While Google is bringing Google Home to additional countries, Amazon has continued adding more and more features to its Alexa platform. Both Google and Amazon were reportedly working on bringing voice calls to their respective devices, Amazon ended up rolling out this feature just last month. Now we're seeing a new update for all Amazon Echo devices that adds intercom features as long as you have a few things setup ahead of time.
The feature works just as it sounds with someone being able to start a 2-way conversation with another Echo device that is connected to their account. You'll be able to specify exactly which device you want to start talking and listening through so it's even better than the in-house intercom systems that homes used to have. You'll even be able to do this directly from the Alexa application on your phone in case you aren't near another Echo device or even in your home at that time.
Before you can begin using this feature though, you'll need to setup a few things first. To start off, you will need to give each individual Amazon Echo device its own room name, which can be configured within the Alexa application. This is needed because you're able to specify which Echo device you want to talk through. Once that is done, you will then need to make sure that Amazon's drop-in feature is enabled within your house, which again can be done inside the Alexa application.
Some people don't like the idea of having this drop-in feature enabled as it will grant anyone access to your Alexa devices to activate the intercom feature. There doesn't seem to be any way to block this as of right now, so it's an all or nothing feature if you want to use it. Hopefully this receives some customization features in the future since there are just some times when people expect privacy within their own home.
Source: The Verge
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