We live surrounded by technology and home automation is increasingly present. We have household appliances capable of knowing when, how much and how to wash clothes or vacuum dust. We also have the possibility to turn something on or off simply from the mobile, wherever we are. There are devices that are compatible with Alexa and Google Home that make our day to day life easier. Now, can you call 112 in case of emergency? We talk about it in this article.
What are Alexa and Google Home? They are basically intelligent voice assistants. We can ask questions to get the answers we need. They can also be connected to all kinds of devices and be able to control them remotely just by having a mobile with an internet connection.
They need the ability to call
The quick and simple answer is no, although as we’ll see later, there are options. Alexa or Google Home devices cannot make calls in case of emergency. They cannot help you if an accident happens in your home. At least for now, technology and home automation don’t have this capability. The main hurdle is that the devices need the ability to make calls and just having a Wi-Fi internet connection is not enough. They need to call 112, provide some information, have access to a location to record in case the call is disconnected, etc.
There is also a reason for false positives or misinterpretation. That is, if Alexa had that capability, she could mistakenly call 112 or misinterpret voice instructions in noisy situations. This is not an easy thing and can be done with the technology we have today.
Therefore, to contact 112 or any medical, police or fire emergency number, you have to use a mobile or landline phone directly and dial manually. We cannot depend on home automation devices, such as those used by Alexa or Google Home.
There are some options
Although earlier Alexa devices weren’t designed to make calls, you could contact 112. One way is to use the Echo Connect, which is connected to a landline phone, and used as a speaker. This way, you can ask Alexa to call any number. This is important to prevent Wi-Fi from disconnecting.
You also have the option of setting up emergency contacts in the Alexa app. This could be, for example, a friend or relative. That way, Alexa can make a call or send a message and that contact, the emergency person you’ve put on, calls 112 for you or comes to your aid.
In addition, there are some options with the Alexa app that will even allow you to send alerts to contacts in case of an emergency. Even if it is not a 911 call, you can get help when you need it.
So, as you can see, you won’t be able to rely on Alexa to call 112 directly. You’ll be able to do some configuration and in a way be able to ask for help when you need it. Technology is advancing a lot and we are witnessing significant changes due to artificial intelligence and home automation. It is possible that in a short time we will have more options in this regard.
