If you’re one of the many Australians who’s adopted Alexa as a member of your household, you’ll know how useful she can be. Amazon’s virtual assistant can keep track of your dinner preparations, tell you the weather forecast and search the internet for you. She can play your favourite music whenever you want to hear it, and suggest other tracks you’ll love, too. She can even banter with you and tell you jokes.
But Alexa’s skill set goes far beyond the domestic sphere. She can also help you in your work life, increasing productivity and keeping on top of your schedule. It’s like having an ultra-efficient, dedicated PA who’s always there to make sure you stay on track.
Alexa, remind me…
One easy way to put Alexa to work is to give her access to your contacts and calendar. That way, you can call a colleague, set up a meeting, or look up someone’s email address with a simple voice command. You can also set up reminders for appointments and tasks, so that Alexa will tell you when something’s coming up. This is ideal if you’re concentrating on work and might otherwise lose track of time or miss a pop-up alert.
Speaking of time, her Timer feature is useful if you want to dedicate a certain number of minutes or hours to a specific task, or track your productivity. And you can also set up a to-do list, adding items out loud as they occur to you. No more breaking off work to open your calendar or look for a pen!
Alexa and automation
In an earlier post, we talked about some of the repeat tasks you can automate to save time and make life easier. Alexa can help you with this, too.
You can connect Alexa to over 4,000 apps using a handy service called Zapier. These include Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Slack, Trello and a host of other useful productivity apps you might use in your working routine. Zapier lets you pair Alexa with all these apps and create an integrated workflow, so you can manage tasks across a range of platforms from a single, voice-controlled interface.
By making smart use of Alexa, you can manage your daily routine, tasks, deadlines and calls by interacting with a single device. If you’re working from home, Alexa can also enhance your work environment and ensure you don’t get sidetracked. There are a wide variety of Alexa-compatible smart bulbs, plugs and smart home systems, allowing you to control lighting and temperature without getting up from your desk. And if you have multiple Echo speakers, you can select “all devices” when setting up a reminder so that you’ll be able to hear it wherever you are in the house.
Alexa makes life simpler when she’s up and running, but setup can be time-consuming and occasionally complicated. This is where a good IT support partner can save you even more time and trouble. At Perigon One, we can help you get the most out of Alexa’s productivity tools. If you’d like to talk through the process or ask any questions, just get in touch.
