Google Home and Amazon Echo could be your new telephones devices at home

The smart, cloud-connected speakers Amazon Echo and Google Home, can currently answer questions, read audiobooks, report traffic and weather, order pizza or an Uber, and apparently, play music. Adding one more feature to these smart assistants, Google and Amazon are planning to add the ability to make and receive phone calls, like a modern day landline phones.

According to the Wall Street Journal report, the Amazon Echo and Google Home could be used to make and receive phone calls later this year.

Amazon already has the business-focused video conferencing tool Chime, whereas Google has Hangouts, Duo to provide a starting point for Echo and Home to be used for the call-making process. Google also has Google Voice and a well-toned experience with Project Fi, a wireless service which provides mobile data, giving the company an advantage over Amazon.

The companies are also expected to incorporate VoIP services like Skype and Vonage into their devices.
“Amazon is also considering some different options, including syncing to the user’s existing phone number, call forwarding or the Echo getting its phone number,” the report says.

However, according to the report, both the companies’ “attempts have been slowed by privacy and regulatory concerns." All calls would have to take place over the units’ built-in speaker or connected Bluetooth audio device, which brings up privacy concerns with calls. Both the speakers also have always-on microphones that continuously records audio to monitor the activation commands.

Citing the sources, the report further states that Amazon wouldn't record the content of conversations; but that it would collect the length of those conversations and what numbers are dialled.

Apart from the regulatory hurdles and inability to make emergency calls, users will also have to deal with the inconvenience of yelling at a speaker that might be halfway across the room.

Amazon declined to comment on the report, whereas Google just said that it "continues developing new experiences for Google Home."

Considering the myriad of hurdles, it’s surely going to be an uphill task for both the tech giants to bring telephony to their smart speakers.