By Michele D. Baker
image courtesy of Amazon
Amazon’s new Alexa Together service is a way to provide support for your loved ones, keeping you together even when you’re apart. Getting started is easy: you need one Alexa Together subscription (currently $19.99/month), one Echo device, and two (2) Amazon accounts, one for the caregiver and a separate one for the recipient. To make this easier to understand, let’s assume a daughter (Sue) is the caregiver of her elderly father (Bob) in another city.
Voice Controls
Using the voice-activated Echo device, Bob can begin the morning by saying, “Alexa, start my day.” With the Echo, Bob can control smart devices in the home such as lights and temperature, get doctor or other appointment reminders, and even control lights and music: “Alexa, play Glenn Miller and his Orchestra.”
Emergency Services
Bob can also access 24/7 urgent response (“Alexa, call for help”) and there is a third-party option to enable a fall detection device which notifies emergency services and alerts Sue. (Compatible fall detection devices include Vayyar, SkyAngelCare, and AltumView.)
Related: Seniors Are Bouncing Back After Summer Injuries
Reminders and Alerts
Bob can use Alexa Together to set reminders to take medicine or vitamins, manage shopping lists (“Alexa, add eggs to my shopping list”), and even share photos. Sue can create customized alerts, share messages and snapshots, and even check to see how Bob is doing simply by checking the Alexa app on her smartphone.
Circle of Support
Sue can build a virtual team around her beloved father Bob, all while ensuring that privacy is maintained. Designed with multiple layers of privacy protection, Bob can allow Sue (and other family members) access to a Circle of Support. Bob can also revoke access or delete the Alexa Together relationship at any time. Likewise, Sue can only see high-level information in the activity feed.
You can also bundle Alexa Together with the Echo Show 8 – if Bob and Sue each have an Echo Show, they can also enable video chat! Learn much more and get started at Amazon.
