The idea of switching a call from your cell phone to a home phone as you walk into your house has been touted as futuristic but achievable by many service providers.  It was even depicted in a recent commercial for Cox Communications (Gallop Forum) cable services. Yet to date, none have really made it happen in a smooth manner.

In the span of a month, two major announcements were made, providing the capability to “move” a call initiated on a cell phone to a more robust network inside the house, or vice versa.  As mentioned in a previous Gallop post, one reason that many customers maintain a home phone line is solely due to the lack of a solid wireless signal within their homes.

By switching the phone call from your mobile carrier’s network to a wireless signal inside your house, the call will obviously benefit from a more reliable signal throughout your home, while at the same time saving your minutes on the mobile carrier’s network - which saves money.

The first announcement came from a little-known company called iCall, which was launched two years ago.  In early June, they released a beta version of the iCall for iPhone.  This application allows users to transfer calls from a regular mobile phone provider to a wi-fi network in your home, at a free or for-pay wi-fi hotspot, or anywhere else a wireless data network is available.  The application is free for incoming and outgoing calls to US phone numbers and only charges for international calls.  Clearly, iCall for iPhone will be a valuable application for iPhone users.

The second announcement was detailed in a Reuters article, regarding the new wi-fi calling service. from T-Mobile ( Gallop Forum).  According to Reuters, the company will charge a $19.99 monthly fee per line for the service, which will be billed on your regular mobile phone bill.

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