Amazon has enhanced its Alexa voice assistant platform for the hospitality platform to encourage more hotels, lodging and shared living communities to introduce it at their properties. The new version of the Alexa Management Console requires minimal to no coding expertise to implement voice experiences – a few clicks are all it takes to manage it. The results of the voice practices can also be easily harvested for analytics.
To expand its reach into the hospitality and travel space, Amazon has released new Alexa Management APIs. They can be used to manage Echo smart speakers and other smart devices. Moreover, the tech company can customise specific features for properties and their guests, and can set, test and release it, as needed.
Similarly, properties can leverage the Echo Show smart displays under Alexa for Hospitality for information and marketing purposes. They can create and customise the notifications and messages to be displayed on the screen. These can be carried as either permanent notes until dismissed by the user or as rotating cards that cycle on the screen with weather and other general information.
Hotel companies can publish and adjust both kinds of cards to showcase details about the room, including any internal F&B and spa promotions, upcoming events. These tools not only improve guest engagement but they increase accessibility for a wider set of users.
Elaborating about this, Bobby Agarwal, Head of Marketing for Alexa Smart Properties said in a blog post, “We built Alexa for Hospitality to allow you to deploy and manage Alexa-enabled devices and experiences at scale with Frustration-Free Setup and Alexa Management APIs. Through Alexa Management APIs, you can assign devices to properties, configure them, enable Alexa skills, create a customized guest experience via custom skills, and more. We consider Alexa Management APIs as the building blocks for developers to build ambient computing experiences.”
Amazon launched Alexa for Hospitality in 2018 with Marriott International as its launch partner. The hotel chain introduced the Alexa experience at select properties in Marriott Hotels, Westin Hotels & Resorts, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, Aloft Hotels, and Autograph Collection Hotels. The system could be customised to include key guest information, including check-in and check-out time and also allow guests to request services like housekeeping or room service. Moreover, it could be configured to control ‘smart’ hotel room functions, like adjusting the thermostat or raising the blinds.
