Me to Kidzoids on the fambly slack channel for educadimufaction of kidzoids:
Basically, Amazon wants you to put an app on your phone, and then share all your Android contacts with them and let them use your microphone. It's clear why a GAFAM company wants to do this, and it's clear why privacy seeking individuals might not want to... I don't give a shit and my Android is useless anyway, and I have the alexa app installed, so that part is all good.
The Amazon Echo downstairs thinks of itself as '[[Macro's]] Echo'... and it knows the names of the contacts on my Android now as well, so you may call any of them from downstairs by just saying, hands free, 'Alexa, Call so-and-so'. I'm happy to add any contacts to my list, or change the names for convenience.
The first time you call someone, it will ask you to remember
how to call them. 95% of the time you won't be doing an alexa-to-alexa call, but rather want to call their mobile. That's what most people use these days.
it would be cool if instead of calling someone you could text them btw... I'll research whether they've implemented that.
Some of my contact names are emails so good luck with that. I don't know what the fuck will happen.
Maybe the app will talk you through some option or tell you it won't work (that's what
I would implement if I worked for them)
Anyway, the Contact name for [[wifey]] is 'WIFEY' and the contact name for me is '[[MACRO]]' on my android, so those are the names you ask for. At the very least, you should be able to call yourself and leave a voicemail -- I can see that being useful. The contact name for the echo device is '[[Macro's]] Echo'. So you can call that and talk to kitties, but you'll need a burner phone with the alexa app installed to do that. I have no idea if Alexa takes voicemails (I'm firing that bitch if she doesn't at least tell you about missed calls)
To call [[Macro]] down to dinner: 'Alexa, call [[REDACTED]]' and my android will ring -- you will be able to talk to me hands free. I thought this a better option than making the dot work, since my android is almost always in the room with me, even when I'm sleeping or somewhere outside.
If you want to call INBOUND to downstairs and talk to whomever is in the room, you need to install the alexa app on your android, give it access to your contacts and your microphone, and use the Amazon Echo facility called 'Drop In' to enable alexa to alexa calling. Then you will be able to say to your phone 'Alexa call [[Macro's]] Echo' or 'Alexa, call [[Macro's]] Dot' -- but that takes a fair amount of person to person cooperation and I don't see a lot of people doing that.
My review: I think this is a decent functionality and very useful to have, provided you understand the security problems of using the service. They aren't that much worse than using gmail or Windows -- same shit, different sandwich. If you need to answer an inbound call, say 'Alexa, Answer' -- probably other things will work, but that worked for me. I really hope you can say things like 'Alexa, what contacts do I have name Ger' or 'Alexa, what contacts do I have named Erin' and get further info... I would have thought of that scenario as a QA guy. What Amazon taketh, Amazon should giveth back, at least
.
END OPSEC RANT
Answer to my QA query... 'hmm... I don't know that one'
Voicemails don't work. If you go to voicemail, you might as well say 'Alexa, hang up' because you are wasting your time.
jfc these people are incompetent, but that's the norm these days.
OK... say 'Alexa, send text message to [[REDACTED]]' ... Alexa will tell you she can send a voice message, and will do so... will it actually work?
lol I have an unprotected voicemail box (no PIN) you can hear by calling [[Macro's unproteced VM number REDACTED]] ... awesome drop box... only one message there now.
I am so fixing all this shit. LOL I wonder if I can call Alexa and retrieve my voicemails.
Anyway, call that number and you can hear me testing Alexa.
The alexa device gave me a voicemail message and blinked lime green, and I could hear it via 'Alexa, listen to my messages
