When the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G arrive, they’ll include an early preview of Google’s new feature for the Phone app, the Duplex-powered “Hold for Me.” Mentioned during the Launch Night presentation and explained in a blog post, it lets Google Assistant wait around and wait for someone to pick up when a business is keeping you on hold.
It follows Call Screen and Verified Calls as new features that use Assistant to make phone calls less annoying, and repurposes the Duplex developments to let AI detect hold music and produce a notification once someone actually picks up.