Amazon Extends Alexa As A Helping Hand To Residential Property Owners

Amazon wants to use its Alexa platform to help modernize residential properties, starting with apartments in the US. That’s according to a recent announcement from the company detailing a new service called Alexa for Residential. The service, as its branding implies, is geared toward bringing everything great about a smart home to apartments.

Best of all, it’ll be ready and available starting this fall thanks to a partnership between Amazon and IOTAS, STRATIS IoT and Sentient Property Services. More partners will undoubtedly be announced in short order, if all goes well.

What does this do for property managers and owners?

Now, determining who will be the biggest benefactor from Alexa for Residential is a task, in and of itself. For property owners and managers, Amazon says that Alexa for Residential will help meet increasing demand for voice-enabled smart homes. But specifically for apartments and apartment complexes. Not least of all, it will drastically reduce the time-consumption and cost, while also providing property managers a way to manage devices.

Summarily, the new service alleviates the need for property managers to reset each individual smart home device and system on move-out. Property managers will be able to remotely reset devices to default settings with Alexa for Residential. And they’ll be able to do that without removing integrations with the smart home environment.

It will additionally allow custom voice experiences and skills for every unit in a property. That will let managers set up ways for residents to manage their unit. For instance, they’ll be able to manage rent, reserve amenities, request maintenance, and more.

Does Amazon Alexa for Residential raise any red flags on privacy?

For residents, the difference will be primarily linked to the overall standard of living. Not only will Alexa for Residential allow the above-mentioned property integration. It will also create a smart home experience complete with whatever amenities a property chooses to offer. From security to speakers and thermostats, without requiring potential contract breaches caused by self-installing a smart home environment.

Additionally, users can sign in if they have an Alexa account and gain full access to all of the Alexa features as though they owned the place themselves. That includes the ability to link up other smart home devices such as TVs, speakers, and appliances. But it also includes personalized results, services, and reminders.

Best of all, according to Amazon at least, property managers don’t have access to customer data and voice recordings are automatically deleted daily. So there shouldn’t be a large number of potential security concerns for renters either.