Google has silently rolled out a large modify for its Duo video calling service, which now allows you to identify and receive those calls from the web without needing to link Duo with a phone number. Nosotros don't know precisely when this change occurred, but in our ain testing, the feature is already live, though it is incomplete: Information technology doesn't appear to work with G Suite accounts, and while you can brand calls just fine, information technology's a little awkward for others to call you lot.

Correct at present, if you navigate to duo.google.com on a not-Thou Suite (read: normal "@gmail.com") account which hasn't already had Duo linked to a telephone number, instead of existence prompted to add that number before continuing, you'll simply exist shepherded to the standard site, which allows you to search your Google account's contacts and initiate audio and video calls. Placing those calls works as they would if you had a telephone number associated, and you're connected without any problem.

Placing a call via Duo to an account that has a telephone number linked (left), and one that doesn't (correct). (Annotation that I had to blur out Corbin's phone number for his privacy, but the other e-mail-simply account has no listed phone number at all.)

The reverse as well sort of works, and "regular" Duo accounts linked to phone numbers can place calls to accounts that are only associated with an email accost. However, there is i major obstruction worth noting: Email-but Duo accounts without phone numbers don't seem to appear in your contacts listing, and you can't search for them. You can only really brand the phone call from a phone-number-associated Duo business relationship to an e-mail-only business relationship if yous can admission the contact via another route —like your recent activeness list/notifications at the top, should they take chosen you recently.

In a higher place and below: The warnings that you'll receive from Duo on an account with no associated phone number.

Y'all'll also get a handful of warnings on the email-only account in the Duo web customer, including a corner pop up telling y'all to "Let your friends find you past your phone number" and a banner request you to "employ your phone number to brand and receive calls." You lot can ignore them and withal place and receive calls just fine, though. In contrast, if y'all try to go to Duo with a G Suite account that isn't linked to a phone number, you'll simply hit a wall that asks you to enter a phone number and verify information technology before you can proceed.

1000 Suite accounts accept to verify before they can continue.

This change also appears to exist spider web-merely. Although we know the ability to utilise Duo without a phone number has been planned for some fourth dimension, the current customer for Android still prompts y'all to enter a phone number when y'all beginning launch the app, and at that place doesn't appear to be a way around information technology. (Although somehow Duo on one of my phones was also able to work with 1 of the email-just Duo accounts I tested, after unlinking the business relationship to test the login process again, I was unable to reproduce this, and I don't know how information technology happened in the first identify.)

Receiving a call from my not-telephone-registered testing business relationship on Duo.

Nosotros've tested this apparent change in functionality with multiple Google accounts and tin verify you can make and receive calls at present without a registered phone number through the web customer. I should also note that Google'south support documentation still states that a phone number is required to use Duo.

Nosotros don't know precisely when Duo may have changed to allow calls without a registered phone number, or why it doesn't work in our tests with Thou Suite accounts. We've reached out to Google through multiple avenues for more information almost this change, just a response was not forthcoming at the time of publication.