Telegram testing voice call feature

The voice call feature on Telegram might be available through an update in the near future, as the company has already begun testing the functionality.

The development has been spotted by Neowin, which claims users can control a few things with Telegram calls. The first is the ability to control which contacts can call you. As Telegram allows users to contact strangers through username, users might not want everyone to call them.

Users might either be able to allow everyone to call them or opt out of it and permit calls from their contact list only. Users might even simply block all incoming calls and there is an option to block individual contacts.

You can also verify if your calls are encrypted. Telegram generates an image and text which can be compared with the ones generated on the other user's devices. If they look the same, it means end-to-end encryption is in place.

Those on Android can test the call functionality using the latest beta version of the app. The call feature is hidden by default, but there is a guide that details how to enable calls.

In January this year, the company's CEO Pavel Durov, in response to a tweet, confirmed that the Telegram messenger app would add voice calls, although the tweet did not mention any particular rollout date.

The FAQ section of Telegram even states that there are several aspects in messaging the company wants to revolutionise.

"We specialise in sending messages, large media and files — and we do this better than anyone out there. There are still many things that we can revolutionise in messaging. And messaging is obviously trending at the moment, so our focus remains in that area for now," says the FAQ section in response to a query whether voice calls or video calls are coming to Telegram.