Now Available: Alexa for Apps Send to Phone (Preview) and the AMAZON.SendToPhone Built-In Intent

Alexa skill developers can now enhance their customers’ voice experiences on any Alexa-enabled device in the home such as an Echo Dot or an Echo Show, by connecting them to content in apps and websites on their phone, using the new Alexa for Apps Send to Phone capability (now in Developer Preview) and the AMAZON.SendToPhone built-in intent.

Send to Phone experiences provide customers with complementary information where your skill provides key information by voice, and then follows up in your app or website with more detailed information. You can also use your app or website to provide enhanced search results, for example, when the search involves a lot of information that’s more easily consumed in an app. Send to Phone can also be used to implement a call to action in a skill to complete a task. You can connect customers to an app or website to complete a setup task, activate something in their account, or complete a complex interaction flow that’s not quite as simple to do by voice alone. You can learn more about Send To Phone feature and watch videos on how our launch partners plan to use it on the Send to Phone website.

We highly recommend using the AMAZON.SendToPhone built-in intent to accelerate voice modeling a Send to Phone intent. The Send to Phone intent is already modeled with hundreds of sample utterances like “send it to my phone” or “send me the link”, so this can save you time in your development. As with all built-in intents, you can extend the AMAZON.SendToPhoneIntent with skill-specific phrases to cover your skill's unique UX, e.g. “Send me the recipe”! The new intent is now available in all Alexa locales.

Developers such as McDonald’s UK, Twitter, Cookpad, Matchbox.io, Claro, Diageo, and Thryv are building some really cool voice + app experiences with Alexa for Apps.

With the McDonald's UK skill for Alexa, the week’s top deal is played to you right at the beginning of the skill. Currently, to get the offer, customers need to access it through the My McDonald’s mobile app. With the Send to Phone feature, McDonald’s can now make this journey effortless by deep linking to the Deals page in the My McDonalds app via a push notification from the Alexa app.

The Twitter skill for Alexa lets customers interrupt and say “Send to phone” any time they hear something of interest.

The Cookpad skill for Alexa (US, UK) allows users to find recipe ideas on an Echo device, and send a recipe to their phone using the Send to Phone feature. They’re also exploring additional ways to use the feature like search results and more, to continue on their mission to “make everyday cooking fun.”

Matchbox.io will use Send to Phone in their popular Question of the Day skill, to reward players who reach a certain milestone in the game with a celebratory certificate that they can share with their friends.

Claro Colombia, the leading provider of telecommunications with the highest coverage in the country, will use Send to Phone to provide additional information to users while keeping the dialogue simple. For example, if a user asks about their data plan, the Claro skill will answer and then send a link to the customer’s phone so they can view details in the Claro app.

Diageo is working with SayItNow.ai to add Send to Phone to fulfill a call to action for their Talisker skill for Alexa that marries their in-home experience with their experience in bars and restaurants.

Thryv will be using the Send to Phone feature in the Yellow Pages skill and expanding their mobile experience to allow users to search for local businesses on Echo devices. If you’re on the way out the door, you can ask the Yellow Pages skill on your Echo device to send directions to an ice cream parlor, or the cheapest gas station nearby!

Visit https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/get-deeper/response-api/alexa-for-apps/s2p to learn more and apply for the preview!