Alexa (Echo) Video versions?

[Katsmeow]

I know there was a thread last year about general use of Alexa. I want to ask specifically about using the Alexa (Echo) versions that have a screen. I believe there is the Show which looks sort of like a small tablet and the Spot which sort of looks like a bedside alarm clock.

I have never been that interested in getting any of them as I didn't really feel I would get much use out of them since I am normally at my computer. But, a couple of people have recently mentioned them to me and I am thinking about it, particularly the ones that have video.

We are buying a house and the sellers are big into Alexa and they use it with their security system and their nest and to do lights. Of course, they use it for music as well. But, I was interested in the other uses.

I read online that Show and Spot can be used with nest cameras (and perhaps others) to display what the camera is showing. I wondered if anyone had used it for that purpose.

Coincidentally I went to a new hairdresser the other day and she is big into Alexa (she had a Dot at work and used it to set her timer). Anyway, she had given an Echo Show to her daughter who lives in another state. On her phone she could call up an image from her daughter's apartment in real time.

Now - I am not sure how that works and how she and her daughter have worked out privacy on that (I am sure they have) but she was showing this to me because she was going to get one for her mother who lives alone so she can check on her.

That was intriguing to me because my 94 year old mother wants to live alone. I would love to be able to (with her permission) check in on her. A few weeks ago we happened to go by her house and she had fallen and couldn't get up (low blood sugar). That was good but we don't go there every day. If I could check in on her using an Echo show or spot that might work great.

The negative is that it doesn't really do much good to have it in only one room. The show is cost prohibitive to have in every room but I wonder about the Spot which is less expensive.

Anyway, I am not sure exactly what you have to do to be able to use a show or spot in someone else's house and then to see it on your phone or on your Alexa.

Oh - my hairdresser said that the main reason she got it for her daughter was so that they could do video calls with each other.

Anyway - wondered if anyone had gotten the show or spot and what you use them for (I know they can be used to watch Amazon Prime video).

 

[Alan]

I don’t know about the show or spot but we have used Nest cameras in multiple houses and they are really easy to set up. The cameras have microphones and speakers so you can also speak to someone in the house. My BIL and his wife were visiting last year and while I was sitting in the garden with them my phone alerted me to a Nest smoke alarm so I picked it up to check that it was just the one outside the kitchen door where my wife was cooking breakfast, and I also showed them the view from the cameras which come on automatically when we leave the house or if there is a smoke alarm.

My BIL’s wife then said, “That is exactly what we need for my mother!!”.

 

[mh]

You can do what you want with the echo spot. They have a feature what is called “drop in” . Which allows you to drop into an echo dot and view/hear it’s camera/ mic as long as you’ve set up the permission on it to do so. You can do so from the alexa app on your phone or from another echo spot. You’ll have to be judicious in where you place the spots as it’s not a fish eye lens.

 

[Katsmeow]

Alan - That is very interesting about Nest cameras. I had seen them but thought that they were kind of pricey to set up in multiple rooms.

mh - I think that drop in must have been exactly what my hairdresser was talking about. That is really interesting.

 

[Katsmeow]

There was a think on Amazon where you would get $150 off if you bought two Echo Show's so I did that. I just got them yesterday so haven't had much opportunity to play with them.

My mom is moving in with us tomorrow. I plan to put one of them in her room as I like the drop in function and it will allow us to check in with her if we are on the other side of the house. And, while she isn't great with technology I think I can give her an Alexa cheat sheet that will let her do the most important things.