Breaking News: Finally WeChat has introduced group voice and video calling. This is a game changing new feature for company meetings and group communication across China.
Above: Group Video Call Through WeChat
China Channel tested the service today with a 3 way group call between Hangzhou, Chengdu and Chongqing. We were impressed with the results, sound quality was good and switching between the video and the group chat thread was easy and intuitive. Basically there’s no need to use Skype for group calls anymore in China.
How To Use The Beta Test Version Today
The service is currently only available on the Android WeChat 6.5 beta testing version. Use this link to apply to download the testing version of WeChat 6.5 for Android: http://support.weixin.qq.com/cgi-bin/mmsupport-bin/readtemplate?t=page/android_exp__index You will reach a screen as below. Select the big green button (参与内测 – Participate in Closed Beta) to install. Use the white button to send the link to your friends on WeChat.
Once downloaded and installed, your new WeChat version information should be like this.
In group chat threads you will now see a new button: Group Call
From here you can add your friends from a list to a group call.
You can only group call with others who have downloaded the test version. Sorry iOS users, you will have to wait a while it seems (please contact us if you find a way). For anyone on Android, simply have your friends download the Beta test version through the link and you should be ready to go.
