Amazon Alexa has gained new communication skills to keep in touch with others, even if they don't have an Echo speaker.

AT&T customers can now pair their cell phone number to their Alexa account to make and answer calls from compatible Alexa-enabled speakers like the Amazon Echo Dot and Amazon Echo Show 8.

This means that AT&T customers can now make calls even when their cell phone battery runs out or is out of reach. Hands-free calling is also useful when you are in the kitchen preparing food or have another task in front of you.

Unfortunately, this skill is limited to those who use AT&T as their cellular carrier. Amazon could not share whether customers of Verizon, T-Mobile, or other mobile providers will soon benefit from the same calling capabilities.

Of course, all Amazon Alexa users can call or message other Alexa users in their contacts at any time. (For more on that, check out our guide on how to make voice and video calls using Amazon Alexa.)

Learn how to enable AT&T calling with Alexa.

If you are wondering how to enable AT&T calling with Alexa now that this feature is available, you will need to take a few steps to link your phone number to your voice assistant.

1. open the Alexa app and go to "Settings."

2. From the Settings menu, select Communications.

3. select AT&T.

4. sign in to your AT&T account and pair your numbers.

Once your AT&T cell phone number is connected, you can make a call using your contact's name or number. Say "Alexa, call Sarah" or "Alexa, dial XXX-XXX-XXXX.