Hello! Google Home ready to make calls

‘Millions’ of businesses now at your disposal

LOS ANGELES Hey Google, hello!

Google Home, the Internet giant’s answer to the Amazon Echo-connected speaker, is ready to start making phone calls.

The feature first announced in May means the Home speaker can now make free phone calls to folks in your Google contact list in the U.S. and Canada. (Android users automatically have their contacts listed via Google; for Apple IOS, users of Gmail will find their contacts within the email program selected as contacts.)

As with many new Google features, free phone calls are being rolled out to select users and will expand nationally within the next two weeks.

Google’s calling feature promises to top a similar service on the rival Amazon Echo connected speaker. Calls were introduced earlier this year, but only from Echo to other Echo devices. Google Home can call landlines, cellphones and other Home units.

If you start to use Google Home for calls, get ready for a new command. It’s “OK Google,” when you want to direct the Assistant to answer a query for you; for calls, it’s “Hey Google.”

Beyond your contacts, Google says you can direct the Assistant to call “millions” of businesses.

Fans of caller ID will want to warn recipients. Calls will show up to most as “Unknown” or “No Caller ID,” but Google says it will start displaying your mobile number by the end of the year. Users of Google Voice, Google’s phone alternative service, do get their phone number displayed by adjusting the settings in the Google Home smartphone app.

Emergency calls to 911 are not supported, and for international calls, you’ll need to pay for them by buying Google phone credit.

GE You could ask Google Home to call the nearest florist, the closest Starbucks or the local bakery. But get ready for a new command: For calls, you need to say, “Hey Google.”