You might think making phone calls with Google Home would be a basic function available from launch, but you’d be wrong. VoIP calling eventually came to users in the US and Canada last August, but it’s eluded other regions until now. At Google’s October 4th hardware last year the UK was promised similar functionality — due to go live later in the year. It’s a bit late, but UK Google Home users are finally able to make hands-free calls as of today.
The news has come to light in the Google Home Help Forum, confirmed by an expert in response to customers (here and here) and in a brand new post. Apparently, it couldn’t be launched last year as more time was needed “to deliver the best experience” and fine-tune the feature.
A support page detailing the feature has also been updated to include the UK. To make calls with Google Home you’ll need firmware version 1.28.99351 or higher, at least version 7.17 of the Google app, and have the same account that you use on your phone connected to Google Home. You’ll also need to have your Assistant language set to one of those currently supported by the feature: English (United States), English (United Kingdom), Canadian English, or French Canadian.
You can simply say “Hey Google, call Archibald” if the person is in your contacts, or read aloud any phone number you wish to call. If any of you give it a try, let us know what you make of it in the comments below.
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