Google Home is adding hands-free voice calling, but only for outgoing calls

The Google Home connected speaker will soon add a feature that will allow owners to make outgoing hands-free voice calls. This new feature, revealed as part of the company’s Google I/O keynote address, will allow those owners to call any landline or mobile phone number in the US or Canada, for free.

Google says there are no additional apps needed for this feature, and no need for any extra set-ups. You don’t even need to have a phone to use this new feature. Having said that, you will have the option to link your mobile phone number to Google Assistant, so that when you make a call via Google Home, your contacts will know that you are calling them. Also, if your Google Home can support multiple users, each person who uses it can set up their own number, and the speaker should figure out which one is trying to make a call.

If you are wondering why Google Home won’t be taking incoming voice calls, the reason is simple: security. Google feels that offering such a feature would have some privacy issues. There’s no word if the company will be adding incoming calls in the future, if it figures out how to make it more secure.

This new feature is going to be rolling out to all US owners of Google Home over the next few months. There’s no word on if it will be include in other regions where Google Home is sold. This new feature was announced just a few weeks after Amazon revealed it was adding voice call support to its Echo speaker line. However, those owners can only call other Echo speaker users.

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