- Hey guys.
Today I'm gonna try something a little bit different
with my videos.
I think I'm gonna try something out
where I do a tip and a trick every Tuesday.
They will be aptly called Tip and Trick Tuesdays.
Workin' on the name.
But you get the idea.
So, I wanted to try that out
and every Tuesday come up with a new tip or trick
for you guys to check out.
Let me know what you guys think of this
when we're all done.
I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with the other days yet but
give me suggestions.
Down for anything.
But today on this tip or trick Tuesday
I'm gonna show you how to drop in
to the Echo Show, Echo Dot, and Echo.
So, if you're not familiar with what
dropping in is,
it's a feature on the Echo devices,
on a few of them,
that allows you to basically drop in
unannounced onto somebody's Echo device.
Now, that basically means there's no calling
and then somebody has to pick up,
it's literally just poof, I'm there,
I'm in your room and I'm talking to you.
Obvious privacy concerns
but it does require you to actually enable
exactly who you wanna be able to do this.
You can also set scheduled times
where you
want a do not disturb.
Say, Friday night.
I dunno, you don't want mom calling,
dropping in.
It's weird.
But you get the idea.
It is a pretty handy feature though
'cause it kinda almost works like an intercom
and depending on who you allow to use it obviously,
it can be kind of fun.
So, to get started we're gonna download
the Alexa app on your phone
if you don't already have it
and make sure that you have the latest version.
It should automatically have you
set up Alexa calling and messaging
when you open the latest version,
but if not, tap the speech bubble icon,
Conversations it's called,
and it will have you sign up there.
Next head to settings,
tap on all the devices you want to allow
drop in on,
as in people can call into this device.
Then tap on drop in under general,
set it on to allow all calls in,
only my household if you wanna use it
simply to and from your own devices
in your house, like an intercom,
or off to disable it on that device entirely.
Now, drop in is not allowed from any contacts by default
until we choose which ones want to be
manually enabled.
No.
Now, even though we turned drop in on
on the device,
it actually is not enabled for any contacts
by default, which is probably smart,
so we need to go in and manually allow each person
that we want to be able to drop in.
To do that tap the conversations icon at the bottom again
and then tap the person icon at the top
to get to contacts.
Tap the contact you want to allow
then tap allow drop in.
Now that person will be able to drop into
the device you selected earlier instantly.
Now, if you wanna drop in to somebody else's Echo,
all you have to say from your Echo
is Alexa drop in on and then insert the contact's name.
If you're one of the people that they've allowed
then you'll instantly just kind of be
transmitted to their device
and be able to start talking.
If it is the Echo Show, by the way,
what it does is it kinda does like a frosted glass look
for a couple of seconds before it starts showing you
what is on the other side.
It does that just in case the person's not
presentable, I suppose.
Gives them a couple of seconds
to kinda get ready.
But otherwise it's pretty instant.
Now, alternatively you can open the Alexa app on your phone,
tap on the conversations tab,
tap the contact you want to drop in on,
ones that've allowed you should be visible there.
If not tap the people icon and then tap the contact.
And that's basically the gist.
There you go, quick little tip
on something I think is kinda fun
that is unique to the Echo series.
Let me know what you guys thought of this video
in the comments below.
Also of me doing this
tips and tricks series,
I'd like to hear about that as well.
And if you liked this video
please thumbs up it or share it
or subscribe to the channel.
All of that is greatly appreciated.
And as always, regardless,
thanks for watching.
(funky hip hop music)