How to set up Amazon Echo new home security features

Amazon Echo has some new home security features that are now available. Among other things, the Amazon Echo can make you look like a dog barking inside your home if your security cameras feel the movement when you’re not home.

The feature is part of Alexa Guard Plus, a subscription service that costs $ 4.99 per month or $ 49 per year after a free 30-day trial period. It’s another way Amazon uses Echo to generate recurring revenue from its hardware, but it’s also useful for people who don’t want to pay for a full security system.

Guard Plus can also alert you to any sounds in your home using Amazon Echo and can sound a siren if activity is detected inside. You can also ask your Echo to call an emergency helpline if you are at home and there is an intruder.

Here’s how to set it up:

• You must first register for the trial on the Amazon website or say “Alexa, try Guard Plus” next to Amazon Echo.
• Open the Alexa app on your phone.
• Tap “More” in the lower right.
• Choose Settings.
• Tap “Defend” at the bottom of the page.
• You’ll see an option to set up Guard with your existing devices, but it’s easier to tap the Settings icon at the top right of the page to go through all the options.
• Choose “Dog barking sounds” under “Deter” to set your Echo to try to scare the intruders while you’re gone. This requires rooms that are either open-air or outdoor-oriented. Select the rooms you want to use.
• Choose “Mermaid Sounds Activity” for Echo to sound a siren if you are away from home and hear someone inside. Amazon warns that a pet can trigger this, so consider this.
• Finally, tap the “Emergency Helpline”. Here you will enter your address in case you need to contact for help. If you have an emergency, say “Alexa, call for help.” It will train “trained officers who can request emergency response – such as police, fire or an ambulance on your behalf”. Please note that this is not 911 and is only available in the US. Agencies are available 24/7.

If you don’t want to pay, there is also a free level of Alexa Guard that is quite useful.

For example, you can select “Light away” under “Deter”, which turns your smart lights on and off when you’re gone to make it look like you’re home. Amazon says it learns from your regular patterns, so it’s not just random.

The free level can also alert you to the sound of smoke and carbon monoxide alarm or if your Echo hears the glass break. Choose “Sound Detection” under “Detection.”

Once set up, say “Alexa, I’m leaving” to activate the travel mode.

You can also set Alexa to protect your phone when you leave the house. When you get home, just say, “Alexa, I’m home.”