10 Alexa Productivity Skills to Try on Amazon Echo
Amazon Alexa is super useful for everyday
life tasks such as making to-do lists, setting timers and alarms, and more. But
thanks to third-party integrations, otherwise known as skills, Amazon's voice
assistant can also make your work life much easier. Here are 10 Alexa productivity
skills you'll find helpful.
1. Leave a Voice Message
The Bulletin Board skill lets users
leave voice messages for other Amazon Alexa users. It's super helpful for
arranging schedules with other members of your household. For instance, you can
say, "Alexa, ask Bulletin Board to leave the message 'Walk the dog' for
John". Then, when John gets home, he can say, "Alexa, ask Bulletin
Board what are the messages for John."
2. Connect Your Calendar to Alexa
You can link a supported calendar
such as Google Calendar to Microsoft Outlook.com to Alexa, and if someone else
is in your household, they can also link their calendar to Alexa. Once you link
your calendar account, you can say, "Alexa, what is on my calendar?"
or "Alexa, what are my appointments?" to access your calendar.
3. Real-time Stock Quotes
If you're in finance, you probably
want the latest security quotes, stock prices of all US companies, and market
summaries from S&P 500, DJIA, NASDAQ & NYSE, and other indices updates.
You can do this by adding integrations like Bloomberg Market Data and News or
Stock Exchange or CNBC. If you're using Bloomberg's skill, you can say,
"Alexa, ask Bloomberg for market updates," or if you're using Stock
Exchange, you can say, "Alexa, ask Stock Exchange to quote my
portfolio". If you're using CNBC, say, "Alexa, ask CNBC how are the
markets doing?"
4. Need a Fresh Idea?
If you're in marketing or are just
looking for some ideas, enable the Giant Spoon skill. The suggestions may not
always be applicable to what you're working on, but they may spark some
interesting ideas. Simply say, "Alexa, ask Giant Spoon for an idea"
or "Alexa, ask Giant Spoon for help with brainstorming."
5. Check Your Twitter Feed
For some people, Twitter is a real
distraction, but for other people, it's a necessary work tool. Twitter Reader,
made by Twitter itself, can read your timeline, mentions, retweets, and likes.
It also lets you search tweets. To get started, just say, "Alexa, ask
Twitter what is happening."
6. Send a Text Message
Texting can be a distraction, but
we've all had to send a text to get something done. AT&T's Send Message
skill lets AT&T customers send text messages through their Amazon Echo or
Amazon Dot speakers. Once enabled, just say, "Alexa, ask AT&T to text
Mike."
7. Track a Package
Waiting for something to be
delivered to your office? UPS now has an Alexa app that allows you to track a
package, find a location, get a shipping rate, and more. To get started, say,
"Alexa, ask UPS to track a package" or "Where is the nearest UPS
location?"
8. Join a Conference Call
Vonage's Conference Manager skill
interfaces with Google calendar to not only identify your next conference call,
but also save you the hassle of dialing in. Say, "Alexa, tell conference manager
to start my conference," and it will look at your calendar, extract the
conference information, dial the bridge number, meeting number, and participant
code, and then call you. From there, just pick up the phone, and you're on the
call.
9. Track Spending
Capital One's Alexa skill allows
you to access information on credit card, checking, savings, auto, and home
loan accounts. It also has a feature called "How much did I spend?"
that gives info on users spending histories. All you have to ask is
"Alexa, how much did I spend at Target last month?" or "Alexa,
what's my checking account balance?" or "Alexa, when is my car loan
due?" or "How much is my next mortgage payment?" Apart from
Capital One, a few other regional financial institutions work with Alexa, such
as TD Ameritrade, Liberty Mutual, Alliant Credit Union, and more.
10. Alexa Things to Try
This isn't a productivity skill,
but it's worth including. Amazon's Alexa Things To Try is one of the best ways
to find useful Alexa apps and skills. Once enabled, say, "Alexa, what's my
Flash Briefing?" As part of your Flash Briefing, Alexa will provide a
daily tip on Alexa features.
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