SMS app on all Android devices, so the idea that Hangouts could take over voice calls on mobile devices isn't really so far fetched.
Of course, this could really upset many carriers and network providers, who depend on charging their customers for each and every minute as well as text. Google may work out some kind of a deal with carriers in certain markets, sort of like what Apple has done with FaceTime.
It's unknown when Google will kill off Voice and add these great new features to Hangouts, but many tech pundits believe the announcement will be made at Google I/O. Let's just hope that these new additions to Hangouts don't make it more susceptible to crashes like the one we saw earlier this week.
