Siri Phone Commands

Here you’ll find everything you need to know to make calls using Siri on your iPhone. Learning what you can ask Siri is essential to getting the most out of your iPhone. For instance, did you know there are 12 Siri commands that let Siri make phone calls? Siri can do things like make calls, call emergency services, and interact with your contacts. Besides that, Siri can also help you with your Voicemails.

See the most common questions answered in the FAQ section, or view the complete list of phone commands under Keeping Up With Siri in the table of contents below.

FAQs

Can Siri make phone calls?

Yes. Check out the Siri Phone Commands below.

Can Siri answer calls?

Yes and no. On iPhone, you won’t be able to activate Siri while you have an incoming call. However, you can answer a call via HomePod.

When you use HomePod, Siri will “pick up the phone” for you and start the call. Siri doesn’t talk on the phone for you.

Can Siri hang up a call?

~~No. Once a call is active, you won’t be able to summon Siri.~~

Yes! If you are using iOS 16, Siri can hang up a call for you. Just try “Hey Siri hang up”

Can Siri call emergency services?

Yes. In the U.S., Siri will call 911. The emergency number will change depending on your country.

You can find the command below:

Can Siri call 911 when phone is locked?

Yes. Siri can make an emergency call when the phone is locked.

Can Siri use the speaker?

Yes. Check out this example: “Hey Siri, call Nia’s mobile on speakerphone”

Can Siri turn on speakerphone?

Siri can only start the phone call with speakerphone enabled. Siri can’t enable or disable the speaker during a call.

Keeping Up With Siri

Want to learn all 366 commands Apple highlights in the Siri Guide? You’ve come to the right place. Welcome to Keeping Up With Siri. In this series, I unpack Apple’s Siri Guide with the full lineup of commands and capabilities. This area focuses on using Siri to make phone calls as well as helping you with your Voicemails.

Let’s get started.

Phone Calls

“Hey Siri, call Brian”

This is the top command on Apple’s Siri Guide found in Siri’s UI. You can use Siri to call someone in your contacts. Nice and simple, but also extremely useful. Just make sure you use the name of someone in your contacts (i.e. if you change out your spouse’s contact name for “Wife/Husband” instead). This command also gets tricky when you have more than one “Brian” in your contacts. When that happens, Siri will ask you which contact you want to call.

“Hey Siri, call Mom”

This command highlights the labeling features for contacts. In order to use this exact command, you first need to do a bit of setup with your “Mom” contact.

Within the Phone App, click on the tab called “Contacts.” Then, once you arrive at a specific contact, you can specify a “related name” for the individual. One of the benefits of this field is you also give an association with the related name. “Mother” happens to be the default and can be changed to “Mom”. After setting this field, Siri will understand that this person is also your mom and carry out the command.

To find the setting, Open the Phone App and click on the Contacts tab:

Open your contact card that is for your mom
Tap edit
Scroll down and tap on “add related name”

Adding a Related Name — *Adding a related name*

Alternatively, you can change the First Name of your mom to “Mom”. But mom’s have real names, too, you know!

“Hey Siri, call Susan on her work phone”

This command helps when you have someone in your contacts who has multiple phone numbers. For each contact that you create, you can provide multiple phone numbers. When you put in a phone number, you also assign a label. Once that label is set, you can use it for commands like this one with Siri.

The default label is “home.” This is what it looks like:

When you click on “home,” you’ll see a list of possible labels you can assign. Tap “work” and you’ll be able to use the phrase “work phone” with Siri.

“Hey Siri, call Nia’s mobile on speakerphone”

Apple highlights two Siri capabilities with this command. Like the previous command, you can mention specific phone number labels to Siri. In this case, the contact Nia needs to have a phone number with the label “mobile.”

The second capability is where the real magic is for this command. Apple shows you that you can specify the output speaker for a call. In this case, the speakerphone.

“Hey Siri, call 408 555 0100”

This command is straight forward. Give Siri the number by saying each digit, and she’ll call it. I think the larger challenge here is getting Siri to understand each digit correctly. Rather than use this, you’re better off creating a contact if you call this number frequently.

“Hey Siri, call home”

This command highlights the label you can assign to a number, just like with the above commands. Only this time, you’re using the label “home,” instead of “mom” or “mobile.”

“Hey Siri, call 911”

In the U.S., 911 is the number for emergency services. By using this command, you’ll trigger Siri to dial the number for you.

Don’t try this one out unless you really need to use it. Commands like this are usually given more urgency than others, so expect someone to pick up quickly to help when you use this command.

“Hey Siri, call emergency services”

Here’s another way to call 911 (for those in the U.S.). This command also works for other countries as Siri is smart enough to know the right number for your area.

“Hey Siri, do I have any missed calls?”

Using this command causes Siri to read out any missed calls you have. You can also see this in the Phone App within the Recents tab at the bottom. With this command, Siri only tells you about calls that you didn’t pick up to and you haven’t been notified about already.

“Hey Siri, check my recent calls”

If you want all your recent calls–not just the missed calls–use this command instead. Siri lists all of your recent calls, not just the ones you haven’t yet checked.

“Hey Siri, call back”

Use this command to call back your most recent number or contact. This saves you from having to use the name or dial the number yourself. Very handy.

“Hey Siri, redial that last number”

This command is the same as “call back” from above. You’ll see this sort of command duplication often with Siri. Apple tries to capture all the natural phrasing and variations of a specific command for a better user experience.

Voicemail

“Hey Siri, do I have any new voicemail?”

When you use this command, Siri shows you a list of voicemail messages you haven’t already seen. So the word “new” is important with this command. If you don’t have anything new, you instead can ask Siri “do I have any voicemail?” to get a list of every voicemail message you haven’t deleted yet.

“Hey Siri, play me the voicemail from Emily”

Apple highlights the ability to filter and search your voicemails. With this command, you skip the list of voicemails and go straight to a voicemail specifically from one of your contacts.

See! Siri can do much more than just make phone calls for you. Check out what else you can do with Apple’s Voice Assistant in Keeping Up With Siri Commands. In this series, I highlight the complete list of capabilities Siri can do.