LINE Corporation today announced the inclusion of a new group call feature to the latest version of the LINE app – using which the users can make voice calls within a group or multiple personal chats. The latest service will first be released in countries other than Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia and then in these countries.
Currently this new feature has been released for iPhone/Android (v.5.11) and Windows desktop (v.4.5) – and will be released soon for Mac.
LINE was released in June 2011 as a group communications service available across multiple devices and network carriers enabling users around the world to easily keep in touch with friends, family, and coworkers. It launched its free voice call service in October of the same year and video calls in September 2013. Since then, it has been widely used for catching up with friends and family – and even at work. Now with the release of its latest update, LINE includes support for voice calls within groups or multiple person chats.
The feature offers free voice chats with up to 200 people. Calls can be initiated from within group chats or multiple person chats and a notification message will be sent to all of the users participating in the chat. An icon will be displayed above the user icon of the person currently speaking at a particular time enabling a smooth group communication. It will also show the total number of participants in the current active call.
All the users with an older version of the LINE app will receive a notification to update to the latest version. Only the users who have latest version can only be invited in a voice call. The new group call feature can be used for no charge over Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G – calls made over 3G/4G can incur additional data charges.
In addition to the new group call feature, the latest version of LINE also has a redesigned ‘More’ screen. The layout of the menu icons in the user interface has been modified for improved visibility and an even greater user experience. The app will be released first for Android on March 3.
LINE Corporation assures that it will continue to develop new features/services and enhance the existing ones in order to make it easier for users to communicate around the world.
