Arlo by NETGEAR produces a line of smart security cameras with a mission in mind: to help customers protect what matters most. These weatherproof, wire-free, smart HD security cameras deliver live feeds that customers can access on their computer, tablet, smartphone, and, now, Echo Show. 

“We designed our cameras to have a very simple interface. Our products are easy for anyone to install. It’s plug and play,” says Naveen Chhangani, Senior Director of Product Management at Arlo.

For Arlo, simplicity is a core value. So when Amazon announced Echo Show, the Arlo team saw a chance to simplify and enhance its customer experience even more.

“With Echo Show, we knew we could enable our customers to simply ask for any camera feed. They wouldn’t have to pull out their phones and run our app,” says Chhangani.

By integrating with Alexa, Arlo could enable its customers to access any video feed by voice—even when their hands are full. Arlo customers could simply say, “Alexa, show me the front door” or “Alexa, show me the baby’s room” to see a live feed of their camera on Echo Show.

“Most of the time, our customers want to know what is happening right then at a certain location,” says Chhangani. “With Echo Show, there is no dependency on the phone or the app; the results are immediate.”

To enable this frictionless customer experience, the Arlo team built a skill for Alexa using the new camera capabilities in the Smart Home Skill API.

“Integrating with Echo Show using the Smart Home Skill API is a simple process. It plugs directly to our backend services, and allows us to deliver the videos from our cameras directly into Echo Show,” says Dennis Aldover, Vice President of Software Engineering at Arlo.

By leveraging the Smart Home Skill API in the Alexa Skills Kit, Arlo delivered a faster, easier, and more delightful experience to its customers.

“Being able to just ask for what you want by voice—it makes for an amazing end user experience,” says Chhangani. “I’m looking forward to learning how our customers use our skill for Alexa and planning future product integrations with Alexa.”

Learn More about Building a Smart Home Skill 

• Announcing Smart Home Camera Control with Alexa 
• Building Smart Home Camera Skills
• Understanding the Smart Home Skill API
• Five Steps Before Developing a Smart Home Skill
• Coding Smart Home Skill Directives Using Node.js
• Managing Device Discovery for Your Alexa Smart Home Skill
• Controlling the On/Off State of a Smart Home Device
• Scenes for Smart Home Skills

Build a Skill, Get an Echo Dot

The Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) enables developers to build capabilities, called skills, for Alexa. ASK is a collection of self-service APIs, documentation, tools, and code samples that make it fast and easy for anyone to add skills to Alexa. 

Developers have built more than 13,000 skills with ASK. Explore the stories behind some of these innovations, then start building your own skill. Once you publish your skill, apply to receive a free Echo Dot. This promotion is available in the US only. Check out our promotions in the UK, Germany, and India.