New Google Assistant 'Hold for Me' feature debuts on the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 in the US

Google recently launched the new Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G devices, which have brought a few new software tweaks to enhance the overall experience. One of those features is ‘Hold for Me’, which aims to increase the user’s productivity while waiting on a call for a customer support representative.

‘Hold for Me’ was introduced as an early preview feature the new Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G) devices. The ‘Hold for Me’ feature is currently only available for users in the US for now.  Rather than wait for a customer support representative, you can use ‘Hold for Me’, which will enable Google Assistant to wait on the line if you are put on hold. The feature will alert you when a representative is assigned to you or when someone takes you off hold.

Hold for Me is powered by Google’s Duplex technology, which recognises both music and recorded messages that play on a loop while you are waiting for a representative during a call. The technology can recognise when a representative is on the line and will use Google Assistant to notify you as soon as the representative is ready to talk to you.

The feature will also use Google Assistant to ask the representative to hold until you return to the call. Google wrote in a blog post, “We gathered feedback from a number of companies, including Dell and United, as well as from studies with customer support representatives, to help us design these interactions and make the feature as helpful as possible to the people on both sides of the call.”

The ‘Hold for Me’ feature is optional and can be enabled/disabled in Settings. The blog post also notes that the tech giant has gathered feedback from a number of companies, including Dell and United, as well as from studies with customer support representatives, to help design these interactions and “make the feature as helpful as possible to the people on both sides of the call.

Google also notes that the feature doesn’t require Wi-Fi or mobile data, the audio listened by Google Assistant is processed on the device. To ensure privacy, the tech giant also claims that no audio will be saved or shared in any manner. The feature is expected to roll out to more people in the coming months.