Verizon, a leading network carrier in the US, filed a trademark application for a “One Talk” service which hints at a potential move from the carrier to integrate fixed and mobile services. The network’s trademark application states- “Telecommunications services, namely, providing telephone services; and providing a unified system of integrated fixed and mobile voice services where landline and mobile communications devices can take the same calls, use the same telephone numbers and share the same calling features such as voice and text messaging.”
Verizon’s trademark application, reported by Phandroid, indicates the network’s plan to offer a service that would allow its landline and mobile customers to seamlessly shift their conversations to and from the company’s wireless and wireline calling services. The Phandroid report states- “We imagine the company will require a special home phone to take full advantage of the feature, though it’s possible the call mirroring options could be made available no matter which phone you use. Although many people have moved to mobile phones for their primary communication needs, there’s still a big crowd of folks who subscribe to home phone service, else availability of those services wouldn’t be as plentiful as they are today. For those people, using your phone while you’re at home doesn’t need to be a watered down, ancient experience — make it just as smart and convenient as if you were using a smartphone, and we’re happy.”
And, Phandroid also said that such services are already hitting the market. Last year, AT&T detailed its “NumberSync” technology that is designed to allow customers to share their primary phone number with other connected devices such as smartwatches, even if their phone isn’t connected to a cellular network.
Also, in March, Google announced its Fiber Phone service, which builds on the Google Fiber Internet and TV service to create a triple-play service offering. Shiver-Blake said “Your Fiber Phone number lives in the cloud, which means that you can use it on almost any phone, tablet or laptop.” He further added, “It can ring your landline when you’re home, or your mobile device when you’re on-the-go.”