Google smart assistants are going to have a new feature of “household contacts”. Google decided to roll this feature out to help people place video calls or normal calls with their near and dear ones with the help of a click.
Recently the smart displays from Google such as Nest Hub Max got the feature of group Duo calls. It’s not just limited to Nest Hub, but rather any smart device having Google Assistant. It allows users to place group video calls with about 32 people in one go.
However, Google is here with the new feature called “household contacts.” You now have access to speed dial. All you have to do is set up the master smart speaker, and create a list of contacts.
The person in charge of the master can create a group of people. Say, your daughter, babysitter, and your Grandmom. All the people in the group can have access to the contacts in the group, without having to look for their numbers through their contact lists.
And the best part is, you don’t even have to set up Voice Match to use this feature!
Why did Google introduce “household contacts”?
Until recently, users needed to set up the Voice Match identification, to save a contact to their contact list. Now, due to household contacts, we can share a few numbers with a whole group.
Meaning, anyone in the group will have access to those numbers and henceforth, can place a call. They can see the primary owner’s name on top of the phone number though. This makes connecting to our near and dear ones a lot easier than before.
It is the easiest possible method ever created to place a call directed to specific people.
What is Google’s take on this?
From the way described by Google, basically, users can call anybody from the speaker listed without the hassles of setting up a voice match. As long as the contact is saved in the household contacts menu, the contact does not even need to be saved.
However, it does require the speaker set up in US English as the main language. Surprisingly, this is the only requirement laid out as yet.
Personal Advantage:
If you want to place a group video call, just add the numbers of the participants you want to call at once. It shall automatically create a group. Next time you want to place a video call, the list of participants will appear.
You can choose whoever you want to join the call, and Google shall connect you to them. Also, thanks to its auto frame feature, the initiator of the group video call can is visible even while moving around. Seamless, isn’t it?
Professional Advantage:
Google Assistant has also created an uproar on the professional front. People who’d like to host business meetings can now add 100 participants into one video call. All you have to do is fill in the meeting code, after which you can join the meeting.
If your meeting is already scheduled by Google Assistant in your calendars, all you have to do is say “Hey Google, join my meeting”. The use of voice and hands-free technology has indeed created a hassle-free lifestyle.
How is this feature beneficial?
With the ongoing pandemic has probably accelerated Google’s timetable. This whole feature got introduced because Google wanted to make communication over smart displays seamless.
In these tough times when everyone is advised to stay indoors and maintain social distancing, people have started to connect with their near and dear ones through digitized communication. Video calls have become more frequent owing to the scarcity of physical meetups.
Google is trying to tweak these tough situations to its own advantage. And, why not? All of its updates are making our lives easier, if at all.
