Vodafone Call+ in action

Following a quick demo from the team at Vodafone on their new Call+ features, I thought it would be useful to do a short write up before a full review in the coming weeks (should the loaner phone arrive soon).

If you aren’t familiar with Call+, it’s a set of new features whereby voice calls are supplemented with images, sketches, notes, importance indicators, maps etc… being offered either integrated into the phone’s core dialler application or using an app for phones which are not supported through the core dialler. All the additional elements used during the call are accessible directly via the call logs, so keeping track of the call and any associated attachments is a breeze.

As a taster of what Call+ can do, here is a short video showing one of the features of Call+ in action (sorry no audio available).

As you can see, you can share a map which you can then overlay with additional information in real time (great for when you are trying to meet up with friends) all whilst still on the phone call.

Whilst the demo was with developer phones (one of which was misbehaving) in most cases the software did a good job in showing off the features. I can certainly see myself using the features to work out what my parents or inlaws mean when they say the boiler (or similar new fangled technical garbage as they might call them – their not that old BTW but they do struggle with technology) isn’t working, and then guide them in fixing the problems with live pictures annotated with arrows and circles or whatever else I need to get them to press the right button. Instead of the usual “which lights are on? … no I meant the ones on the front of the boiler… open the front panel … the one with the handle on it…”.

Now all I need is a way to show them how to use the new features whilst I am on the phone to them.