If you’re a T-Mobile subscriber, good news: Your Alexa-powered Amazon Echo speaker just became a phone.
Amazon just announced that T-Mobile is the latest U.S. carrier to support Alexa’s carrier calling feature, which allows you to place and receive calls from your cellular number using an Alexa device.
Once you’ve linked your T-Mobile number to Alexa, you’ll be able to tell Alexa to call anyone on your contact list. For example, you can say “Alexa, call Susan,” and the call will be placed using your T-Mobile digits.
On the flip side, Alexa will also field incoming T-Mobile calls. Once Alexa announces the caller, you can pick up by saying “Alexa, answer call,” or you can ghost the caller by saying “Alexa, dismiss call.”
Connecting your T-Mobile number will also allow you to ask Alexa to call 911, a feature that requires confirming your address.
AT&T was the first U.S. carrier to allow you to link your cellular number with Alexa, with the carrier adding the functionality back in 2020. Verizon followed suit with hands-free Alexa calling roughly a year later.
While neither T-Mobile nor AT&T charges a fee for hands-free Alexa calls, Verizon subscribers must pony up $5 a month for Alexa to place and field cellular calls.
To link your T-Mobile number with Alexa, just fire up the Alexa app, tap the More tab at the bottom of the screen, then tap Settings > Communication > T-Mobile, then follow the prompts.
Once your T-Mobile number is linked, all your Alexa devices will be ready to make and receive cellular calls, but you can disable the feature on specific Alexa speakers by deselecting them under the “Allow calling on” heading within the Alexa app’s T-Mobile settings.
Another setting below the “Allow calling on” section lets you disable all incoming calls over Alexa.
Even if you don’t connect your cellular number to Alexa, you can still make free “Alexa-to-Phone” calls to landlines and mobile numbers in certain territories, but as of 2021, you’re restricted to just 10 contacts.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers smart speakers, soundbars, and other smart and home-theater devices. You can follow Ben on Twitter.