Users with Alexa, Amazon’s cloud voice service for smart speakers, will be able to make free phone calls to landlines and cell phone numbers in Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
“Alexa users now have the option to make free calls from their Echo device or the Alexa app, even if their friends or family don’t have an Echo device,” Amazon announced Tuesday.
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Amazon has detailed that users will need to associate their existing mobile phone number with an Alexa account in three steps:
- In the Alexa app, go to Communication.
- Select the Contacts icon.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to associate a mobile phone number.
Once the number is linked correctly, Alexa users will be able to call their contacts by stating their name or, if applicable, their landline or mobile phone number.
“The contacts they call don’t need an Alexa-enabled device or the Alexa app, customers will call their friends or family numbers directly by just saying ‘Alexa, call Jessica’s phone’ or ‘Alexa, dial XXX-XXX-XXXX (phone number),'” he said. Amazon.
The company added, “When your contacts receive a call from you, they will see your mobile number on their phone as a caller ID. Users can make calls to up to 10 phone numbers and will be able to make up to 10 exchanges. Contacts can also be managed in Alexa app.
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If the user exhausts 10 contacts registered to make calls through Alexa, he will keep the last registered numbers and will have to wait a year for the list to be updated.
The calls are not tied to a phone company, but are made over the Internet, through the cell phone number associated with Alexa. Therefore, Alexa calls to landlines and mobile numbers will be contingent on a Wi-Fi connection.
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