Virgin “SmartCall”: use your mobile, but with your landline tariff

  At first sight this “SmartCall” offering from Virgin Media seems like a really good idea.

Use wifi to make calls (VOIP) from anywhere,  and the calls will be charged for on your Virgin Land line rates,  which means for most people free, at least for other land lines)

Presumably this still works if you’re abroad,  which would be very good.

However if you are like me,  then you’ll have unlimited minutes on your mobile anyway (along with unlimited texts too),  thus this feels like it is a little too late for pay monthly,  and quite a few pay as you go punters.

And I hope the calling experience is better than the Tru or Skype,  where it keeps interjecting to ask you how you want to make the call.  Most annoying,  if a little difficult to think of an alternative. Guess that’s why I am not a UX person.

So a nice try,  but I suspect the appeal will be limited.

Also, the page does not make clear from which number the call appears to originate from,  presumably your mobile ? though if your not a virgin mobile customer this could be a little tricky.  If it’s your land line then missed calls will be rung back in to the wrong phone,  you know the device that sits in your house, which people can call on the off chance that you just might be near it.  I mean,  you could be.