New Amazon Echo? 5 essential tips you need to know now

You just got yours new Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Eco point with clock or Echo Show 8 out of the box, but what exactly do you do with it now? You already know that can play music, report weather and set alarms – but Amazon’s Alexa does so many things that it can be difficult to figure out where to start.

For example, Alexa can learn from the speaker, order supplies for the home and even turn on the lights. Not to mention that you can make calls and send texts using the Echo speaker – or stop by someone else’s speaker (with their permission, of course).

Once out of the box, Alexa won’t tell you how to do these things, but we help you. Keep reading for essential Amazon Echo tips you need to know.

Find a good place for your Eco in the house

The first thing you will do when you unpack your new Amazon Echo is to connect it. And when you only have one Echo speaker, you don’t just want to place it anywhere in the house – in fact, there’s four places where you should never put your device. You must make sure that you are in a centralized location, where your voice can be transmitted from most rooms, as in kitchen or living room. (Here they are four best uses for Amazon Echo in every room of your home.)

Take care of the basics first

Now that you have your Echo connected and configured, it’s time to learn the basics. This includes downloading the Alexa app and configuring your location so that you have an accurate weather forecast.

We also recommend that you take time from the beginning to create a voice profile for everyone who lives in the house. Although you can configure this at any time, the ability to allow Alexa to recognize the voices of different users will provide each user with a personalized experience. For example, when Alexa recognizes your voice, it will play the music and news you like to hear and call or send messages to people in your phonebook.

You can also set up voice purchase so that you can quickly order an item you purchase frequently, such as paper towels. To do this, you also need to enable 1-click ordering in the settings application. Remember to set a password so that only you can make purchases this way. You can find this at settings > Account configurations > Voice purchase.

Using voice commands to perform tasks

Every action you want Alexa to do requires a voice command. For example, turn on the music, control the volume of the smart speaker, and create lists or reminders. You will just say something like “Alexa, turn down the volume” or “Alexa, add coffee to my shopping list”.

You can also communicate with Alexa through textsinstead of talking. Just open the Alexa app and tap the Keyboard button in the upper left corner.

Don’t want your alert word to be Alexa? You can change it to Echo, Computer or Amazon. Just say “Alexa, change the activation word” and make your choice.

Read More: We tested all 4 Amazon Echo activation words. Here’s what we learned about Alexa

Control your smart home devices with the Echo speaker

Would you like to come home at night with the lights on? Well, if you have smart lights, smart plugs ($ 25 on Amazon) or switches, you can control them using the Alexa app so you never have to trip over the front porch stairs again.

Other devices you can control include smart locks (in case you forget to lock the door before you leave), thermostats, robot vacuum cleaners and More
.

Call, send messages and visit your friends using Alexa

Lost your phone at home again? Don’t worry – you don’t need it because Alexa can make calls and send you text messages. Just say something like “Alexa, call mommy” or “Alexa, send a message to Katie”. Contacts must be in your address book for this to work.

You can also use your Echo speaker to enter on friends and family who have added you as an accepted contact. To do this, just say something like: “Alexa, show up at daddy”.

Oh, and about that lost phone – Alexa can help you find in your house.

Now that we have clarified the essentials, here are Five Amazing Things You Didn’t Know Amazon Echo Could Do, 10 weirdest things Amazon Echo can do and how to turn your Fire TV into a bigger Amazon Echo Show.