ALEXA SMART PROPERTIES
Echo Devices
In order to talk with Alexa, one must use Echo devices, which are designed and manufactured directly by Amazon.
You can interact with Alexa by using your voice and touching the screen.
Echoes are designed to hear the word “Alexa” and only then begin to listen and pick up the request made by the person who is speaking.
The Echos selected and enabled for the Alexa Smart Properties project are just a few within the wide range of speakers produced by Amazon.
Echo Show
Echo Show devices are rectangular and have a functional touch-screen (5″ and 8″, depending on version).
They are available in charcoal black, ice white and midnight blue versions to blend in with any room design and become an element of décor.
The screen of Echo Show devices can be a means of communication even if the host is not conversing with Alexa.
Through the use of the Control Panel, you can create up to 20 different screens that will rotate automatically (also referred to as Rotating Cards).
Per ciascuna è possibile modificare sfondo e testi, e se vengono toccate possono avviare una funzionalità o un dialogo specifico con Alexa.
What can the spinning screens be used for?
Explain to the guest how to use Alexa
Suggest additional services and products that can be purchased
Welcoming the guest (also personalized)
Communicating schedules and appointments
Provide useful information quickly
Describe what the hotel’s services are
Functionality of Echo Shows
Touch-screen
Touch-screen functionality allows you to interact with Alexa by simply touching the screen, to turn off the alarm clock, turn the volume up and down, dim the screen, play games, or select services or information you want to find out more about.
Sensors
The Echo Show has a brightness sensor, which automatically lowers the brightness of the screen so as not to disturb the guest during the dark hours inside the room. Rotating screens are replaced by a fixed screen, which shows the time in full screen, thus automatically turning the Echo Show into a room alarm clock.
Video camera
Echo Shows are equipped with a video camera, which can be used during video calls.
In a “Senior Living” facility (nursing or retirement homes) the camera can be used during outward video calls (by saying, for example, “Alexa, call my child”) but can always be turned off with the appropriate lock.
In “Hospitality” facilities (hotels, resorts, B&Bs, vacation homes, apartments, …) the camera is always turned off and, even if an internal call is taking place (“Alexa, call the front desk”), the camera is never activated.
Under no circumstances, in an environment with Alexa Smart Properties, can the cameras on Echo Show devices be activated remotely. Echo Shows, therefore, cannot be used for reasons of video surveillance or guest or room control, even in common areas.
Echo Show Features
Touch-screen
Touch-screen functionality allows you to interact with Alexa by simply touching the screen, to turn off the alarm clock, turn the volume up and down, dim the screen, play games, or select services or information you want to find out more about.
Sensors
The Echo Show has a brightness sensor, which automatically lowers the brightness of the screen so as not to disturb the guest during the dark hours inside the room.
The spinning screens are replaced by a fixed screen, which shows the time in full screen, thus automatically turning the Echo Show into a bedroom alarm clock.
Video camera
Echo Shows are equipped with a video camera, which can be used during video calls.
In a “Senior Living” facility (nursing or retirement homes) the camera can be used during outward video calls (by saying, for example, “Alexa, call my child”) but can always be turned off with the appropriate lock.
In “Hospitality” facilities (hotels, resorts, B&Bs, vacation homes, apartments, …) the camera is always turned off and, even if an internal call is taking place (“Alexa, call the front desk”), the camera is never activated.
Under no circumstances, in an environment with Alexa Smart Properties, can the cameras on Echo Show devices be activated remotely. Echo Shows, therefore, cannot be used for reasons of video surveillance or guest or room control, even in common areas.
Echo Dot and Echo Pop
The Echo Dot device has a spherical shape. At the top are four buttons that allow you to turn the volume up and down, turn off the microphones altogether (so that the device does not even hear the invocation word “Alexa”), and a button that allows you to activate the device without saying the word “Alexa.”
The Echo Dot is available in charcoal black, ice white, midnight blue and soft blue.
Echo Pops have a semi-spherical shape, with a front sound box.
They are available in various pastel colors: petrol green, lavender, charcoal black and ice white .
We recommend the use of Echo devices with screens, which allow you to communicate with the guest even if he or she is not interacting verbally with Alexa (thanks to screens that run automatically).
They also allow images, text, videos, and buttons to be displayed and touched while Alexa is speaking, expanding the possibilities for interaction and the user experience.
Using Echoes with Alexa Smart Properties
Alexa can be used in homes all over (almost) the world, and it speaks more than 20 languages.
Alexa Smart Properties, on the other hand, is only available in these countries: Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, the United States of America, Canada, and Japan.
Alexa Smart Properties can interact in 5 languages: Italian, English, French, Spanish and German.
Using NAVOO’s Web Control Panel, one can provide Alexa with all the information about the accommodation’s services (which she will then use to give answers to guests).
All text content can be entered in one of five languages, and then a generative AI-based system can automatically translate it.
When an Echo is installed at a facility, and associated with the Alexa Smart Properties system, its factory settings are changed.
This means that it will only be able to function within the hotel, resort, b&b or retirement home in which it was installed. An Echo configured for Alexa Smart Properties, taken outside the facility in which it was installed, no longer works. Therefore, all Echoes will be clearly labeled, urging them not to disconnect and take the device out of the room.
Echo devices can be installed in all rooms in the facility, or even in just a few.
In very large rooms, even more than one Echo device and different models can be installed.
Associating the device with the room, configuring it, and checking its operating status are activities that are done through the Web Control Panel.
For the Alexa Smart Properties system to work properly, Echo devices must always be connected to the facility’s Wi-Fi network.
Ogni dispositivo è indipendente, quindi anche nel caso in cui qualche Echo perda momentaneamente la connessione Wi-Fi, ciò non compromette la funzionalità degli altri dispositivi installati.
Alexa non risiede all’interno del dispositivo Echo: tutte le attività di comprensione della richiesta fatta dall’ospite, formulazione della risposta e attivazione delle funzionalità correlate, avviene nel cloud.
Senza la connessione Wi-Fi un Echo riproduce solamente un avviso che invita a riprovare più tardi, a causa della connessione assente.
Very little Internet bandwidth is needed to interact with Alexa, or to stream music.
Therefore, there is no need to activate an additional line or create a dedicated Wi-Fi network for Echo devices, which will be able to use one of those already in the facility.
The only note to consider is that Echo devices cannot connect to Wi-Fi networks that require logging in to registration web pages before they can browse.
For other technical details on Wi-Fi network settings, there is a dedicated page on Amazon’s website.
Echo devices do not have a battery, so they they work only when connected to electricity. Each Echo comes with its own power supply (similar to a smartphone) and power cord. It is a good idea for Echo speakers to be connected to the same grid that supplies power continuously to the room, such as refrigerators in rooms. However, an Echo can also be plugged into a wall outlet that interrupts the flow of electricity. However, this involves waiting about 30 seconds for the Echo device to restart when the power comes back on, that is, when the key card is inserted. Until the device is fully booted, you cannot interact with Alexa.
If, for example, you want to give guests the ability to open the door and immediately say “Alexa, turn on the lights,” the Echo device must be connected to an always-on power line.
A user manual can be placed next to each Echo device for the user.
A single sheet that explains to the guest how they can use Alexa and points out examples of some of the questions they can ask the voice assistant.
During the various interactions it will then be Alexa that explains in more detail how it can be queried and used.
Such a manual can be produced and provided by NAVOO, already adapted to the coordinated image of the facility.
Alternatively, all examples and text can be provided for the facility to produce on its own.
It is an important document to place near the Echo, to facilitate guests who have not had previous opportunities to use Alexa and to indicate in a simple way how privacy is handled while interacting with the voice assistant.
When you connect an Echo device to a room, using the NAVOO Control Panel, the software inside it is modified, making it a dedicated device for Alexa Smart Properties. Some basic features, which can only be used in your home, are deactivated, while others specific to Alexa Smart Properties are activated. From that moment the device can only be used if connected to the Wi-Fi of the structure (resort, hotel, b&b, holiday home, RSA, …).
Just as it was connected to the camera, on the contrary the Echo can also be disconnected (again with a single click from the Control Panel) returning to being a normal device, identical to how it was before connecting to the camera.
Attention: if the devices were installed independently, without the support of NAVOO, the association with Alexa Smart Properties is linked to the automatic renewal of the monthly license. If the monthly license is not renewed, the Echo device will automatically return to being a normal device. If the device that has returned to normal is not physically removed from the room, anyone could take possession of it, reset it and use it (an activity not possible as long as it is associated with Alexa Smart Properties).
Quick and easy installation
Do you manage a small hotel, a B&B or holiday homes? Configure and install Alexa by yourself!
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