TURN YOUR PC INTO AN ALEXA SMART SPEAKER
Alexa app; Windows 10 20 minutes
What you need: Time required:
Windows comes with a built-in voice assistant (answering to the name Cortana), but it’s not your only option - you can use Amazon’s Alexa assistant instead. You don’t need to be an Amazon Prime subscriber to use the Alexa app for Windows 10, but if you are you’ll be able to use voice commands to listen to Prime Music on your PC.
Additionally, thanks to an update late last year, the Alexa app now lets you make and receive calls with other Alexa devices. All you need is a Windows 10 computer with a microphone attached or built in.
STEP First, install the Alexa app from the Microsoft Store. To 1 do this, open your browser, go to www.snipca. com/36957, then click Get (if a pop-up window appears, click Open). The Alexa page of the Microsoft Store will now open. Click Install – if you’re not already signed into Windows with a Microsoft account, you’ll be prompted to log in. When the installation process is complete, you’ll see a notification in the bottom-right corner of the desktop. Click Launch 1 to continue or search for the app in your Start menu.
STEP When the Alexa app opens, click the blue Get Started 2 button, then sign in with your Amazon account. If you don’t have an account, they’re free to create and you won’t need to enter any payment details – just click ‘Create a new Amazon account’, then follow the prompts. Once signed in, read the terms and conditions, click Continue, then make sure the Wake Word option is set to On 1 (this means the app will respond to commands when you say “Alexa”). Click ‘Allow’ 2 , followed by Finish Setup. Windows will then ask whether you want Alexa to be ready the moment you log into your computer. Click ‘Enable’, then choose whether you want to pin the icon to the taskbar.
STEP The Alexa home screen will now appear. To test it, try
3 saying, “Alexa, what’s the time”. After a short pause, Alexa should respond with the current time. If you don’t hear anything, make sure your speakers are switched on and, if you’re using a PC with an external microphone, that it’s connected properly. If you want to stop the Alexa app listening for commands, click the Wake Word button 1 – click it a second time to get Alexa listening again. You can also temporarily prevent Alexa on your PC from broadcasting announcements, reminders and so on by clicking the Do Not Disturb button 2 .
STEP To fine-tune how Alexa works on your PC, 4 click Settings 1 and select the ‘Alexa on PC’ tab 2 . By default, Alexa will listen for voice commands only when your PC is unlocked. If you want it to also listen when the Windows lock screen is activated (press the Windows key+l), set the ‘Respond while locked’ option to On 3 . Bear in mind that running Alexa all the time will use up battery power, so you may want to leave this set to Off if you’re using a laptop that has a short battery life.
STEP On dedicated Alexa smart speakers (such as the Amazon Echo), a 5 blue ring lights up when it detects someone has said the wake word. Since your PC doesn’t have a similar light function, Alexa will instead play a short sound when you say the wake word, followed by another when you finish the voice command. To turn these audio prompts off, untick one or both boxes in the App Sounds section 1 . You can also use the Ctrl+shift+a keyboard shortcut instead of saying the wake word. If you want to change the last key of this shortcut, click Customise, then press whichever key you want to use 2 , followed by Save.
STEP You can use the Alexa app to make (and
6 receive) calls to Echo smart speakers, PCS or mobile devices (you can download the Alexa app for Android www.snipca.com/36958 and IOS www.snipca.com/36959). Click ‘Communicate’ 1 , select the device you want to call 2 , then click the Call button 3 . Alexa also supports Drop In calls, which is where you’ll be instantly connected to another Alexa device in your home without anyone having to answer the call first. You’ll need to enable this feature on your other devices. To do this, open the Alexa app on your phone, tap Devices, select the appropriate device, tap Communication, then set Drop In to On. You’ll then see a Drop In 4 button for that device in the app on your PC.
STEP If you don’t want other Echo devices to be 7 able to call you via the Alexa app on your PC, return to the Settings section of the app, click the Communication tab 1 , then set ‘Enable communications’ to Off 2 . You can also broadcast announcements to your other smart speakers by preceding commands with the word ‘announce’ (for example, “Alexa, announce dinner time”). If you don’t want announcements made from other Alexa devices in your home to play on your PC, set Announcement Autoplay to Off 3 . All announcements will then appear as a pop-up notification with a play button 4 – click this to hear the announcement.