The drop-in functionality grants users the ability to literally drop-in on a contact’s Alexa devices without the other party actively taking action to answer a call.
For privacy reasons, it often makes sense to only allow access to drop-ins from your own household members and devices (e.g. you can drop-in on the devices in your children’s rooms) but there are occasions when it makes sense to set this functionality up with other friends and relatives. Want to check-in on an elderly family member who may now know how to answer a regular Alexa call? Alexa’s Drop In can help.
To use the “Alexa Connections” feature, you’ll need to set up permissions for Drop In functionality first. Open the Alexa app and tap “Communicate” in the footer. Tap the person/contact icon at the top right. Select a name from your contact list. Toggle “Allow Drop in” on. You’ll want to have your contact follow the same steps to allow you to drop-in. If you don’t see your contact in your contact list, follow these steps to manually add a contact.
Once Drop In is enabled, Alexa can help you find mutual availability based on both you and your contact’s recent device activity. Say, “Alexa, keep me connected to mom,” or “Alexa, keep me connected with (name of your contact who has granted you drop-in rights”) to get started. Alexa will determine when both you and your contact have recently used your devices and will send future alert messages like “It might be a good time to call mom.” For more information on communicating with Alexa, check-out Amazon’s tips.
Learn how to get the most out of Alexa, check out our “How-to” section.
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