Google Assistant’s new “Hold for Me” feature was announced during the Pixel launch event and was recently explained in a blog post as well. If you’re stuck on hold during a phone call, this feature will make it easier for you.
It will be featured first in the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5 as soon as they hit the shelves and will gradually roll out to older Pixels as well.
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The Duplex powered Hold for Me feature is ideal for when you’re stuck on hold in a call. Google Assistant will wait around until the other person gets back to the call and will notify you. This eliminates the hassle of being stuck with your phone when business is keeping you on hold.
Check out the feature in action in the tweet below.
Hold for Me saves you, and your ears, hours of elevator music.
When you’re put on hold, Google Assistant will wait and notify you when someone comes on the line, ready to talk. You’ll like it, unless elevator music is your jam.https://t.co/Jieau9GfMQ #LaunchNightIn #Pixel5G pic.twitter.com/Ap6V4eJfq8
— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) September 30, 2020
It will use AI to detect whether the caller has returned and will stop music or other media to notify you. It will also show captions in real-time to show what is going on as the Assistant can tell whether it’s a recorded message on the other end or an actual person.
Google says that the feature will not save your audio or save it to your account unless you have the share for quality control option on. The AI processing is, in fact, done on the device itself rather than the cloud and the recorded audio is deleted within 48 hours.
