Abstract:
Google is testing a new feature called "Call for Me" that allows Gemini to directly call businesses on behalf of users and complete the entire call process independently. Unlike in the past, which could only help users dial numbers or provide assistance in the phone menu, this time Gemini has truly taken on the job of "making calls for users". It can inquire about product inventory, understand prices, make reservations for services, modify reservation times, and even wait for a long time on the other end of the phone for a human to answer.
Currently, this feature is still in the experimental stage. The first batch is only available to Pixel 11 series mobile phone users in the United States, and users must subscribe to the Gemini service and join the public beta of the Google Phone application. The device system language also needs to be set to English, so the scope of use is quite limited at this stage.
The way "Call for Me" works is significantly different from the normal AI chat function. Users only need to tell Gemini which company they want to contact and what problem they want to solve, and Gemini will make a direct call using the mobile network and phone number of the user's phone. Users do not need to dial the number themselves, nor do they have to wait by the phone all the time.
For example, users can ask Gemini to call a local store to ask if a certain product is in stock; they can also ask it to contact a barber shop to make an appointment for service, or contact a merchant to confirm the price. If the user needs to modify the originally scheduled appointment, Gemini can also communicate with the merchant on behalf of the user and try to complete the rescheduling.
For those business calls that must go through automated voice menus, Gemini can also operate on its own. It recognizes the options provided by the phone system, selects the appropriate menu based on the task, and then continues to wait for a human agent to answer. If a call needs to be queued for a long time, Gemini can also keep the user online without the user having to hold the phone to their ear all the time.
When a real staff member is on the phone, Gemini continues to complete the communication on the user's behalf. At the same time, users can view the call transcript in real time through the mobile phone screen to understand what the AI is discussing with the other party. If the situation changes, users can take over the call at any time and continue communicating with the staff themselves.
In order to allow Gemini to complete more complex tasks, Google allows users to authorize some personal information in advance and let AI provide this information as needed during the call. For example, when making a reservation for services, Gemini may need to provide the user's name, contact information or other information necessary to complete the reservation. However, Google emphasized that Gemini will not share personal information without user authorization at its own discretion.
Gemini will also actively inform the other party when starting a call that it is a Google AI assistant calling on behalf of the user, and explain that the call is being recorded. This means that merchants will not be communicating with the AI without being completely aware of the call.
Google uses the user's own mobile phone number to make calls this time, rather than using an independent AI phone number. In other words, from the perspective of the operator and the called party, the call was actually made by the user's own mobile phone, and normal mobile communication rates still apply.
In fact, this is not the first time Google has tried to let AI make calls instead of users. As early as a few years ago at the Google I/O conference, the company demonstrated the ability of Google Assistant to use AI to call a barber shop or restaurant to make a reservation. The technology at the time was called Duplex, and it would even add pauses like "um" and "ah" during the call to make the AI sound closer to a real person.
Later on, Google launched "Ask for Me", allowing Gemini to call and inquire about product prices, service prices and other information on behalf of users. Pixel phone users have also previously been able to use features such as "Hold for Me" and "Talk to a Live Rep" to let Google Assistant help handle automatic phone menus and hold calls for users when they need to wait for human customer service.
In addition, Google has also provided the "Direct My Call" function, which can recognize the automatic voice menu in corporate phones and display directly on the mobile phone screen which number should be pressed, thereby helping users enter the correct service option faster.
Call for Me, however, is a step forward from these earlier features. In the past, Google's phone AI was mainly responsible for identifying menus, waiting for human customer service, or obtaining some simple information. However, this time Gemini can directly participate in complete natural language conversations and continue to advance tasks based on the information obtained during the call.
This ability is actually a microcosm of Google's efforts to promote the development of AI Agent in recent years. AI no longer just answers users' questions, but begins to perform real-world tasks on behalf of users. For making phone calls, something that many people are unwilling to handle personally but often cannot completely avoid, AI making phone calls is of particular practical significance.
Google stated that the reason why it did not directly open this feature on a large scale is because phone communication in the real world is far more complicated than standardized AI testing. Different companies use different phone systems, automated voice menus, customer service processes, and manual communication methods. AI needs to deal with a large number of unpredictable situations, so the company hopes to continue to improve the system through small-scale experiments.
At the same time, Google is facing increasingly fierce competition in AI agents. Meta has recently let its AI try to contact businesses on behalf of users. Google’s launch of “Call for Me” actually means that large technology companies are competing for a new entrance: making AI not only an information assistant for users, but also an agent between users and real-world companies.
If this type of technology eventually matures, in the future users may only need to tell AI "Ask me if this store has inventory", "Change my appointment to next Wednesday afternoon" or "Call to confirm the repair price", and the rest of the phone dialing, waiting, menu operations and communication will be completed by AI. For users, the phone call itself may gradually become a task handled by the AI background, rather than a communication process that must be participated in person.
Currently, “Call for Me” is still a limited-scale test function and only supports eligible Pixel 11 users in the United States. Google has not announced a specific timetable for opening up to other Pixel devices, other countries and regions, and a wider range of Android devices.
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