Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cj1976]

Kakaotalk now has the ability to do voice calls, but because of the greedy telecom companies here, this feature will be removed tomorrow (June 7). At least this is the rumour that I have heard. Basically, if you don't enable the feature on your phone today, you won't be able to do so tomorrow. However, those that have enabled it will be able to use it.
I don't know how true this is, or where the rumour came from but still worth trying.
In order to enable it on Android (not sure about Iphone), you need to have the Korean menu on Kakaotalk. It is not available in the English version. Switch the phone language to Korean then go the Kakao settings menu and enable "보이스톡". It worked on my Galaxy S and I used it to call my wife on her iphone.

[dazzed]

I did it with my IOS device also. You have to change it to Korean on Android and IOS to enable the Voice Chat function. Then you can change to English setting and you're good to go.

[Zoisite]

I managed to get it today as well...but I read that the 3 biggest telecom companies have blocked the function. >,< greedy jerks.

[orosee]

I got an incoming call from a friend in Busan that went like this:

"odd ringtone" ... "odd ringtone" ... "odd ringtone"

unlock phone
start kakao talk... wait... waaaiiit... waaaiiiiiit (Galaxy-S) oh finally!
wait for the chat room to open
press the tiny call icon
*too late*

wait... wait... wait...

"odd ringtone"

"..llo! ..kao talk... ... make... ... calls... free .... chwchwchw"

"I can't hear you so well my friend!"

"... ... ... are you? ... ... free ... ?"

"Hmm, can we do this another time, over a regular line?"

"... ..kay! ... ... nice day! ... ..ye!"

Not quite there yet.

Frankly I hope they use different servers for that and the other KT services. I wouldn't want to sacrifice bandwidth for images and chat stream because of "free ...lk".

Using SKT, by the way.

[Zyzyfer]

Thanks for the heads up. I don't have any current use for it but went ahead and enabled it anyway.

[therockery]

This is great! Thanks for the heads up!

[bazilman]

Yeah, the call quality seems pretty good. I think it's worth-while if you have an unlimited data plan.

Unfortunately, there might be a downside. Korean citizens flipped out when SK wanted to close off the voice access on June 7, so it stayed open. As a result, SK is going nuts because of the increased data use, so they said they're going to have to increase the plan rates for their phones.

It's nothing official right now, but definitely something to be aware of.

[alongway]

Which is stupid, because lots of other programs already offer voice.. skype, olive phone, etc.

[saram_]

Seen a stat where somewhere like 98% of smartphones in Korea have katalk!
It rules here-- And sure why not!!
I'm sure free voice calls on katalk will adversely affect phone calls fees etc for phone call providers .. They have a right to be a little upset in fairness!


But, anyway this rumor was flying about on Friday too and there was a mad rush! The katalk president has said talk about these kinds of deadlines are just rumor for now at least!
Still, suppose its safer n more fun to download the free voice call sooner rather than later..

[12ax7]

[comm]

[Drew345]

My Korean friend was trying to show me how to make voice calls, and we couldn't find the function on my phone set to English. Now it makes sense, I'll change it to Korean and see if it is there.
At first I was thinking this Katalk was just another example of Koreans re-inventing something that was already out there (Ahn lab security, hangul word processor), but the reviews for this Katalk make it sound like a superior product.
Anyway, join and you'll see that most all of your Korean friends are already there.

[hanguker]

Tried setting it to Korean, but still no free talk. Only chatting and cell dial.

Here's an article dealing with the issue:
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2012/06/129_112819.html

[wishfullthinkng]

you're not missing out on much. voip in most situations sounds pretty awful, kakao free talk not excluded. i still use my voice minutes instead of free calling to avoid the hassle.

[mikesaidyes]

Everyone should be using the International Free Calls #! It only uses your minutes. 02-1688-5959. It only uses your local minutes. Just dial 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx (US or Canada) once she finishes speaking the Korean.

It's one of the most magical things ever. It's just been handed around by teachers here at my school, we don't know where it came from or the secret, just that it only uses your handphone's minutes.