Smart speakers have become so commonplace in the country that most people really don’t give them a lot of attention when they aren’t in actual use. However, a new case in New Mexico has now shown that the device may become an inadvertent life-saving tool in a serious situation. According to authorities, the Smart Speaker in one home may have saved the life of a woman and her child after it 'accidentally' called 911 in the middle of a domestic violence incident.

Misinterpreted command

For owners of smart speakers, having the device accidentally initiate a command is mostly quite hilarious, especially when it attempts to call someone or play a song when it detects a specific sentence in a conversation and misinterprets it for an actual command.

However, a “funny” accident may have been the very reason that a woman and her child were saved from additional harm in one domestic violence case.

Calling the police

A man named Eduardo Barros along with his girlfriend and her daughter were housesitting in New Mexico last week when an argument erupted. The fight escalated to the point that Barros turned physical and started brandishing a firearm, threatening the life of the woman. After having gotten violent, Barros started accusing his girlfriend of trying to Call The Police and yelled, “Did you call the sheriffs?”

Immediate action

A smart speaker that was inside the home during the incident heard Barros and misinterpreted the question as an actual command to call the police.

According to the local County Sheriff Department, the call itself was unexpected, but it did play a big role in the incident and could have saved the lives of the woman and her child. Local authorities along with a SWAT team immediately raided the house following the unexpected call.

After an hour-long standoff with Barros, authorities were finally able to save the woman, who sustained several injuries, and her child from harm’s way.

Barros was then arrested and charged with assault and the illegal possession of a firearm seeing as that he was a felon.

Authorities did not reveal the type of speaker that made the call, but it can be assumed that it could either have been a Google Home Speaker or an Amazon Echo; two of the most popular speakers on the market.

What authorities do agree upon was that if the speaker hadn’t made the call at all, things would have been quite different and they probably wouldn’t have been able to respond in time to save the woman and her child.
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