You can now voice call your Google Home speakers w Duo

Table of Content

• 'How to reset any Google Home device to its factory settings, if it's malfunctioning or you're planning to sell it
• Alexa calling versus hands-free calls with Google Home
• Tips for better voice calls and video calls
• “Hey Google, make a group call”
• Can Google Home call other Google Homes? Emergency numbers?
• Sync your Google Contacts data

If you aren't sure if the person you want to call has Google Duo, you can open the Google Duo app directly on your smartphone and search the list of contacts at the top. Below the contacts with Duo that show under the 'Connect with Duo' section, you'll see a list of the rest of your contacts without Duo under the 'Invite to Duo' section. Google's Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max can be used for voice calls and video calls, but for video calls, you'll need to set up Google Duoor Zoom. Google-supported calling and carrier calling do not support incoming calls. It may take a few minutes for your contacts to sync, particularly if you have many or new contacts. If your contacts aren’t synchronizing, check the settings on your phone to ensure that the option to sync contacts is switched on.

To end a call, either say "Ok Google, end call" or "Hang up". You can also tap the top of your Google Home or Home Max, or the centre of your Nest Audio, Nest Mini or Nest Wifi point. For those with a Google Home Mini, tap the side to hang up, while those with a Nest Hub or Nest Hub Max can tap "End call" on the display.

'How to reset any Google Home device to its factory settings, if it's malfunctioning or you're planning to sell it

Upgrade your lifestyleDigital Trends helps readers keep tabs on the fast-paced world of tech with all the latest news, fun product reviews, insightful editorials, and one-of-a-kind sneak peeks. Google Home can identify different users in your house by voice, so if you say “OK Google, call dad” it will call your dad without needing to ask which user is making the request. Though even a single slip-up there could get awkward...

The third option is mobile calling, which allows you to link your speaker with your mobile carrier plan. Again, calls cannot be received and this option is only available with selected carriers in the US and Australia . Google-supported calling allows you to make audio calls to mobile, landline, and business phone numbers at no additional cost. Check to see whether the Google Account shown is the same as the one connected to your speaker or display. Tap the “another account” or “Add another account” option to swap accounts. But what about all of the smart speakers we already own?

Alexa calling versus hands-free calls with Google Home

Hands-free calling on Google Home is quite a bit different. Effectively, your Google Home becomes a VoIP speakerphone that can call your Google Contacts and businesses. It also doesn't require the people you are calling to have a Google Home speaker or even a Google account. You can call effectively anyone with a phone number, except emergency numbers. The calling feature turns your Google Home into a landline of sorts, letting you ask Google to call anyone who is in your contacts, as well as local businesses. The only thing Home can't call -- at least not yet -- is an emergency service like 911.

Cameron Summerson is ex-Editor-in-Chief of Review Geek and served as an Editorial Advisor for How-To Geek and LifeSavvy. He covered technology for a decade and wrote over 4,000 articles and hundreds of product reviews in that time. He’s been published in print magazines and quoted as a smartphone expert in the New York Times.

Tips for better voice calls and video calls

Unfortunately, in our testing, Assistant speakers are also not yet compatible with the “Call Home” button in the Google Home app. Hopefully, this will change in the future, as not everyone will necessarily want a smart display, while Google Home Minis are a dime a dozen. Though it might seem like Home is basically just acting as a speakerphone, that’s not the case. Calls are made over Wi-Fi, so they don’t use your phone plan’s minutes. In fact, Google Home calling is entirely separate from your smartphone.

There are 3 different ways Nest speakers and displays can make calls. The Google Home app is required to configure your Google Home Nest device. Once you’ve completed the setup, you may use the Home Mini without a smartphone. However, if you want to alter the Nest settings, such as linking your Bluetooth speaker or switching to Night mode, you must use the Home app.

Google Home can only call non-premium rate numberswithin the U.S. and Canada. You can also link your phone number to Home and then you can make international or premium calls, and your account will be charged the normal fees you would pay if you used your phone. Cameron Summerson is ex-Editor-in-Chief ofReview Geekand served as an Editorial Advisor for How-To Geek and LifeSavvy. Tap on "End Call" on the screen, or say "Ok Google" or "Hey Google", followed by "End Call", "Hang Up", "Disconnect" or "Stop". Suppose gadgets were eligible to use contextual clues to ascertain the situation. In that case, it’s possible that Google Home could one day be capable of acting as detectors for burglaries that are in progress and notify emergency services on your behalf.

Google even recently improved this ability to call your home smart display by adding a new “Call Home” button to the Google Home app. With this, the smart display has begun to take the place of the landline home phone of decades past, being able to call your whole family rather than one specific person’s cell phone. Remember that for calling contacts, you will need to have setup Personal Results and given access to your contacts. For calling a Google-listed business, you can just search for them and say "Hey Google, call them". For all other devices, you can make outgoing calls, but you cannot receive incoming calls.

Nest Aware Emergency Calling links you to the 911 call center nearest to your house, depending on the home location you input in the Google Home app. With that, you’re now ready to place a call to your Google Home speakers. In my own example above, I can use “Hey Google, call Light Sleeper” and my Google Home Mini will begin to ring with the usual Duo ringtone. Awkwardly, there isn’t a way to remotely answer this call. We’re also not sure if there’s a way to know who’s calling or to even reject the call, for that matter.

All the phone numbers in your phone and from Google Contacts should now be available to Google when you make calls from the device. You need to be the actual owner of any phone number you use in Google Home calling, because you will be asked to enter a verification code that's texted to you. Deluge of robocalls we're subjected to these days) some people might consider suspicious and ignore. To remedy that, you can configure Google Home calls to show your personal Caller ID number. You can tell your Google Home to call a Google contact, or to dial a number that you speak out loud.

Make sure the option to save contacts from signed-in devices is selected. In addition, you have the option to say “Hey Google,” “Stop,” “Disconnect,” or “End call.” You will hear an end-call tone if the person you are calling hangs up on you. According to Android Police, the feature is only supposed to be available in the US, but if your phone’s language settings are set to use “English ,” you might still be able to access it. The person on the other end will still hear you say Hey Google, so don't expect to fly totally under the radar with this approach, but you will get some privacy during the actual request. If you're on a video call when you use this feature, the call will be muted but the camera feed will continue. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for each speaker or hub you want to make calls from.

That’s how the speaker knows what number to dial when you say, “Hey Google, call mom.” To do this, you need to give your speaker access to an option called personal results. Original Google Home, a Mini, Max, or Hub—you can use it to make phone calls. No matter if you want to ring your mom or order a pizza, Google can do it. It takes a few steps to set up, however, and there are some limitations that might prevent you from using the smart assistant for a phone call. Tap the "Services" tab at the top of the More settings page, then tap "Voice and video calls." By default, Home will generate a randomized number when you use it to make a call.

Sync contacts from your Google account

We’re also rolling out beta support for G Suite accounts, so you can host work meetings on your personal Nest Hub Max. G Suite admins who would like to apply on behalf of their domains to join the beta program can sign up atg.co/gsuiteassistantbeta. Next, you need to choose which calling service you’ll use your speaker. The complete instructions are long and a little confusing, and I’ve tried to simplify them here. Follow these steps to make hands-free phone calls on Google Home.

It looks like Google is prepared to port a lot of the features of the Google Home Hub over to other smart displays as well, including third-party manufactured products. To make things even weirder, it appears that the device won’t support audio-only calls, meaning that two different Home Hub owners can’t even call each other using those very same Home Hub devices. One owner would have to call his or her recipient using a phone, tablet or a smart display that does have a camera and supports Duo calls. The snazzy new Google Home Hubdoesn’t have a camera on it, ostensibly for privacy reasons but also possibly to downgrade the cost.