HomePod as conference speakerphone
by Volker Weber
This wasn't obvious to me, but using your HomePod as a speakerphone is a really cool usecase. When in a call, hit the Audio button and select your nearest HomePod to transfer the audio to instead of using the iPhone speaker. I still need to try this out on longer calls, but there is a lot going on in HomePod to make this work really well. For now, you can't ask Siri to place calls for you or to answer your iPhone, but that is an obvious next stept.
HomePod just got a lot more useful. And it's pretty unique. Sonos can't do that, neither can Amazon Echo. It's very much like a Polycom Soundstation.
Update: This is working really well. Much better than a Polycom.
Comments
I often wished alexa could do phone calls - I hope it’ll happen one day.
You can actually pair your Echo with your phone via bluetooth. You can even ask Alexa to do that for you after initial setup.
Yes, you can do that. But only for the speaker part, not the microphone array.
Pretty nice. I hope it's better than a Polycom though: those things are a PoS. I have never understood why so many corporates bought them, dreadful sound quality.
Google Home can do phone calls.
Thanks, Carl. I assume it can be the speakerphone for your smartphone, right? Can assistant also place or answer the call?
Thanks Volker, wasn't aware of that fact although I always assumed it. HomePod is becoming an option.
