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Your Google Home can now act as an intercom system

Google is updating Google Home with the ability to make broadcasts like an intercom system. Will you use it in your home?
By
November 13, 2017

One of the coolest features announced at Google’s October 4 event was the ability to broadcast with your Google Home. With this feature, you should be able to use a Google Home or Assistant on your phone to broadcast a message to the other Google Homes in your household. This could be helpful, for example, if you’re cooking in the kitchen and want to call everyone to the table.

We’ve been patiently waiting for Google to roll this feature out and it looks like it now has. The update is rolling out to users in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the U.K. with Homes set to English.

With the new update, you can broadcast to your Google Home(s) from a phone or another Google Home. The only requirements for a Home-to-Home broadcast are two or more Google Home or Home Minis on the same WiFi network. When you initiate a broadcast, it’ll go to every Home that has Do Not Disturb mode turned off. To broadcast from a phone to a Google Home, all you need to do is open up Google Assistant on your phone, say “Broadcast I’m on the way home”.

Keep in mind that messages will only broadcast to Homes with your Google account signed into it. Your Home must also be running software version 1.26.93937 or higher.

To use this feature, you’ll want to make sure you’re signed into every Google Home you want to broadcast to. You can do so by opening up the Google Home app, tapping the Devices icon in the top right corner, tapping the menu icon, pressing settings, then add your account.

Will take advantage of the broadcast feature? Let us know down in the comments.