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Smartphones have meant that our need for a home phone has dropped dramatically, but that could all be about to change with the growing popularity of voice assistant speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home.
According to industry sources, both Amazon and Google are considering the addition of voice calling technology to their home assistant devices. The good thing for them at the moment is that their devices already cater for handling simple voice-controlled tasks like switching on your lights, streaming music and ordering groceries online.
Adding the ability to make a call would not be straightforward, but it could revolutionise their home assistant devices and put them at the head of the pack for decades to come – also, it would give you another reason to put down your smartphone when you get home.
The biggest question surrounding this new feature is simple – how exactly would it work? Google may have the advantage over Amazon as its already created products like Hangouts and Voice that handle voice communication, as well as the fact its home assistant automatically syncs your contact numbers across all its apps. It also has Duo for video calls which will be receiving support for voice-only chats later in the year.
Amazon may have a tougher time adding voice calling. It has no way (yet) of accessing your contacts, but the company is reportedly considering multiple approaches to this issue including integrating third-party apps like Skype.
It will be interesting to see the Echo and Home devices go head-to-head for quality too, as they're currently both good enough to hear your voice from across a reasonably-sized room, but will they be able to transmit clear audio to callers when you're chatting to it from the other side of the room?
Town & Country Communications are Dorset's only independent, family-run telecommunications business. As well as mobile and landline provision and support, they offer a broadband service, mobile repairs and a unique mobile phone insurance scheme with no excess that starts from just £3 per month.
