How To Use Alexa As An Intercom

There are several ways to use this feature. You can use Alexa as an intercom by making announcements from individual Echo devices, or broadcasting from all of them at once. This feature is already built-in, so you don’t have to set up an Alexa Skill or activate anything. Here’s how to use it.

Use Alexa as an Intercom With Drop In

Alexa has a unique feature that isn’t quite like calling. It’s called Drop In . With Drop In, you don’t have to wait for the person to answer: you just connect to the Echo. You can speak through its speakers and hear any activity near the device.

Given the potential security risks with a feature like this, you must first enable it before you can use the feature.

Open your Alexa app and tap Devices in the lower-right corner. Tap Echo & Alexa . This will display a list of all of your Echo devices. You have to enable Drop In on each device individually.

This prevents the feature from operating on Echos that you do not want someone to drop in on, like in the bedroom. No one wants to be woken up by a strange voice.

Tap the device and scroll down to Communications. Tap Drop In . You can choose three settings: On, My Household, and Off.

Choosing On allows only permitted contacts to Drop In. If you choose My Household, only devices on your account can drop in (perfect for reaching someone on the other side of the house without making a call.) If you don’t want anyone to drop in, choose Off.

How to Drop In

You can drop in on an Echo device in two ways.

1. You can drop in on a specific device. The first and most common method is just to say, “Alexa, drop in on Kitchen Echo.” You can choose which device to connect to if you know the name.

2. You can also drop in on a specific group of devices. For example, if there are multiple Echo devices in the living room, you can say, “Alexa, drop in on Living Room.” Keep in mind that dropping in on a group of Echo devices can sometimes result in a lot of audio feedback, so you may only want to drop in on a specific device.

If you want to speak to the entire household, you can actually ask Alexa to “Drop in everywhere.” Any Echo device in your household that has Drop In enabled and is not set to “Do not disturb” will connect. Think of it like a conference call with the entire home.

When you want to end the connection, just say “Alexa, end drop in.”

You can also Drop In through your phone. Open the Alexa app and tap the Communicate tab at the bottom. At the top of the screen are four options: Call , Share , Drop In , and Announce .

Tap Drop In. A list of compatible devices will appear. Tap one and you will connect.

If you connect to a device with a camera, like the Echo Show, your drop in will act like a video call. Otherwise it will be audio only, but you can turn off your microphone if you only want to listen. This is a useful way for parents to keep an ear on their kids while being in another room.

If you want to end the call, just tap the phone icon in the middle of your screen.

Warn Someone Before You Drop In

Drop Ins are a powerful feature, but best reserved for household contacts only. There are legitimate privacy concerns about someone potentially listening to you without your knowledge, as there is no warning for a drop in.

If you want to give someone a heads-up before you reach out, you can ask Alexa to call a specific device or tap the Call icon on your Alexa app. This will make the device ring before you connect.

How to Make an Announcement

If every room in your home is equipped with an Echo device and you need to bring everyone together for dinner, you don’t want to go through the trouble of making individual announcements. Instead, use Alexa as an intercom just for this purpose.

All you have to do is say, “Alexa, announce.” Alexa will then ask what you would like your message to say. You can record a message saying anything you want, ranging from “the meatloaf is ready” to “who let the dogs out? Woof, woof, woof.”

After you’ve finished recording, every device on your network will chime and broadcast your message. It’s a great way to reach everyone at the same time. Announcements are just one-way messages, however. Unlike the Drop In feature, announcement recipients cannot speak back.

You can also make an announcement through your phone. Navigate to the Communicate tab and then tap Announce. You can type your message or say something into the microphone and it will be played over all your Alexa devices.

A Hands Free Option to Instantly Connect

Alexa Drop In with announcements can spare you from a few trudges up and down the stairs. Pair them with Alexa skills and routines and you can even manage many family chores with it. Have you set up Alexa Drop In?

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However, you may be looking for something in particular. Maybe you want a trivia game about your family, a fairy tale where your child is the star character or a guide to your home and neighborhood for a houseguest.

Well, guess what? You can make your own skill using Alexa blueprints. Here’s how!

Browse Alexa Skill Blueprints

Select a blueprint to view more details and check out examples. This helps you see how the babysitter blueprint can help when you’re away, or the family jokes blueprint can liven up quality time.

If you find one you want, pick Make Your Own on the skill information screen.

Create a Skill

The steps are the same whether you’re creating a skill with a blueprint on the web or on your mobile device. However, those steps may differ depending on the type of blueprint you select.

For instance, you’ll enter different information for a birthday trivia skill compared to one for flashcards, the pet sitter, or bedtime stories. You can see these steps when you select a blueprint to view its details.

To show you just how easy it is, we’ll create one on each device.

Make a Chore Chart Skill on the Web

For this first example, we’ll use the Chore Chart blueprint to create a skill on the website. This skill helps keep track of household chores and who is responsible for each one.

1. Visit the Alexa Blueprints website, sign into your Amazon account, and choose a blueprint.
2. As described above, select Make Your Own directly below the skill name. If you see a short tutorial for building the skill, choose Start Now when you get to the end.
3. Next, you’ll be prompted to replace the details for the skill with your own. For the Chore Chart, we’ll fill in the names of our household members and chores.

1. Select Next on the top right to move to the next step.
2. Here again, you may be asked to enter more details for the skill. For the Chore Chart blueprint, we assign the chores to the household members. Just keep in mind that the number of prompts and requested details depend on the exact skill and blueprint.

1. Select Next to continue.
2. One step that you’ll find in most blueprints is for customizing the experience. This refers to how you interact with Alexa for that particular skill. For instance, you can enter introduction phrases for when someone opens the skill and then other phrases for when someone completes a chore. These are the phrases Alexa uses for that specific skill.

1. Select Next to finish entering the details.
2. The final step in creating a skill is to give it a name. Try to use something meaningful that you’ll remember but also something simple enough for Alexa to recognize.

1. Select Next one last time to create the skill.

After a few moments to process all the information, your skill should be ready to use!

Make a Whose Turn Skill in the Mobile App

For this next example, we’ll use the Whose Turn blueprint to create a skill in the Alexa app. This skill prompts Alexa to choose whose turn it is to do something.

1. Open the Alexa app on Android or iOS and select the More tab.
2. Pick See More in the top section and choose Blueprints .
3. Browse the options by category, just like on the website. Then, select the one you want to use and tap Make Your Own .

1. Replace the details for the skill with your own. For the Whose Turn skill, we’ll add the names for Alexa’s choices.
2. Tap Next on the top right to continue.
3. The next step for the Whose Turn skill is to personalize the experience. This allows you to customize how Alexa picks a name. After you ask a question, Alexa uses the phrases and sound effects you select in this section. Optionally, you can scroll down for additional customization options.
4. Tap Next to name your custom skill.
5. Select the text on the name line to edit it or enter your own. Again, pick a meaningful name and one that’s easy for Alexa to recognize.
6. Tap Next to create the skill.

You’ll see the progress as your skill is created and a confirmation when the process completes. You can tap the X on the top right to exit when you finish reviewing your skill.

Edit Skills You Create

Once you create a skill using Alexa Blueprints, you may want to make adjustments to it. You can do this on the web and in the mobile app too.

Your Skills on the Web

1. Visit the Alexa Blueprints website and sign in. Select Skills You’ve Made at the top.
2. You’ll see a list of your skills. Choose Details to the right to open the one you want to edit.

1. On the right side, select Edit or Delete . You’ll notice you can also pick Share With Others to make it easy for your family or friends to access or Publish to Skills Store for other Alexa users.

Your Skills in the Mobile App

You can edit your custom skills easily in the Alexa mobile app as well.

1. Go to the Menu tab.
2. Select See More > Blueprints .
3. On the Your Skills tab, select the blueprint you want to edit.
4. Use the buttons at the bottom to make your changes.

Take Advantage of Alexa Blueprints

Even though there are many premade skills you can pick from, creating your own Alexa skills gives you great ways to personalize the experience on your Alexa devices, get tasks done, or have a little fun !

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