Make Duo calls with your speakers or displays

You can make and receive video and audio calls with other Google Duo users on your Google Nest or Home speakers or displays with Duo. Learn more about how to make calls on speakers and displays.

While Duo is being updated to Google Meet, there’s no change to the experience on your Nest speakers and displays. You can continue to call friends and family as you normally would on your speaker or display.

Duo calls are available on the following devices in all countries and languages where the device is available:

• Displays: Google Nest Hub, Google Nest Hub Max
• Speakers: Google Home, Google Nest Mini (2nd gen), Google Home Mini (1st gen), Google Home Max, Google Nest Audio, Google Nest Wifi point

Before you begin

What you need

• The latest version of the Google Home app available on Android or iOS.

Who you can call

• You can make or receive calls from other Duo users worldwide.
• You can make calls between your Google Nest speakers, displays and mobile devices.
• For video calling, the device you call or that calls you, must have a camera. Nest Hub can receive video with Duo, but can't send video.
• Emergency calls can't be made with Duo.

How much calls cost

• No additional charge.

Set up Duo calling on your speaker or display

Turn on personal results to call contacts

Personal results allow you to call your Google contacts when you say their name, "Hey Google, call [contact name]." Learn more about personal results.

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Touch and hold your device's tile.
3. Tap Settings   Recognition & sharing  Recognition & personalization.
4. Turn on Allow personal results.

Note: To make calls to your contacts, Web and app activity must also be turned on in your account.

Set up Duo

Important: If you already use Duo, make sure you connect your Google Account in the Duo app on your phone before following these steps.

Speakers

1. On your mobile device, open the Google Home app .
2. Touch and hold your device's tile.
3. At the top right, tap Settings   Voice calls.
4. Follow the in-app instructions for set up.

Displays

1. On your mobile device, open the Google Home app .
2. Touch and hold your device's tile.
3. At the top right, tap Settings   Voice & video calls  Call Providers  Duo.
4. Follow the in-app instructions for set up.

If you have trouble getting calls on Duo after you set up your speaker or display, check that you’re signed in to the same Google Account on Duo and your display or speaker.

Sync your contacts

To call contacts saved on your Android phone or tablet:

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. At the top right, tap your account.
3. Verify that the Google Account shown is the one linked to your Nest speaker or display. To switch accounts, tap another account or Add another account.
4. Tap Manage your Google account.
5. Scroll over and tap the People and sharing tab Contact info from your devices.
6. Turn on Save contacts from your signed-in devices.

If you have many contacts or new contacts, it can take a few minutes for them to sync. If your contacts don't sync, make sure that syncing contacts is turned on in your phone’s settings. Open your phone’s Settings . Tap Google Settings for Google apps  Google Contacts sync  under "Sync status," tap Manage settings  turn on Automatically sync.

Update your contacts and remove duplicates

Nest speakers or displays use your Google contacts to make calls. If your contacts' info isn’t complete or contains similar or duplicate names or numbers, your device might not be able to place calls to certain contacts.

To clean up your contacts:

1. Go to contacts.google.com.
2. Tap Search  or the search field, and enter the name of the contact you want to update.
3. Tap the contact you want to keep.
4. Under “Contact details,” verify that a phone number is present.
   • If needed, tap Edit to update your contact’s information Save.
5. Now, return to your contacts and find and tap the name of a duplicate contact.
6. Tap More Delete.

Tips:

• Make sure all your contacts’ names are unique. Include first and last names if available.
• Add a phone number, and if available, an email to each contact.
• If a contact appears under “Other contacts,” tap Add to contacts to include in “My contacts.”

Let multiple people make calls from the same device

With Voice Match enabled, additional members of your home can use their own contacts to make calls on your device. To let multiple people use their contacts from the same device, each person needs to set up Voice Match.

Important: If no one sets up Voice Match, everyone can use the contacts of the device’s owner if the owner has personal results turned on.

Household contacts

With household contacts set up, you can allow anyone with access to your Google Nest speakers or displays to call specific contacts that you choose. On Nest displays, this also provides easy touch access to make calls to those contacts.

Set up and manage household contacts

Call someone

To control your call, use your voice or touch controls.

Important: You must turn on personal results to call your contacts. Your contacts must also have Duo set up on their device.

Start a call

Say "Hey Google," then:

• Google Nest Hub Max, Google Nest Hub: Say "Video call [contact]" or "Call [contact] on Duo.” If there's a missed call on your display, tap the notification and then Call [contact name] to return the call.
• On the “Household contacts” card, tap Video call .
• Google Home, Google Nest Mini (2nd gen), Google Home Mini (1st gen), Google Home Max, Google Nest Audio, Google Nest Wifi point: Say "Call [contact] on Duo.”

Note: If Digital Wellbeing is enabled, this feature may be restricted or blocked by Downtime, Filters or Do not disturb.

Learn more about Digital Wellbeing

End a call

Say "Hey Google," then:

• Google Nest Hub Max, Google Nest Hub: "End the call" or "hang up," or tap End call.
• Google Home, Google Home Max: "End the call" or "hang up," or tap the top to hang up.
• Google Nest Mini, Nest Wifi point, Google Nest Audio: "End the call" or "hang up," or tap the center to hang up.
• Google Home Mini: "End the call" or "hang up," or tap the side to hang up.

You can also say "Hey Google," then "stop," "disconnect" or "end call." If the recipient ends the call, you should get an end call tone.

Mute or unmute a call

Tap mute on your device or say "Hey Google," then:

• Say "Hey Google," "Mute call" or "Unmute call."
• Tap Mute .

Call a group of people (Nest displays only)

You can make group video calls with Duo on Nest displays. This feature is available in English in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

Before you begin, create a group in the Duo app.

Make a call

1. Say "Hey Google, start a group call."
2. Tap a group to make a call.

If you have a recent missed call, tap the missed call card to join or return the call. Depending on the group size, some callers may not be visible. Tap the overflow and select the person you want to view.

Note: If Digital Wellbeing is enabled, this feature may be restricted or blocked by Downtime, Filters or Do not disturb.

Learn more about Digital Wellbeing

 

Receive calls

You can receive Duo calls using your speaker or display. To answer a call, say "Hey Google," then “Answer the call.” To decline a call, say "Hey Google," then “Decline the call.” Or, use one of the following touch options:

Answer or decline touch controls

Google Nest Hub Max, Google Nest Hub

• Tap Answer.
• Tap Decline.

Google Home

• Tap the top to answer.
• Press and hold the top to decline.

Google Home Max

• Tap the line on the top or side to answer.
• Press and hold the line on the top or side to decline.

Google Nest Mini (2nd gen), Google Nest Audio, Nest Wifi point

• Tap the center to answer. 
• Tap and hold the center to decline.

Google Home Mini (1st gen)

• Tap the side to answer. 
• Press and hold the side to decline.

Only Ring When Home

Only Ring When Home allows you to receive incoming calls on your speakers or displays when you’re home, and prevents calls to your devices when you’re away from home. Once enabled, presence sensing automatically determines whether you're home or away and can be used for other features that depend on location information like Home & Away Routines.

Changes made to presence sensing settings in a feature that uses presence sensing could affect how the other features function if they rely on presence sensing. For example, if you turn off phone location in Home & Away Routines, this causes your home devices to ring if someone calls while you’re away.

Note: You can only use one app to share phone location at a time. For example, if you’ve shared your phone location with the Nest app, when you enable your location in the Home app, this gets disabled in the Nest app.

Except for Nest Hub (2nd gen), Only Ring When Home does not apply to calls between your devices.

Turn on Only Ring When Home

You can turn on Only Ring When Home with the Google Home app so that your speakers and displays don’t ring when you’re away from home.

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Tap Settings .
3. Tap Communication  Device & Call Settings.
4. Under "Only ring when home," tap Set up.
5. Follow the in-app instructions.

Note: If you’ve previously set up Home & Away Routines, you have the option instead of “Set up” to simply turn on Only ring when home.

Turn off Only Ring When Home

You can turn off Only Ring When Home in the Google Home app to allow your devices to ring anytime even when you’re away from home.

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Tap Settings .
3. Tap Communication  Device & Call Settings.
4. Turn off Only ring when home.
5. Tap Turn off.

Do not disturb

To temporarily prevent a device to receive calls, turn on do not disturb. 

Note: This will also disable incoming broadcasts and reminder notifications. To prevent call notifications on a regular schedule, set up night mode.

Make calls between your devices

Members of your home can call your speakers or displays from their phone or from the home’s other displays or speakers. Note: Nest Hub (2nd gen) will not be able to receive calls between devices when Only Ring When Home is turned on and you're away from home.

Call from a speaker or display to a speaker or display

To call another speaker or display in your home, say "Hey Google," then "Call [display or speaker name]," or "Video call [display or speaker name]."

Call from your phone to your speakers or displays

To call your devices from your phone, you’ll need:

• Google Assistant on your phone
• Duo set up on your phone
• A Google Account connected to your Duo phone number
• To use the same Google Account on your phone as on your display or speaker.

With the ​Google Assistant: Say ”Hey Google,” then “Video call [Smart display or speaker name]," or "Video call [name of your home]" to ring all of your devices.

With the Duo app: Open the Duo app . Swipe up tap Call my home devices. This will ring all of your devices.

With the Google Home app: Open the Google Home app . Tap Call home . This will ring all of your home speakers and displays.

Send a video message using Duo on Google Nest Hub Max

You can send a video message using Google Duo on your Google Nest Hub Max. When you send a video message, the person you’ll send it to can view it on the Duo app or from their Google Nest Hub Max.

Note: The recipient of your message needs to have Duo set up. You can download the Duo app from the Play Store.

1. Say “Hey Google, send a video message to [contact name]." An on-screen timer will count down from 3, so you can get ready.
2. Record your video message. Note: Video messages have a 30 second time limit.
3. Say “Hey Google, stop recording” or tap the Stop button.
   • You can review your message before you send by tapping Play.
   • If you want to re-record your message, tap or say “Re-record.”
4. Tap or say “Send” to send the message.

Unlink Duo from your speaker or display

Speakers

1. On your mobile device, open the Google Home app .
2. Touch and hold your device's tile.
3. At the top right, tap Settings   Voice calls  Unlink Duo from this device  Unlink.

Displays

1. On your mobile device, open the Google Home app .
2. Touch and hold your device's tile.
3. At the top right, tap Settings   Voice & video calls  Unlink Duo from this device  Unlink.