Menu

Truecaller, a global caller ID service provider, has announced a strategic partnership to integrate Google Duo, a video calling app, within the Truecaller app. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Swedish company said the integration of Google Duo will enhance the value of the popular caller ID.

Truecaller, which has more than 250 million users worldwide, was launched by Stockholm-based True Software Scandinavia AB in 2009. The app helps identify unknown incoming calls, warns against spam calls, among other features. Nami Zarringhalam, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Truecaller, said the company has made efforts to create an app that simplifies communication for its global users. However, its collaboration with Google takes it a step further with the introduction of the video calling feature.

“With valuable partners like Google, we are excited to take the next step in our journey, bringing all your mobile communications under one roof and giving you the safest, most efficient, and most convenient experience possible without having to switch back and forth,” said Zarringhalam.

Truecaller disclosed a complete redesign of the app for Android users. With the latest version of the app, Android users can instantly view incoming texts and filter out spam messages. According to the statement, spam SMS accounts for 15% of all global SMS messages, representing 1.2 trillion spam messages annually.

An additional feature is flash messaging, which allows the transfer of quick pre-defined messages from one user to another. This can alert app users about people in distress and get the location of a person.

Users can also make video calls directly via the app, thanks to the integrated Google Duo, the standalone video calling app announced by Google in May.

“Video calling should work for everybody, regardless of what platform they are on. Our aim is to make video calling simple, fast, and available to everyone. With this Truecaller integration, we’re able to bring a better video calling experience to millions of new users,” Amit Fulay, Head of Duo at Google, said.

The new Truecaller version will be available in a few months for Android and iOS as a permission-based service, whereby users can opt-in and out any time.