Google Home Voice Calling Now Available In The U.S.

At its annual I/O developers conference this year, Google confirmed that it will soon launch hands-free voice calling for the Google Home smart speaker. It’s a bit different from Amazon Alexa’s equivalent feature which requires both people to have an Amazon account. Google Home uses VoIP technology to call standard phone numbers.

Google has now started to roll out this feature for users in the United States and Canada. Users don’t need to go through any setup procedure in order to use this feature. All they need to do is give a relevant command to Google Home, like “Hey Google, call George.”

Granted, users will have to use Google Contacts if they want to call people by name. If they want to call a business, Google will search for the number and then place the call for them. Commands like “Redial” can also be given. To hang up the call users can just say stop or tap on the top of Google Home.

Since Google Home will rely on VoIP to call numbers, the recipient will see No Caller ID or Unknown when they get the call, so it would be best to inform your contacts that you will be using this feature to call them so that they don’t ignore your calls inadvertently.

Users have the option to link their Project Fi or Google Voice number through the Google Home app so that that number can be used for calling. There are some limitations to keep in mind. Google Home can’t call 911 while international and premium rate numbers will only work when a Project Fi or Google Voice number has been configured.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: Google, google home