Calling to and from Google Devices

[Animal827]

I have Google Nest Home Mini and Audio devices throughout the home (excluding TVs). I want to be able to two things:

1. I want to call from one device to another like an intercom. I would prefer if the messages were not broadcasted throughout the entire house on every device. 

2. I want to call from a phone to another device. Again, not broadcasting through the entire house on every device. 

I have read conflicting Google articles that seem to make it possible. Then I tried on a device and it said feature no linger available. Is any of this possible? 

[ByronP]

Hi Animal827,

Thank you for reaching out to the community. I understand that you would like to call from one Nest device to another and call from your phone to any Nest device; also, you preferred to not broadcast messages throughout the entire house. Let's work together to find a solution.

The Google Nest Mini and Nest Audio can make calls in three ways:

1.  Google Meet calling (formerly Google Duo)

• Available in all countries and languages where Google Nest or Home speakers or displays are sold.

2.  Google-supported calling.

• Available only in the US and Canada.

3.  Mobile calling with Google Fi and Google Voice.

• Available only in the US.
• Requires a Google Fi or Google Voice plan.

To set up the Google Meet calls, you need to do the following:

Link your calling app or service in the Google Home app.

Note: With Google-supported calling (US and Canada only), you don't need to link additional apps or services to call your Google contacts.

To connect your Google Meet account to your Nest Mini and Nest Audio, here are the steps:

1. Open the Google Home app.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Communication, then Video & Voice Apps, and then Google Meet.

• Depending on your device, you might need to tap Google Duo.

      4. Follow the in-app instructions for setup.

Currently the option to not broadcast messages to your Nest devices in your house isn't available. We're always looking for improvements; please share your thoughts and experiences and submit them to the feedback form so it can address this concern in future updates.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Byron

[Animal827]

I am not sure what happened to my reply from a couple of hours ago, but I will restate here again.

For # 1, I found this article Broadcast voice messages to Google Nest or Home devices 

When I tried to call one device to another previously, I get an error from device that the feature is no longer available (not sure why it was taken away). However, when I use a device to call another room it seems to work. Sometimes it will be a recording of your voice, but sometimes Google will speak for you. Google Nest support chat was no help. I had two different chats with "Arjit". First chat was to complete a feedback from while not even answering the questions if possible. Then chat was disconnected (even though it says it will stay open for 24 hours). The second was to state feature is no longer available and again chat immediately closed (so rude!).

I am still working on #2, but I am starting to think that unless I am in the house on the same WiFi network, it will not work. Still trying to figure out how to do it on the same network (e.g., if I am outside and I want to broadcast a message to the kitchen).

The intercom system has been around for decades, and you figure this would be a simple feature of a "smart" home environment. I mean, they want you to buy multiple devices and place them around your home, but not use them to talk to each other (the Google Nest cameras have this feature through the Nest app, but the speaker volume is trash).

While I appreciate your help Byron, I think you are incorrect that the broadcast feature is not available (as evidenced by the linked article). Thanks anyway, and i hope to find out more about these devices from my own research and others in the community.

[ByronP]

Hi Animal827,

Thank you for your response. I appreciate the detailed information and the link provided. I understand this might be frustrating, and I apologize for any misunderstanding.

The information posted above is that if you try to disable the feature of broadcasting messages, the broadcast messages on Nest devices are still there, as per the article you provided.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Byron

[Simone73]

Byron, we all know that the two-way intercom function between 2 speakers has been discontinued and that only the announcement function to all the speakers in the house remains. I have 9 of them, one placed in each room, and I bought them mainly for the intercom function. I put them all up for sale to switch to Alexa which has kept the intercom function.