Create and Manage Persistent Visual Alerts

In Alexa Smart Properties (ASP), a persistent visual alert is a notification that displays a visual alert on a device with a screen. The alert remains visible on the device until the guest or resident dismisses the alert or the alert expires. Persistent visual alerts are sometimes called "pinned cards," because they remain "pinned" on the device until the user dismisses them. Use persistent visual alerts for upcoming events, appointments, and other information you want your guests or residents to see.

How you send the alerts

There are two ways to publish persistent visual alerts:

  • Notifications API – The API offers more customizability and flexibility for the alert. You can set all available options for the alert, such as selecting from multiple templates, playing a chime on arrival, and scheduling the alert to arrive within a specific time window. For details, see Use the Notifications API to Manage Persistent Visual Alerts.
  • Alexa Smart Properties Console – The console provides a quick way to send the alert using a basic, default template that includes a title, body text, and background image. Additional options such as the other templates and playing chimes aren't available with the console. For details, see Use the ASP Console to Manage Persistent Visual Alerts.

When you send the alerts, you target the units or endpoints where the alert should display. You can send one alert to a unit or endpoint at a time. The alert remains on the device until an expiration time that you define, or until the guest or resident dismisses it. If the device reboots, the alert continues to display after the reboot as well.

Suggestions for persistent visual alerts

The following table shows example persistent alerts that you might display to your guests.

Type of alert Primary text Secondary text

Activities

Exercise reminder

Time to take a walk.

Activities

Activity tonight at 7:00 PM

Come join us for activity.

Appointments

Your appointment reminder

Your appointment starts at 3:00 PM.

Services

Continental breakfast

Breakfast is served until 1:00 PM.

Maintenance

Your TV is fixed

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Background images

You can provide a background image for a persistent visual alert. Use the following guidelines for your images:

  • You can provide images in PNG or JPG format.
  • The image files can't exceed 400 KB in size.
  • Each template scales the image uniformly up or down to completely fill the screen ("best-fill"). This means that the image might get cut off if there is a mismatch between the aspect ratio of the image and the device screen. Therefore, consider the following recommendations:
    • Avoid using images with text that extends to the edges of the image, as this text might be truncated due to the scaling.
    • If possible, test your images on the same device types used in your units.
    • If separate units contain different devices, consider targeting the different units with separate alerts so that you can optimize the images for the devices. This strategy works when all the devices in a given unit have the same aspect ratio.
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