One of the most widely used smart home products is Amazon’s Echo speakers. Amazon has crammed its Echo product line with useful features and taken great care to ensure that they are compatible with a wide range of third-party services. The Amazon Echo’s capacity to place free voice calls to other people is a little-known capability. Setting up the function requires some work, but it’s well worth it.

To get started, you’ll need the Amazon Alexa app for your Android or iPhone, which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store for Android and the App Store for iOS, respectively (iOS). Once you’ve downloaded the app, launch it and log in with the same Amazon account you use to access your Echo devices to get going.

How to configure your Amazon Echo for Alexa calls

Start by launching the app and selecting the communicate option in the bottom left. If you haven’t already, please verify your name and phone number before continuing. Once you’ve done that, you can use your Echo to make calls simply telling it to “Alexa, call Optimus Prime,” and the call will begin immediately.

Before you go too far, there are a few things to consider. There are some restrictions, but these calls are free. Only the US, UK, Canada, Mexico, Austria, Germany, Japan, India, Belgium, Chile, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Colombia, Cyprus, Estonia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Greece, Finland, Iceland, and Hungry can be called from echo speakers. Even if you are calling one of these nations, there will be a fee for calling premium-rate numbers, and Alexa cannot be used to reach emergency services. With the exception of those restrictions, you can call any landline or mobile number in your contact list. All Echo speakers can use this capability, and if you have an Amazon Echo Show, you can start video conversations.

“Alexa, Drop-In on…”

In addition to regular calls, you can turn Echo devices into intercoms with Drop-In. It works similarly to the broadcast feature on Google’s Nest devices, allowing you to broadcast a message to a specific Alexa smart speaker. But Amazon has an advantage over Google—dropping in on people outside your home.

To set up Drop-In, you’ll once again need to return to the Alexa app:

• Open the Alexa app and tap on the communicate tab in the bottom left of the screen.
• Tap on the person icon in the top right corner.
• Tap on your name where it says my communication settings.
• Turn on the toggle that says allow Drop-In.

Drop-In is now enabled, and you can say, “Alexa, drop in on the living room Echo Show” to broadcast to that room. There are two other things we need to configure with Drop-In — which contacts can Drop In on you and which Alexa devices they can do it on:

• Open the Alexa app and tap on the communicate tab in the bottom left of the screen
• Tap on the person icon in the top right corner.
• Find the contact you’re looking for and tap on their name.
• Under permissions, switch on the allow Drop-In toggle.

Now that your contacts are configured, you may want to limit which of your Amazon Echo devices can use Drop-In, either by yourself or others.

• Open the Alexa app and tap on the more tab in the bottom right of the screen.
• Open Settings.
• Scroll down and open device settings.
• You’ll see a list of all your devices. Find the one you want to change, and open it.

• Tap on the settings cog in the top right corner of the screen.
• Scroll through the list and open communications.
• Tap on Drop-In.
• Select on at the top of the list.

If you’d rather nobody can Drop In on that device at all, even within your household, you can repeat those steps and set Drop In to off instead.

You may make hands-free, voice-activated calls to your friends now that everything has been set up to your preferences. Users of Alexa benefit from free Wi-Fi calls to any home or mobile phone, making it easier for them to keep in touch with their loved ones.

You should discover how to make the most of your Echo Dot whether you are an Amazon veteran or a novice checking out a cheap Echo Dot. It goes without saying that you’ll find them on sale on Amazon Prime Day 2022, which will be held on July 12 and 13. Amazon routinely offers sales for its Echo series, so you can pretty much count on it. If you’re not already a member, you might want to learn more about the benefits that Amazon Prime subscribers receive and set up a free trial to capitalize on the discounts.