O2 pay monthly customers, some good news for you.
The operator has released the app, TU Go (I’m confused about the name also), which allows pay monthly customers to make and receive calls and texts on any supported device with the app installed, and allows customers to receive or make calls over WiFi.
The app was available in the iTunes Store since December in a trial form to over 1000 pre-approved customers, O2 said, but launched to the general pay monthly public yesterday.
How it works
Customers could log onto the free app on up to five supported devices simultaneously and when a call came through, the app would ring across all installed devices, O2 said.
Users could also choose to use WiFi, although calls and texts come out of their existing O2 monthly allowance, so rather than reducing call costs, this service looks to cover holes in coverage – if you live in a dip, but have WiFi, as your mobile signal drops, your devices would switch to WiFi and receive calls using Voice over Internet Protocol services.
So, useful for multi-device owners, such as anyone with a work and personal phone, and for people with patchy O2 coverage at work or home.
Also useful for perennial mobile-leavers-at-home or when your battery unexpectedly runs out, O2 said.
The app allowed users to access their local address books and see conversations and call history on one timeline, across all devices, O2 said, since it pulled data from the O2 mobile network directly, combined with VoIP services.
iOS, Android and Windows
Enabled devices include smartphones and 3G or WiFi tablets, specifically iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch running iOS 5 and up, Android devices running Gingerbread (2.3.1) and up and PC’s running Windows 7 (so it’s a no go for Mac users). Users had one single mobile number, their existing mobile number, to enter into the app across all devices, O2 said.
The app is available to O2 Pay Monthly customers but the operator was working to bring it to more customers in the future, O2 said.
O2 marketing and consumer director Sally Cowdry said the app took access to O2’s mobile network beyond the mobile phone.
“TU Go lets you take a call on a tablet, pick up text messages on a PC and have conversations in places with Wi-Fi coverage but no mobile signal.”
While the app was still in its early stages, O2 had plans to develop the services it could offer on the platform, she said.
