Set up your smart speaker for emergencies

Smart speakers tell you the weather, play music, answer trivia questions, help you prank your spouse (more on that at the end), and they just might save your life one day.

Make sure you know these commands to get help in an emergency by heart. 

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Let’s start with the most popular

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Amazon’s Echo line of smart speakers and voice assistant Alexa cannot call 911 for you. They won’t reliably report your location and don’t offer a callback number, so they don’t meet the standard requirements. You have two options:

1. Set up an emergency contact to get notified if something is wrong. In the Alexa app on your phone, tap More > Communicate, then tap the two-person icon (top right). This takes you to your “Contacts” screen. Here, tap the three-dot icon at the top right, then tap Emergency Contact to pick one. Now, to use this feature, just say, “Alexa, call for help” or “Alexa, call my emergency contact.”
2. Pay for it. Alexa’s Emergency Assist plan costs $5.99 a month or $59 for a year if you have a Prime membership. Add up to 25 emergency contacts, and it’ll put you through to an agent who can call emergency services for you. The command is the same: “Alexa, call for help.”

If you’re in the Google-verse

Google Nest speakers don’t let you specify an emergency contact, but you can call anyone in your Google Contacts list.

• From the Google Home app on your phone, tap the gear icon, then Communication > Video & Voice Apps to make sure everything’s set up. You can then just say, “Hey, Google, call [name of the person you want to speak to].”

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With Nest Aware ($8 a month or $80 a year), you’ll get direct 911 access, but the feature’s really designed to serve more as a security system for when you’re out.

• In your Google Home app, tap the gear icon, then Subscriptions > Nest Aware > Emergency calling.
• You can then reach 911 from any speaker screen in the app. Tap the three-lined menu button (top left) > E911 > Call Emergency Services.

The Nest Audio, the newest speaker with a virtual assistant by Google, is being exhibited on the Android Smart Home display during the Mobile World Congress 2023 on March 2, 2023, in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

And if you’re an Apple person …

You can tell the Apple HomePod, “Hey, Siri, call 911.” Easy.

Here’s the caveat: The speaker must be connected to an iPhone for this feature to work. If the HomePod can’t find the iPhone used to set it up, it’ll look for any other iPhones on the same Wi-Fi network to do the job.

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Now that we have the serious stuff out of the way, a prank

Say, “Hey, Alexa, speaker slower,” while no one’s around, then give it the same command again. Enjoy watching the rest of your household wonder what the heck is wrong with Alexa. Say, “Alexa, speak at your default rate” to return to normal.

A person is seen using an iPhone. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

My fave Alexa prank of all time is training it to respond to specific questions a certain way:

• When my husband, Barry, asks Alexa about the weather outside our home in Santa Barbara, she says, “Look out the window. You live in a glass house.”
• I told my son, Ian, to ask Alexa, “Who’s the best mom in the world?” Alexa now replies, “I would say Mother Theresa, but, in looking at traditional mothers, there is no doubt that person is Kim Komando. Now, go empty the dishwasher.”

Take a minute to think about how far we’ve come. This is an example of how tech can literally save your life — if you know how to adjust those settings. Do the people you care about a favor and pass this along.

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