Self-Guided Set up checklist

Get started with Alexa Smart Properties for Hospitality self-guided checklist

Step 1

Step 1: Create or sign into an existing Amazon Business account

Alexa for Hospitality allows you to utilize Alexa on your property, making it easy to manage multiple devices, configure settings, enable skills and assign property contacts at scale. Alexa for Hospitality is accessed through the Alexa for Hospitality console using an Amazon Business account.

Your Amazon Business account credentials will be used to access the Alexa for Hospitality console.

Illustration of an echo dot on the cover of the self guided tour checklist guide

NOTE: It takes 1-2 days to set up a new Amazon Business accounts.  

Step 2

Step 2: Acquire and prepare Alexa devices

Alexa for Hospitality works with Amazon Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Dot, and coming soon, Echo Show.  Echo devices can be ordered in bulk through Amazon Business using the account you use to sign up for Alexa for Hospitality.

Illustration of a developer configuring an alexa device using a laptop

You will be able to import multiple devices to properties through Alexa for Hospitality.

Step 3

Step 3: Subscribe to Alexa for Hospitality

Alexa for Hospitality is a monthly subscription service. You will be billed at your negotiated price per device or per room in your Alexa for Hospitality account.

To add additional devices, you will need to sign up for a subscription by clicking “Request Full Access” from the console. Ensure you have your billing details entered in the console before requesting full access.

Illustration of gears and settings

You’ll be contacted by a member of our Business Development team to finalize pricing and finish setting up your subscription.

Step 4

Step 4: Configure devices in property rooms

You can easily provision thousands of Echo devices quickly, and connect them to your account using APIs. Read more on APIs.

Alternatively, you can manage multiple Echo devices and automatically connect them to your account through a centralized console. Navigate to the property in the Alexa for Hospitality console that you wish to add the device to and follow steps in the Administration Guide.

After all of your Alexa devices have been set up, they are listed on the Alexa Devices page of the Alexa for Hospitality console. To see devices, ensure you have an active subscription as detailed above.

Illustration of a developer configuring an alexa device using a laptop

Device Setup currently requires a CHROME or FIREFOX browser to complete and a Windows computer enabled with Wi-Fi. (you cannot be connected to a VPN).

Step 5

Step 5: Manage your Alexa for Hospitality experience

Sign in to your Alexa for Hospitality console to read more in the Administration Guide about best practices and how to manage your guests' experience. 

Illustration of the Alexa logo

How Alexa for Hospitality works

Illustration of devices getting shipped to a property, getting configured with smart home devices, the Alexa device getting set up and interactions with voice

An Alexa skill has both an interaction model—or voice user interface—and application logic. When a customer speaks, Alexa processes the speech in the context of your interaction model to determine the customer request. Alexa then sends the request to your skill application logic, which acts on it. You provide your application logic as a back-end cloud service hosted by Alexa, AWS, or another server.

Explore Alexa Skills Kit features

Multiple skill types

Choose your skill type based on what your skill will do. You can use purpose-built APIs and interaction models for common use cases like smart home, or use the custom skill type to build any experience you can imagine. With a custom skill, you define the interaction model.

Application APIs

Use our application APIs in your back-end service to receive customer requests from Alexa, and to tell Alexa how to respond. You can also use the APIs to personalize your experience, link customer accounts, sell goods and services, and take advantage of other Alexa functions.

Software development kits

Take advantage of ASK SDKs to reduce the complexity of your code. SDKs for Java, Node.js, and Python provide language-specific functions for common tasks, enabling you to focus on your skill logic, not boilerplate code.

Development tools

You can use the ASK developer console or the ASK command line interface (CLI) to create, manage, test, and publish your skills. You can also integrate these functions in your systems with the skill management API (SMAPI).

Analytics

You can take advantage of ASK analytics to understand what's working well and opportunities for improvement. ASK provides a wide range of metrics, including customers, intents, sessions, utterances, and latency.

Next steps

Ready to start? 

Start creating a property and dive deeper into your property setup, adding users and creating room profiles.