Check Family Members With Amazon Alexa ‘Care Hub’
The Alexa Service Center is now operational, giving seniors and users with special needs better access to their family members and caregivers through Echo devices. With the Care Hub, these users can directly contact Alexa for help, which will launch the device to notify connected family members, or their family members can use it to virtual check on loved ones, giving them a general idea of when they last used their echo. device to do something.
How to set up the Care Hub
To use the Amazon Care Hub, both family members will need an Amazon account. For our example, let’s say we’re trying to set up a Care Hub so that one person can check in on an elderly family member. The latter will need an Alexa-powered smart device in their home, such as an Echo speaker, and a family member who wants to help them will need a smartphone or tablet with the Alexa app installed.
After everyone has the required accounts and the hardware is set up, you will need to link those accounts through the Care Hub.
- Open the Alexa app, then go to the Care Hub tab or use the Care Hub web page .
- Click Get Started, then select Provide Support.
- Send an invitation link to your relative via your messaging app or to their email address.
- Ask them to click the link and follow the instructions, including logging into their Amazon account.
- After they complete these steps, you will receive another invitation link sent to your Amazon account email address.
- Open the link and select “Get Started”.
- If the process worked, your Amazon accounts are now linked in the Care Hub.
Now that the accounts are linked, you can set up emergency contact information, set up daily updates, perform checks, and more.
Check in with Alexa Voice Call or Drop-in
If your family member’s Amazon device is configured to support Drop-Ins , you can say “Alexa, call [device name]” to start a two-way conversation at any time. Likewise, you or another user can say “Alexa, call [name / phone number]” to call them on their phone or other Alexa-enabled devices.
Change contact information for emergencies
- Open the Alexa app on another family member’s phone or tablet.
- Select the More tab from the bottom menu.
- Click Learn More and then go to Service Center> Emergency Contact .
- Click Change Emergency Contact and change it to the desired contact information.
To alert your emergency contact: Your family member can say “Alexa, call my emergency contact” or “Alexa, call for help,” and Alexa will immediately call, send a text message, and send a push notification to your devices.
Observe the daily activities of a loved one
- Go to the “Care Hub” menu in the Alexa app.
- Select View All Activities.
- You will see a stream of “high level” activity updates based on your loved one’s use of Alexa. For example, the feed will tell you that Alexa was being used “for fun” if your loved one asked their Echo to play a song.
Receive Care Hub alerts based on activity
- Open the Care Hub in the Alexa app.
- Select Alerts.
- You can choose to receive alerts when another user is using Alexa for the first time and if there is no activity at certain times of the day.
- Click “Save” to confirm your changes.
The catch with Amazon’s system is that the family member you care about might just say nothing to their Echo devices for whatever reason, which could trigger an alert if you set it up that way. But if you are prepared for false positives, this can be helpful. And, again, you can always go to your loved one at any time to find out how he is doing, if he hasn’t asked Alexa about anything for some time.