Amazon Echo is capable of doing many things, from turning on the lights to ordering the latest book online. One of the most interesting and useful things you can do with Echo is to make and answer phone calls. Echo can receive calls from other Alexa users and make calls just like a common phone. It is a very useful feature.
If you have an Amazon Echo and even your friends or family members have one or have Alexa on their smartphone, you can make free calls using voice control directly from your device.
Configure Amazon Echo to make phone calls
Before you can make and answer calls with Amazon Echo, you must first configure everything.
You will need to install the Alexa app on your smartphone and connect it to your Amazon account and your Echo.
I will describe the whole process if you are completely new to Alexa. Here are the steps to configure Echo to make and receive calls:
- Download the latest version of the Alexa app on your smartphone and install it. From the app itself or from a new version, iOS from here and Android from here.
- Follow the wizard to configure it and grant it permissions to access your phone data.
- Add your phone number and allow Alexa to access it. A verification code will be sent to you and you will have to reply to it to work.
- Once the wizard is complete, you should be able to see a contact icon. Select this option to see which of your phone contacts also has Alexa. You will be able to make calls from Alexa to Alexa with anyone you see in that section.
Making calls with Amazon Echo will use the phone data but will not use the phone minutes. If you’re running out of data for the current month, keep that in mind when making calls with Alexa.
I’m not sure how much data you use to make a call, but make sure you have enough data on your plan to stay there.
Tutorial- How to connect Spotify with Amazon Echo
Make a call with Amazon Echo
You can make a call from Alexa to Alexa or call a landline or a mobile phone.
You can use the Alexa or Amazon Echo app. To make a call with Echo, just say “Alexa, call NAME” to call someone in your phone contacts or “Alexa, call NUMBER” to call a specific phone number.
As long as the contact name is present in the phone contacts, Alexa must call the Alexa app.
If you are making a call to a non-Alexa user or you are calling a number, obviously they must not be in your contacts. You just have to say “Alexa, call 555-555-5555” or whatever the number and Alexa will call it.
If you want to make a call from the Alexa app, select the conversation screen and select the Contact icon at the top right, select the contact and select the phone icon. Select the camera icon to make a video call.
Answer a call with Amazon Echo
When you receive a call on Echo, you will also receive the call on your Alexa app. The light ring on the echo should turn green and Alexa will notify you of the call. To answer using the Echo, say “Alexa answer call”.
If you want to reply using the app, answer the phone normally.
You don’t have to answer the call if you’re busy. You can say “Alexa, ignore” and it will. You just have to make the phone ring if you don’t want to answer from the app.
Read- How to solve common problems with Alexa / Amazon Echo
Send messages with Alexa
Voice messages are another feature of the Alexa app that lets you send audio messages to someone. These voice messages of the Alexa app are like pre-recorded voice messages and can be useful for quick updates or messages when you don’t have time to make a phone call.
To send a voice message using Echo, say “Alexa, send NAME a message” and speak your message aloud. Of course, this assumes that NAME is a name in your contacts.
To send a voice message via the Alexa app, open the conversation window and select the blue microphone icon instead of the phone icon to record a message.
Alexa receives the message the same way it receives a call, the Alexa app will alert your phone and your Echo will light up. You can listen to the message immediately or save it for later.
Amazon Echo and Alexa can do much more than just listen to music or describe the weather. If you know other people with the device, you can talk as much as you want without costing you a penny. You can do all this from your Amazon Echo or from your Alexa app.
