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diana-wickman avatar image
diana-wickman asked ·

Mobile App: data or minutes?

I needed to confirm whether making calls using the RingCentral iPhone app uses data minutes or voice minutes?  I believe it uses data but just wanted to be sure.  Thanks!!!
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kevin-bristol avatar image
kevin-bristol answered ·
Depends on how you have it setup. If you are setup on a wireless network then the app uses the wireless network to make/take calls. If you enable the option for 3G/4G it will burn your data package as you are off a wireless network.
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robert-moore answered ·
If VOIP is turned off it will use voice minutes.  If VOIP is turned on it will use your data plan (if you are not connected to wi-fi).  So turn VOIP on if you are on a decent wi-fi connection and you won't use either voice or data minutes.
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mike answered ·
To help clarify a VoIP call is "voice over internet" so packets of data travel over the internet. This could be either your wifi, or 3g/4g network.  The latest version of the Softphone will recognize which signal is the strongest and is capable of switching from one to the other. So for example if you are at home/office or any location where you have a strong wifi signal, it won't be using your 3g/4g data plan, but if you travel outside of that area, and have your phones 3g/4g (data) turned on, then it will use your phones data plan.  As mentioned above there are a variety of configurations which allow you to control if/when your phones data is used. Let us know if you still have questions. 

Mike 
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ringcentral avatar image ringcentral ·
I have a question Mike, If I'm start using the RC app inside the WiFi "umbrella" and while keep talking I'm start walking outside of the office (without WiFi), the app handle the call smartly without drops ?
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mike avatar image mike ·
Yes, as long as you have a sufficient 3g/4g signal and data is turned on, it will switch seamlessly. 

Mike 
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customer avatar image
customer answered ·
I am a new customer. And since it has been eight months since this was addressed here, I want to ask specifically so that I can know for sure:

I am running the RC app on a rather new Android phone with AT&T wireless and data.

I want to be absolutely certain that I NEVER use any data on my AT&T data plan by using the RC app on my cell phone.

So, please tell me exactly what setting(s) to make on my RC app on my cell phone to accomplish this.

Thanks to anyone who can answer this for me.
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J.B. Ferguson avatar image J.B. Ferguson ·
In the settings of the RingCentral mobile app make certain that you turn off VoIP Calling. Plain and simple...if the app is not set to use WiFi, 3G or 4G it will not use any data from your AT&T data plan. Any calls coming into your mobile app will then use cellular minutes.

The VoIP Calling setting is the third one down when you first open up the settings:
Status
Accept Calls
VoIP Calling
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customer avatar image customer ·
Got it. Thanks. The step-by-step is always helpful. Had done that already, but just wanted to be certain.
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J.B. Ferguson avatar image J.B. Ferguson ·
You're welcome. Glad to be of assistance.
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michael-antonio avatar image michael-antonio ·
Jan, how do we make sure our texts are also going through wifi only? We turned off all the 3G settings on our devices but texts are still coming through on iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6S Plus
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J.B. Ferguson avatar image J.B. Ferguson ·
Michael,

I'm not a communications engineer but I believe that texts are handled differently from "data". I'm fairly certain that texts are handled similarly to calls, which is why you are seeing texts going through on phone service only and also why they are not counted as "data" on your cellular plan.

Even with my regular cellular carrier I can usually text someone even when I have absolutely no internet coverage whatsoever. That can happen here in the mountains of Tennessee on occasion and I'm usually thankful I can send/receive texts in those situations.

--- UPDATE ---
Michael,

I did some searching on the internet after my answer above and it appears what I wrote above is correct. Texts are sent through the Short Messaging Service (SMS) which utilizes the voice network, not WiFi or 3G/4G. Here is one instance, I found in my searches, of an answer to someone who DID want to us WiFi to send texts and wanted to know why they couldn't...

"Your device does NOT do this through the data connection, so even though you might have mobile data turned off, or in this case, connected to wifi. It's using the Short message service center to communicate the data, this is over the voice network effectively, NOT DATA."
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mike avatar image
mike answered ·
Thanks for helping out Jan.  Also, for anyone else in this thread.  Here's an updated Article that explains in more detail how the Mobile app works.   

Voip calling on RingCentral Mobile App
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