Amazon Echo: Essential Ways to Utilize the Smart Speaker and Its AI Alexa

The new Amazon Echo, along with its other variants namely the Echo Dot, the Echo Dot with Clock, and the Echo Show 8 are all capable of doing many things. All of those could give access to its users to play music, provide weather forecast and reports, and to set alarms as well. Yet there are other things which the Amazon-developed smart speaker could do and showcase besides the usual things which a smart speaker can do, as long as it will be used properly.

Other features which the Echo's artificial intelligence (AI) system named Alexa can do includes learning who is it talking to, turning on the lights in the house, and ordering supplies for the house it is being used. The Echo speaker can even send texts and make calls, or it could drop into the other speakers available and present as long as it would be permitted to connect on to it.

Yet upon getting the Echo speakers ready for use, Alexa would not be able to fully instruct and dictate what it can do in just one glimpse. Here are some of the tips which Amazon Echo users may do to fully utilize their smart speakers:

Place Echo in a good spot in the house

In order for the Amazon Echo to work it must be plugged in on one area or space inside the house or somewhere where it could be used. Some of the best places where it could be placed are in the kitchen, living room, or bedrooms as those areas are somehow centralized spots where the voice from the smart speaker itself may be heard on a wider scale. Placing it in a toilet, near a sink, by a window, or under the tv are not advisable as its main function of providing sounds of all sorts might not work fully in these areas.

Utilize the voice command feature of Alexa

Actions performed by Alexa could be commanded through speaking. If a user would want to play music on the smart speaker and controlling its volume, one could say "Alexa, turn the volume down", or "Alexa, play rock music." Alexa could also be controlled, and if the user prefers the Echo, Computer or Amazon, the user could just say "Alexa, change the wake word", and the preferred function could be chosen right away.

Control the other smart home devices through the Echo speaker itself

The Alexa app lets its users to turn on or turn off their lights if those are smart lights and smart plugs or switches which are all available on Amazon at 25 USD a piece. Other devices such as smart locks, robot vacuum cleaners, and thermostats could also be controlled through the app. With just using it, it would not require manual usage of those.

Contact others using Alexa

Alexa also can even contact others for its users. Saying words such as "Alexa, text Mom." Or "Alexa, call Michael." could then access the contacts and the AI may send the desired action right away. The contacts are just needed to be listed in the address book in order for this function to work.