Google Home and Home Mini can finally make voice calls in UK

Google needs to do all it can to keep up with the Amazon Echo 
UK owners of the Google Home have had to wait since last May to make voice calls
EPA
Amelia Heathman8 March 2018

The Google Home smart speaker is catching up with its Amazon rivals now it has finally added voice calls in the UK.

Google announced the feature was coming to its smart speakers last May with US customers being able to make hands-free voice calls since August.

However, UK fans of the Google Home have had to wait until today to take advantage of the feature.

Here's how it works.

How to make voice calls with the Google Home

You can wake up your Google Home in the same way you normally do, saying “Ok Google” or “Hey Google.

Then simply say which person you would like to call.

It’s completely hands-free, which is a pretty useful feature if you have misplaced your phone. The Google Home or Home Mini uses Google Contacts as an address book and uses Wi-Fi to place the call.

Thanks to the Home’s built-in technology, it can recognise up to six different people in the UK. So anyone who lives in your home can take advantage of the voice calls, as long as they’ve trained the Google Assistant to recognise their voice.

Google Home voice calls aren’t just about calling your family

The hands-free voice calling feature doesn’t just work for contacts in your address book, but businesses too. Need to order a pizza or phone a local pharmacy? Simply ask the Google Assistant and it will find the number for you.

This is an example of how Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) aims to make everything easier for you. At CES earlier this year, the company revealed that the Google Assistant is now available in over 350 voice-controlled devices.

As well as the Google Home and the Google Home Mini, the assistant is now in televisions, cars, as well as a toy-town railway.

Google’s director of product management, Lilian Rincon, said the Assistant is now capable of doing one million actions.

Google Playground at CES

It will be interesting to see how this new feature affects sales, namely in comparison to Amazon's Amazon Echo. Thanks to a three-year head start, recent figures show the Amazon Echo was shopping at a rate of three to one compared to the Google Home.

A report by the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimated the Echo’s sales lie in the 20 million range, compared to Home’s seven million.

However these numbers were up to September 2017, before the big Christmas push, so it's possible the gap has lessened now, although the Amazon Echo does appear to have more brand awareness amongst consumers.

With Google starting to match Amazon in terms of features, the battle between the smart speakers will surely only escalate.