Although our star use is to set timers, music or ask for the time and time, you can ask Alexa for many more things, some as useful as serving as a guardian in your day-to-day life: perhaps if you have left a tap running, if it the washing machine or dishwasher has finished. If you did not know or are not very sure how to make Alexa act on beeps or water, keep reading.
A little over a year ago, Amazon added a series of most useful improvements and functionalities for the home: the audible and in-person detection capabilities. Specifically, we refer to this pair of algorithms:
- Water Running or running water detection. Thus, by listening to the environment, it is able to find out if there is water running around the equipment, for example because we have left a tap open or because there is a leak.
- Appliance Beeping Detection. In this case, it refers to the ability of the assistant to listen to the different beeps produced by your electrical appliances when they finish their functions, thus allowing us to act accordingly.
What happens at that moment? If you have developed the corresponding routine, you will receive a message on your mobile. In the first case, it is also possible to program a notice that warns that we are spending more water than normal brushing our teeth, for example. The second is especially useful with household appliances that do not have to be smart, such as microwaves, ovens, refrigerators. So, if you leave the fridge open, Alexa will tell you goat.
How to configure these functions
To benefit from these functions it is necessary to go to the section of the Alexa routines from the application. There you can configure the routine you want so that Alexa executes automatic actions for daily milestones, for example, that the washing machine program has finished.
In the Amazon Alexa application, tap on Further, which you will find in the lower right corner. There select routines and click on the “+” in the upper right corner to create a new Routine.
There are four steps. The first is to name it. After in “When” Choose “sound detection“. Within that option you will see both options beyond the beep or the water such as snoring, crying baby, coughing or barking dog that can give you new ideas, for example a lullaby sounds when your little one cries. Then choose which device and in what time range. Finally you will have to add the action you want. So, if you want it to reach your mobile, choose “Notification” (yes, you will have to have the notifications of said application activated). However, in “alexa says” You could also choose what the Amazon voice assistant’s response would be by simply typing it in “Custom”.
Photo by Bailey Alexander on Unsplash
