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Amazon Echo and Google Home Could Replace Landlines for Good

2/26/2017

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Both Google and Amazon are allegedly considering adding a voice calling feature to their industry leading smart speakers, Google Home and Amazon Echo. That move could spell further doom for the ailing landline home phone market.

Rumors from "people familiar with the matter" claim that both devices have software in place to support Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls. If put into place, the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa artificial intelligence assistants would be able to recognize simple voice commands similar to those used on smartphones to ring contacts and answer incoming calls.

According to the Wall Street Journal's anonymous sources, the feature could be arriving as soon as this year in selected, unconfirmed regions. These sources also indicate that Amazon is considering assigning a unique phone number to the Echo (or Echo Dot) to enable calls, or syncing the user's mobile number with the smart speaker.

With the technology reportedly already in place, the delay in its implementation has been blamed on concerns "around privacy, telecom regulations and emergency services." The latter appears to be the biggest sticking point, with calling emergency services in the US a less clear cut scenario than the UK.

The reports also note that both Google's parent company Alphabet and Amazon are mindful of the fact that not everyone is comfortable having phone conversations via a speaker, particularly as both the Echo and Home record audio for voice activation purposes.

Although Amazon would apparently only collect call metadata rather than actual audio clips recorded during calls, WSJ's Google sources did not specify Home's recording capabilities, though they would likely be similar to its Google Voice app for Android which only stores metadata, voicemails and any user-specified calls.

So, given all the rumors, could this lead to the end of the landline?

With Google Home and Amazon Echo already capable of controlling music libraries, heating systems, lighting and ordering anything from an Uber taxi to a takeaway pizza, the addition of voice calling is a logical next step for both platforms. 
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So casual chats using Internet of Things-friendly smart speakers with AI assistants could be the future of calling friends and family from home. Only time will tell.
1 Comment
Lhynzie link
3/7/2022 04:54:14 am

Excellent content! Thank you for sharing this wealth of information. It was very interesting and very knowledgeable. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Kudos!

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    Rick Richardson, CPA, CITP, CGMA

    Rick is the editor of the weekly newsletter, Technology This Week. You can subscribe to it by visiting the website.

    Rick is also the Managing Partner of Richardson Media & Technologies, LLC. Prior to forming his current company, he had a 28-year career in technology with Ernst & Young, the last twelve years of which he served as National Director of Technology.

    Mr. Richardson has been named to the "Technology 100"- the annual honors list of the 100 key achievers in technology in America. He has also been honored by the American Institute of CPAs with two Lifetime Achievement awards and a Special Career Recognition Award for his contributions to the profession in the field of technology.

    In 2012, Rick was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame by CPA Practice Advisor Magazine. He has also been named to the 100 most influential individuals in the accounting profession in America by Accounting Today magazine.

    In 2017, Rick was inducted as a Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achiever, a registry of professionals who have excelled in their fields for many years and achieved greatness in their industry.

    He is a sought after speaker around the world, providing his annual forecast of future technology trends to thousands of business executives, professionals, community leaders, educators and students.

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