https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/9/29/16387398/amazon-echo-free-voice-calls-us-canada-mexico

In case you missed the announcement during Amazon’s very busy hardware event earlier this week, the Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show have all gained the ability to place voice calls to numbers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico for free. If you want to receive calls from regular numbers, you’ll need the new $35 Connect box that Amazon unveiled on Wednesday, which also allows you to use your home telephone number for Echo calls and dial emergency services like 911 or premium rate / international numbers.

But this is still a nice upgrade from the original version of Alexa calling that Amazon rolled out, which only let you call other Echo owners or people with the Alexa app installed and set up on their smartphone. Now you can just tell your Echo to call anyone in your contacts or speak out a specific number to dial.