Snappy Answers About Elastic Calling

Long-time TextNow users might have seen us knock around the term “elastic calling” over the past few years. It’s one of the core technologies that separates TextNow from our competitors, and one of the reasons we’re the most popular choice for calling and texting apps available.

But just what is elastic calling? Are rubber-bands involved? Does it make your calls all stretchy? Does it help improve calling? Answers: No, no… and yes! Let’s take a closer look.

On a traditional carrier, your call has one path to the person you’re calling — the voice network. You know the drill: if you don’t have any bars, you ain’t making the call. If you’re in a basement that can’t get a cell phone signal, or you’re in an area without cell coverage at all, that smartphone in your hand is basically a glorified flashlight.

With a TextNow Wireless plan, your call has three different possible paths your call can take to get to the person you’re calling: WiFi, 3G/4G data, and voice. We test each path when you place your call to see which path would provide the best possible calling experience, and use that.

Great, right? But here’s where the “elastic” part comes in: We continue to check your connection even while you’re on the call, and switch to the best route seamlessly on-the-fly. Your call might start on WiFi, switch to 3G/4G if your WiFi cuts out or becomes less strong, then switch over to voice if the 3G/4G connection isn’t good enough, or any combination. It’s all about getting the best possible call at the time, all the time.

But what if you’re not using TextNow on one of our Wireless plans? What if you’re using the free or Premium version alongside your carrier’s plan on your phone?

Well hold onto your hats, folks, because elastic calling is now available for everybody using TextNow.

That’s right! Elastic calling now works for everybody using TextNow, even if you’re not on one of our plans! We’re able, through secret technomagic, to utilize your phone’s existing carrier to switch to WiFi, data and voice seamlessly for the best possible calling experience.

For more details on how elastic calling works, check out this very informative webpage we put up with answers to all your questions. And check out these great testimonials from actual users who were gracious enough to be in our early tests for Elastic Calling:

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Happy calling, everybody!

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