The steady migration of the Australian workforce to a hybrid, work from home model has driven the smart home market. As part of this, smart speakers are selling more and being used more than ever. Alexa-to-phone calling has been introduced today to add further convenience and functionality to your smart speakers.
For now, there’s a limit on the number of contacts you can add with the apparent intent to be close friends and family. You can store multiple numbers under an individual contact, or if they only have one number, you simply need to say, “call Dad”.
The new feature works by linking the Alexa app on your mobile device to link with your speakers and enable calling:
- Download the latest version of the Alexa app and sign in on your mobile phone.
- Along the bottom of your app, select Communicate.
- Add and verify your mobile phone number and grant permissions for calling and messaging.
- You can import your mobile phone’s contact list when prompted or add contacts individually via the Communicate page
There is, of course, already calling features included with Alexa speakers with the “drop in” feature. This requires users to grant permission for individual devices to be called and allocated contacts. The mobile calls feature expansion into Australia is likely just the start with Amazon’s release cycle due for something new soon.
