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Recently, Viber, complete with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) capabilities, was submitted for approval to the crew at the Windows Phone (News - Alert) Store. Thankfully for those who were hoping to get their hands on Viber sooner rather than later, the app itself is now ready for download, having cleared the approval process.

Viber, which is available not only on Windows Phone, but also for Android and iPhone (News - Alert), offers a variety of tools all designed around providing a great mobile VoIP experience. Viber automatically syncs with a current contact list, allowing the app to automatically pin down other Viber users already on said contact list.

Viber uses the device's phone number as a user ID, which removes the need for a separate user ID to remember, not to mention the need for a password.

Convenience is certainly high on Viber's list, but it's also got some powerful features thrown in to improve the value proposition. Not only do users get HD sounds quality in the voice calls made, but users also get text and photo messaging thrown in, along with the ability to share photos directly from Viber's photo gallery. Viber also allows for group conversations of up to 40 participants, and the ability to share locations directly in messages.

Conversations can be pinned to the home screen, and live tile support is included along with lock screen notifications.

Perhaps best of all, Viber supports 30 different languages, making it useful for a large swath of humanity in general. 

Initial reaction to the release of Viber is somewhat mixed. There are fully 310 reviews of Viber out at the Windows Phone Store, with an average score of four stars out of five. Good news overall, but reading the reviews shows that more than a few people had at least some trouble with parts of Viber. That can be accounted for in a variety of different reasons, like initial problems or difficulty understanding at the user level.

Though there are some reports of technical glitches getting in the mix, or ratings slightly lowered over a missing feature that would have been preferred by some users, the overall word seems to be that Viber is an excellent VoIP calling alternative.

Naturally, an app like this proves extremely useful for callers who find themselves outside of their normal coverage area, and need a way to place a call with an Internet signal around. Additionally, those who find themselves temporarily short of minutes yet need to make a call are also likely to get good use out of this as sort of a last-ditch backup. There are plenty of potential uses for Viber, and that's likely to leave mobile providers very concerned overall.

With several VoIP providers in the market, and the growing potential represented by Web-based real time communications (WebRTC), the role of the mobile device as a voice communication platform is starting to get a bit of a shadow over it.

Implications aside, mobile VoIP is rapidly coming into its own, and Viber is looking to be at – or at least near – the tip of this particular spear.