Hangouts VOIP calls on Android

I have been using Hangouts for a while now, basically since it first came out. I have even tied it to my Google Voice account and use it for all of my phone and texting needs.

While the system has definitely improved over the years there was one little feature that bugged me. On Android phones when I pressed the phone icon in a Hangout it would call the person's phone number instead of doing just an audio only Hangout.

While I love that I can call phone numbers from Hangouts on any platform (Android, iOS, or desktop through the web or a Chrome app), it annoyed me that I couldn't do an Internet-based audio Hangout from my phone.

However, yesterday I stumbled on the way to make an audio Hangout. If you are in an SMS based Hangout using your Google Voice number the phone icon will make a phone call. If you are in an Internet-based Hangout it will call over the Internet.

You can tell what type of message it is by looking at the text entry field. If it says "Write a Message" you are in an Internet-based Hangout. If, however, it says "Send SMS to" and then a phone number you are in phone mode. 

There are two ways to switch between a Hangouts audio call and a Google Voice phone call. If you have "Enable merged conversations" selected in the settings switching the mode is easy, just tap the SMS or Hangouts logo in the input bar and select the mode you want. If you don't have them merged you have to go find or create a Hangout with that contact using the desired method, Hangouts or phone number.

Maybe the feature has always been there but I didn't know about it. Most of my use of Hangouts is through SMS so maybe I just didn't know. My Internet searches on this topic have come up fruitless in the past, but at least it is there now and easy to use.