Google Nest has stopped making Phone calls

[RDR]

A while ago I set up the Google "Household Contacts" in the Google Home app to allow a disabled relative to make phone calls via the Google Nest speaker. It's not something she needs do do often, but when she does need it it's really important it works. This worked without issue for about a year, but a few months ago it didn't work. At the time we assumed it was just a glitch and because other things were happening we forgot about the issue.

Recently we've had to try again, and it's still not working.... Typical conversation is:

"Phone xxxxx"

"Who do you want to call?"
"Phone xxxxx"
"Who do you want to call?"
"xxxxx"
"Who do you want to call?"
"Ring xxxxx"
"Who do you want to call?"

I've checked that all the various people as still in "Household Contacts" and the numbers have not changed (One of them is mine so I know that's true!). There are 4 speakers in the house, and each one exhibits the same problem. Any ideas?

[sicsacol]

Hi @RDR,

Thanks for reaching out in the community forum. I'm sorry to hear you're having difficulties making phone calls using your Nest speaker. I understand that this feature is really helpful, and it can be frustrating when the device isn't working as expected. Let's work together to get this fixed. To help me with that, I have a few questions for you:

• What type of Nest speaker do you have?
• Are any of the voice commands working for the speaker or display? Example: “Ok Google, what time is it?"
• Is it a domestic number or international?
• Is there any ringtone after dialing the number?

Any additional details you can provide will be helpful.

Regards,
Jonathan

[RDR]

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for getting back to me. In answer to your questions:

1. There are 4 speakers, none of which are making calls. The speakers are a mixture of Nest Mini (1st gen) and Nest Mini (2nd gen)
2. Other commands are working. Asking for the weather happens almost daily!
3. The numbers we are trying to ring are all domestic (but I'm based in the Europe, not the US). This includes a couple of phones that are Android phones and a normal domestic hose phone
4. As far as I can tell it's not dialling the number. I have one of the phones and it's not trying to ring me. The assistant just keeps asking us who we want to phone until we give up.

We have tried rebooting the speakers but that has not helped. We have also tried all the variants I can think of for making a call - "ring", "call", "dial", "phone" but it's just asking us who it should phone.

[RDR]

The other thing I tried was creating nickname in the "Household Contacts" to make the names shorter, as I thought it might be having trouble with the names. I know that sounds odd, because it was working, but I do know that it had trouble with a first name which is pronounced different between the UK and the US. Anyway, it didn't make any difference. 

[Marcelo4]

Hi there, I'm having the same problem with my mother's Google Nest Mini. I'm curious if you manage to fix your. And how. 

[Marcelo4]

Hi there, I'm having the same problem with my mother's Google Nest Mini. As you, I followed all the troubleshooting guidance and, still it doesn't work. I'm curious if you manage to fix your. And how. 

[sicsacol]

Hi @RDR,

Thanks for your reply. I really appreciate your troubleshooting efforts. Let's try the following steps:

• Check that contacts are synced.
• Perform a power cycle of your router by unplugging it, waiting for two minutes, and then plugging it back in.

To learn more about this feature, please check out the following articles: Set up calling on your Google Nest speaker or display, Set up household contacts on your speaker or display.

Let me know how it goes after trying these steps. I'm happy to assist further if needed.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[RDR]

Hi,

The router was been power cycled along with all the speakers (their was a power outage the other day when a storm hit!), but that didn't help.

A resync of the contacts sounds like a good idea. I started to follow the instructions on the linked page, but came stuck at the bit where I have to open Home, select Settings, communications and the Call Providers. I can get to the Communications page, but there is no option for Call Providers. I've got

• Video and Voice Apps
• Device and Call Settings 
• Broadcast 
• Household contacts 

None of these pages have a 'Contacts uploading' option

Maybe the instructions are out of date?

[sicsacol]

Hi @RDR,

Thanks for the update.

Did you make sure the app is updated? I recommend removing some contacts from your household contacts and then adding them again to see if that works, as you're unable to sync your contacts. I also encourage you to submit feedback directly from your device, if you haven’t already. Just say “Hey Google, send feedback” and provide as much detail as possible when prompted. This will help us create or improve our services.

Please keep me updated.

Best regards,
Jonathan

[RDR]

Hi Jonathan,

I'm using version 3.28.1.7 of Google Home on my Android phone. According to the Play Store this is the latest version.
I have been playing with the application, and one I tried was Settings > Communication > Video and Voice Apps, then deselected the speakers. After a moment I reselected them and tried again.... *Initially* this worked and we could make voice calls again, however the following day the Speaker just reverted to asking who to call again. Obviously it's not a solution, but maybe it gives you some idea what the underlying problem is?

[RDR]

The other thing I should have said is that I've tried removing all the people from "Household Contacts" and adding them back in again. It didn't help

[sicsacol]

Hi @RDR,

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate the workaround you tried to improve the situation, and I'm sorry that it didn't work.

Since you have already checked the settings in the Home app, I recommend you try linking the Google Meet app to your Nest speakers. This will allow Google Meet to handle the calls, as it appears you don't currently have a default calling app set up.

Please let me know how it goes.

Regards,
Jonathan

[RDR]

Hi,

As suggested, I've gone into the Communication > Video and Voice Apps > Google Meet section. The only options I've got here are "Legacy calling account" and "In-call settings".
As I'm not sure what to changed I've run "Unlink Google Meet Account" and and then reactivated very thing. Unfortunately, this has not helped

[sicsacol]

Hi @RDR,

Thanks for continuing to reply.

As we have already tried some troubleshooting steps and this situation persists, I suggest you send us feedback. Just say “Hey Google, send feedback” and provide as much detail as possible when prompted. Make sure to add the words "Call audio issue" and the error you receive when you try to make calls.

I appreciate your cooperation on this and sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Let me know once you've submitted feedback.

Regards,
Jonathan 

[RDR]

Sure. I've submitted it.

BTW, it will be about a week before I am able to reply to this thread 

[sicsacol]

Hi @RDR,

Thanks for keeping me updated.

As one option, I recommend exploring the Google Meet Community for further guidance on connecting your Google Meet account. This may provide additional ideas or solutions, as Google Meet needs to be the app handling your calls on your Nest speaker.

Sorry that this is taking too long, please try it and keep me posted.

Cheers,
Jonathan 

[Marcelo4]

I'm having similar problem with my mother's Google Nest Mini. It receives calls, and responds to her questions, but acts similar to what is described in this chat. She can't call anyone. It either keeps asking who she wants to call, or says the contact doesn't exist, or asks if she wants to call herself ("do you want to call Nada?") I followed all the troubleshooting steps. Still it won't work.

[sicsacol]

Hi @Marcelo4,

Thanks for posting in the community forum. I'm sorry to hear you're going through this issue with your Nest speaker. I'm here to help.

To ensure we're on the same page, could you please confirm if you've already followed any troubleshooting steps? If so, what were the results?

Any additional details you can provide will be helpful.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[Marcelo4]

Thanks, Jonathan, yes we followed all the troubleshoot instructions. All apps and the phone are updated... Nest responds to questions, but won't make calls, which is very frustrating for all of us, especially for her, as she is vision impaired and relies on Nest to make calls. Her Google Home is configured to both English and German. For making calls, it doesn't respond to either languages. We really don't know how to fix it, as I feel we did everything and it still doesn't work. 

[Marcelo4]

Hi Jonathan, this is being a real frustrating experience. Now is not possible to call my mother-in-law to her Nest either. And it happened out of the blue. We submitted the feedback as instructed, and there is no answer. The "call-back" support option is useless. We submitted the request on Saturday and no one called back. As I mentioned before, we followed all the troubleshooting instructions. I don't know what else to do. We decided - and it might be just a stupid choice- to buy a new Nest and install it from scratch. I'm really disappointed.

[RDR]

Hi,
I'm back from my travels and can confirm that I'm still unable to make calls through the Nest Speaker.

The problem is frustrating because, like  Marcelo4, I set this up to help a disabled relative. In our case I don't *think* she uses this feature that often, but when she does make a call it's because that call is urgent. Essentially this is her safety net, so to find it has stopped working for no apparent reason is a cause for concern.

[Marcelo4]

Hi RDR,

I'm sharing the same frustration. The instructions  from the community don't help. And the direct support options simply don't work. Google offer a call back option for support, but they just don't call back. Such a large Enterprise, and no regard for users... unfortunately it's the same with all these large software companies... thanks for sharing your experience

[RDR]

I don't suppose anyone has any further updates? 

[Marcelo4]

Hey, I do... my mother-in-laws Nest, started understanding the request and making calls again two days ago... But there is no explanation. I try checking online is there was any update, but Google is not really transparent about it. But it's working now. 

[RDR]

That's good news.

Unfortunately in my case it's still not working. The speaker just keeps asking me "Who do you want to call?", but none of the registered name do anything. I also tried 'Ghostbusters' but that didn't work either! 

[RDR]

I guess this thread is dead now.

Unfortunately it leaves me without a solution       : -(