Alexa for Business | General

Question 1

What is Alexa for Business?

General

Alexa for Business | Business Productivity

Answer 1

Alexa for Business allows organizations of all sizes to introduce Alexa to their workplace. With Alexa for Business, you can use the Alexa you know as an intelligent assistant to stay organized and focus on the work that matters. Alexa helps workers be more productive as they move throughout their day at — home and at their desks as enrolled users with personal devices, and in conference rooms, copy rooms or other shared spaces with shared devices. Alexa for Business includes the tools and controls that administrators need to deploy and manage shared Alexa devices, skills, and users at scale.

Question 2

How can I get started with Alexa for Business?

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Alexa for Business | Business Productivity

Answer 2

To start using Alexa for Business, you need one or more Alexa devices and an AWS account. Simply sign into the console and navigate to “Alexa for Businessâ€

Question 3

What are some example uses for Alexa in an organization?

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Alexa for Business | Business Productivity

Answer 3

With Alexa for Business, you can deploy Alexa devices:

At your desk: Alexa lets you be more productive throughout your day and stay focused on important tasks. Alexa can help you manage your schedule, keep track of your to-do list, and set reminders. Alexa can automatically dial into your conference calls and make phone calls for you. Alexa can help quickly find information for you, like the latest sales data, or the inventory levels in your warehouse.

In your conference room: Alexa lets you to start meetings and control your conference room settings using your voice. With Alexa, you don’t need to use remote controls, look up conference call information, and manually dial into meetings — you can simply say “Alexa, start my meetingâ€

Question 4

What is the difference between shared devices and enrolled users using personal devices?

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Alexa for Business | Business Productivity

Answer 4

Shared devices are the Alexa-enabled devices that you deploy to shared spaces in your workplace, like conference rooms, lobbies, or breakout rooms. Shared devices are not linked to any specific user, and anyone with physical access to a shared device can use it. Shared devices are managed and configured directly through the Alexa for Business console, where you can assign them to locations, manage settings and enable groups of skills. To simplify setting up shared devices, Alexa for Business provides the Device Setup Tool.

Personal devices are Alexa devices that are registered to a user’s personal Alexa account. In order to use a personal device with Alexa for Business, the user’s personal Alexa account needs to be enrolled into the organization’s Alexa for Business account. Enrolling in Alexa for Business gives users access to certain Alexa for Business features including the ability to automatically dial into conference calls, discover and enable private skills, and access to their Microsoft Exchange calendar (provided this has been configured by the Alexa for Business account administrator).

Question 5

What devices can I use with Alexa for Business?

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Alexa for Business | Business Productivity

Answer 5

You can use the following devices with Alexa for Business:

Shared devices:

Echo Plus

Echo

Echo Dot (2nd generation)

Personal devices:

Echo Show

Echo Spot

Echo Plus

Echo

Echo Dot

Any other Alexa-enabled device

To get started, you can purchase any of these devices individually, or purchase the Alexa for Business Starter Kit which includes a bundle of seven Echo devices and instructional materials that will help you get the most from Alexa for Business around your workplace.

Question 6

Where is Alexa for Business available today?

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Alexa for Business | Business Productivity

Answer 6

Alexa for Business is currently available in the US East (N. Virginia) and supports Alexa devices running anywhere in the US. Access or use of Alexa for Business or its features may be restricted or limited in countries where Alexa for Business is not currently offered.

Question 7

How does Alexa for Business work with Alexa Skills Kit?

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Alexa for Business | Business Productivity

Answer 7

Using the Alexa Skills Kit, you can build your own skills. With Alexa for Business you can make these skills available to your shared devices and enrolled users without having to publish them to the Alexa Skills store. Alexa for Business also provides skills developers an API to build context aware skills for use on shared devices. Alexa for Business supports any skill in the Alexa Skills store.

Question 8

Does Alexa for Business provide a public API?

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Alexa for Business | Business Productivity

Answer 8

Yes, public APIs are available for creating and managing users, rooms, room profiles, skill groups, and devices. APIs are available via the AWS CLI and SDK; you can learn more about the APIs in the documentation.

Question 9

Does the Alexa for Business API log actions in AWS CloudTrail?

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Alexa for Business | Business Productivity

Answer 9

Yes. All Alexa for Business actions performed via the AWS CLI and SDK will be included in your CloudTrail audit logs.