Alexa is today the most advanced virtual assistant. Its success is due both to its compatibility with a multitude of home automation devices and to the naturalness with which its artificial intelligence understands our words and learns by leaps and bounds. Alexa allows you to do countless things, and one of them is to make phone calls. Calling from Echo to Echo is possible with the Drop In functionality and these calls can also be received by anyone who has the Alexa app installed on their mobile phone. However, there is also the possibility of call a phone number directly through Alexa and receive your mobile calls directly on the Echo. If you are interested in this function, stay and we will explain it to you point by point.
Alexa can make calls from mobile to mobile, although only with Vodafone at the moment
Not many years ago, we saw in series like Mr. Robot that the FBI agent used an assistant Alexa at his house and it seemed something dystopian to us. Currently, the assistant has become one more device in our house. And, in fact, many of the people who use one of these assistants at home today are not computer experts at all. Alexa has managed to establish itself even in homes where they live older people, being a very useful tool to call relatives or even to control some devices from a distance.
If you have a Amazon Echo at home and you usually use it a lot, you may know Drop in, the functionality with which the device can communicate both with another Echo you have at home and with the Echos of your friends and family. Drop In is still a VoIP service like many others, and allows video calls between users who have the Amazon Echo Show.
Drop In works like a charm, but it has a small defect, and that is that we will not be able to call those users who are not Alexa users. For a contact to receive a call, they must have one of these devices at home or the Alexa app installed on their mobile phone. This limitation can be circumvented, but only if we have our telephone line contracted with Vodafone.
In 2020, Vodafone launched its service OneNumber in the UK, which allows unify a phone number with the calls of the Amazon Echo. Almost a year later, this service landed in Spain, and activating it is really interesting if you are with this company.
What is Vodafone OneNumber?
Vodafone OneNumber will allow you turn your Amazon Echo into an extension of your mobile phone. You can answer calls or start them directly from the voice assistant.
Once configured, your Echo will become a kind of switchboard. It will not matter that the mobile phone is lost, turned off or without battery. Your Echo will be able to replace it without problems.
What requirements must be met to activate Vodafone OneNumber?
So far, this Alexa feature is only available to Vodafone customers. Therefore, the first requirement is that our mobile phone is in this company. It works for both clients individuals and microenterprise. In both cases, this feature is reserved for contract customers.
On the other hand, customers who want to access OneNumber will need to have a My Vodafone account linked to the telephone number that they are going to use.
Finally, it is also necessary to have the alexa apps installed on the mobile phone to be able to link both accounts. For this, it will be necessary to have both an Echo compatible with OneNumber and an Amazon account, although if you use Alexa on a daily basis, this last requirement is obvious that you meet it.
How to Activate OneNumber for Amazon Echo
to activateare the servstart, follow these steps:
- Open your alexa apps on your iPhone or Android device.
- Go to the ' buttonMore' in the lower right corner.
- Enter the option 'Configuration'.
- Swipe to the section 'Alexa preferences' and enter the option 'Communication'.
- Within the 'Accounts' section, press the '+' located next to 'Vodafone'.
- Click 'Link account'. A browser will open in which you will be asked to log in with your Vodafone username.
- Follow the steps, accept the contract and that's it.
You should bear in mind that activating this service is not free. Vodafone OneNumber has a cost of 1 euro per month if you are going to use it with Alexa (5 euros per month for Smartwatch and tablets), which will be paid together with your mobile contract. However, the first month is trial, so you can try it completely free of charge. You can unsubscribe at any time from the My Vodafone app or website.
The limits of OneNumber and Alexa
The integration between the mobile of a lifetime and Alexa works like a charm. The audio and communication quality is more than correct. However, there are a number of details What you should know before hiring this service.
Emergency calls
This point is important. You won't be able to use Alexa to make an emergency call. We do not know specifically what this limitation is due to, but we consider it a point to improve. Amazon's assistant is being used by more and more seniors, and the integration with OneNumber is perfect for this audience.
However, in an emergency, users of this service they will have to use the mobile phone yes or yes —or a landline— to call 112. This is not a reason not to contract the service, but you must be aware of this limitation before contracting it, as we do not want you to discover this limit at the least opportune moment.
various numbers
Surprisingly, you can link multiple phone numbers to a single Alexa device. All the numbers must be in the same Vodafone account – that is, in the same contract with the same owner, something common in the family. Yes indeed, the service will have to be paid for each line that we want to activate.
What happens when I'm not at home?
OneNumber has a function call 'Out of home'. Once activated, the service will prevent the Echo from receiving calls when you are on the go. You won't have to do it by hand; the system detects by location that you are no longer at home and will activate the mode without you having to intervene.
To activate it, go back to the route in which you activated the service within the Alexa app and check the option to activate the 'away from home' mode. The adjustment will take effect when you move 150 meters away from your house and it will return to its normal state when you approach that distance.