Six Alexa Skills You Need to Enable for Your Business

If you don’t already use a voice assistant like Amazon Alexa at work, it’s time to get started. The sophisticated assistants can make complex operations easier in your office without costing you a dime. Small and medium-sized businesses use it to improve daily operations and deliver better customer service. These free-to-enable Alexa skills could make your day more efficient.

Post and read messages on Slack with Alexa

Lots of businesses use Slack as a collaboration tool. There are several Slack skills that allow you to link your Slack account to Alexa to post and read messages. You can DM or post to the entire group using just your voice while you’re driving or just away from your desk. “Alexa, use Slack to send a DM to Chris.”

Get instant updates with Alexa

The Voice Metrics skill lets you ask Alexa for the latest information on sales, orders, inventory status, customer numbers, and more. Connect Voice Metrics to Google Sheets, Slack Boards, or any other data measuring tool with the API. Ask for the data and Alexa will give you the latest figures.  “Alexa, ask Voice Metrics for Sales.”

Add events to Google Calendar with Alexa

Link your Google Calendar through the Alexa app and then add an appointment to your calendar by telling Alexa the details. Alexa will clarify and then confirm the appointment, and it’s instantly available on your Google Calendar. If more than one person in your office shares Alexa, you can set up voice profiles in your Alexa app to identify the speaker’s voice to determine the appropriate calendar. “Alexa, add a meeting with Don to my calendar on April 8^th at 4 pm.”

Monitor Website Uptime with Alexa

If you run an ecommerce website that sells health supplements like Metagenics, you need to know if your site goes down. Install a website monitoring skill like Vigil or SiteStatus to monitor the status of your websites. You can ask for status at any time, or set up a push notification if one goes down. You’ll link your Amazon account to Vigil so Alexa can access the information and keep you up to date. “Alexa, what’s the status of my websites?”

Track Packages with Alexa

If your business depends on receiving and sending packages, you don’t want to find out at the end of the day that a critical shipment is missing. Ask Alexa to track any packages, whether sending or receiving. Enable the skill for major package carriers like UPS, FedEx, or USPS from your Amazon account and give it access to check on the status of undelivered packages, including the last update on the package to determine where it is in transit. “Alexa, what packages are on the way?”

Organize Travel Details with Alexa

If you frequently travel for business, Alexa can keep you on track for your entire itinerary. Once you enable the Uber skill, you can ask Alexa to call an Uber for you. The Expedia skill provides information about your itinerary, flight status, and can check your loyalty point balance. The Airport Security Line Wait Time skill will give you an estimate of the wait time at security checkpoints in more than 450 US airports, based off of the latest TSA information. “Alexa, ask Security Line what is the wait time at DFW terminal A?”

Use Alexa to Work Smarter and Faster

Voice assistants are quickly becoming mainstream accessories in businesses all over the US. Alexa can offer instant updates, help with travel arrangements, and notify you when your website goes down. If you’re not using one, don’t be late to the game. Voice technology is the next big information revolution. “Alexa, what can I do to be more efficient at work?”