As far as voice assistants go, Amazon Alexa came first and a lot of people think it’s the best. It powers the company’s extensive range of Echo hardware and several other smart speakers and displays. For a while now, the Alexa app for phones and Echo speakers has supported voice calling and messaging to existing phone numbers albeit with some limitations. Alexa began supporting caller-side phone numbers in 2020, starting with AT&T and later followed up by Verizon a year later. T-Mobile is finally coming into the fold with the wireless carrier officially rolling out the ability to link T-Mobile accounts with Alexa, allowing their subscribers to make and receive calls on Alexa-powered smart speakers.
Technically, the ability to make landline and mobile calls on Alexa began rolling out in 2017. However, it was limited to just 10 phone numbers and only within North America. Moreover, Alexa only allowed incoming calls from other Alexa users — it couldn’t receive phone calls from regular numbers.
But the aforementioned AT&T and Verizon partnerships with Alexa made way for an expansion of these capabilities, finally enabling users to make or receive regular phone calls using their Echo speakers or Echo Shows. With T-Mobile now joining the fray, millions of more users will now have access to this feature.
The Mobile Report (formerly known as The T-Mo Report) first received a tip containing an image sourced from T-Mobile which details what calling via Alexa does. This image now also appears on the T-Mobile with Alexa skills page.
The company appears to have published a support page for the feature sometime around March 15. Additionally, the Alexa Skills page for the feature contains user reviews from March 14 and 15th, which is further proof of when it may have gone up.
There are some prerequisites to access this feature, though: you’ll need to have Alexa-compatible speakers, set up online accounts for T-Mobile and Alexa, and a valid postpaid plan on T-Mobile. Sprint customers who haven’t migrated to T-Mobile are ineligible.
If you meet these requirements, the feature can be enabled by navigating to the Settings page on the Alexa app, followed by Communication under Alexa Preferences. You should then be able to find T-Mobile within Accounts. Make sure you follow the on-screen instructions to make sure the account linking process is complete.
The convenience of using a nearby Alexa smart speaker to make phone calls cannot be disputed. Customers can ask Alexa to call their logged contacts as well as any ten-digit number. While this feature may not appeal to everyone, it’s a nifty addition to the assistant which is now an integral part of most smart home devices, including thermostats, displays, soundbars, and many more.
