Google tests Gemini feature to make business calls for users

MUMBAI: Phone calls may be getting a new middleman, and this one does not need a coffee break. Google is testing “Call for Me”, a Gemini-powered feature that can ring businesses, navigate automated menus, wait on hold and speak to staff on a user’s behalf.

The experiment is initially available in the US to Pixel 11 owners with a Gemini subscription. Users also need the beta version of Google’s Phone app for Android, with the company positioning the feature as an early test rather than a broad rollout.

Call for Me is designed for the kind of everyday errands that can turn a two-minute task into a 20-minute hold. Gemini can call a shop to check whether a product is in stock, contact a restaurant to make a reservation, reschedule an appointment or ask a business to hold an item.

Once the call begins, Gemini introduces itself and handles the conversation, including working through automated phone menus and waiting for a human representative. Users can follow the interaction through a live transcript and step into the call whenever they want, keeping a human hand on the wheel.

The feature also goes a step further by allowing Gemini to share personal information that the user has explicitly authorised it to provide. That could make conversations with businesses more useful, particularly when a request requires details beyond a simple yes-or-no enquiry.

Calls are placed directly from the user’s phone and use their own phone number. Google is therefore not simply building another chatbot that stops at the edge of the screen; it is testing an assistant that can cross the line into real-world transactions and conversations.

The idea itself is not entirely new for Google. Back in 2018, the company demonstrated Google Assistant calling a salon to make a reservation. The demo drew attention because the AI used pauses and filler words designed to make its speech sound more conversational.

Google subsequently introduced “Ask for Me”, allowing Gemini to contact businesses to enquire about services or pricing. Pixel users have also had “Hold for Me” and “Talk to a Live Rep”, which can navigate automated systems and wait for a human representative. “Direct My Call”, meanwhile, displays the numbers users need to press while moving through interactive voice response systems.

Call for Me brings those strands together, but with a bigger ambition: instead of simply helping users survive the phone tree, Gemini can attempt to complete the task at the other end of it.

Google is, however, keeping the experiment deliberately narrow. Real-world phone conversations can veer off script quickly, with unexpected questions, unclear responses and business-specific processes creating challenges for an AI system. The company said it wants to refine the technology before expanding availability.

The test also reflects a broader shift in how AI assistants are being built. The emphasis is moving from answering a question to acting on the answer, whether that means finding information, making arrangements or, in this case, actually picking up the phone and doing the talking.