Back in May, Google announced it would be bringing a hands-free calling feature to its Google Home smart speaker. The new feature was meant to accompany a whole host of additional goodies, including appointments and reminders, bluetooth support, and proactive notifications. Google says it's begun to roll out hands-free calling to Google Home devices, so be sure to give yours a try!
Anyone in the U.S. and Canada can place calls for free using their Google Home smart speaker — calls are made over your Wi-Fi connection. Thanks to the company's earlier roll-out of multi-user voice recognition, your contacts won't get mixed up with others:
Busy in the kitchen and in need of help? Just say "Hey Google, call Dad" to ask about that one ingredient you always seem to forget (salt? baking powder? who knows!). Because the Assistant on Google Home recognizes your voice, you'll reach your dad instead of just any dad.
Google says it's still working to support a Caller ID system for hands-free calling. Unless you're using Google Voice or Project Fi, contacts may not recognize who's calling:
The recipient will see "Unknown" or "No Caller ID." By the end of the year, we'll make it possible for your own mobile number to be displayed. However, if you're a Google Voice or Project Fi user, you can already choose to have the person on the other end see your phone number by going to your Assistant settings accessible in the Google Home app.
You can learn more about hands-free calling on the Google Home smart speaker in Google's Help Center.
Thoughts? Questions?
Have you given hands-free calling a try? Still waiting for the roll-out? Give us a shout in the comments.
