Getting started with K4Community Enterprise Voice
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      3. Getting started with K4Community Enterprise Voice

      What's the difference between a K4Community Enterprise-managed Alexa device and a regular, personal one?

      Licensing and Privacy

      Consumer Device

      Enterprise-managed Device

      The license and privacy policy for a consumer device is between the individual user and Amazon. Amazon collects usage and other data that can be associated with a person.

      Using the Alexa App on a mobile device, users can access all the data Amazon collected about them.

      The license and privacy policy for an enterprise-managed device are between the legal entity, the operator, and Amazon. Although Amazon can collect usage and other data, this data is not associated with an individual.

      Amazon provides generic usage information at a community level. They do not provide usage data about a person or a specific device. The data reported provides an overall sense of the general categories all users are doing on the fleet of devices; for example, playing music, asking about the weather, or other information. No information provided by Amazon will identify a specific device or individual.

      Device Setup

      Consumer Device

      Enterprise-managed Device

      How is the device set up for use?

      Consumer devices are set up and provisioned one at a time by the individual user at the time the unit is unboxed. Setup is done directly on the device via the Alexa Mobile App.

      The device is associated with an individual’s Amazon account.

      The setup includes associating the device to WiFi, specifying the device's location (for features like weather), and other personalization settings.

      Enterprise-managed devices are set up and provisioned for an entire community by K4 before they are shipped to the community. This setup includes setting the location and WiFi information specific to the community. The device will only work when connected to the K4Community SSID.

      The device is associated with a particular apartment or home in the community as opposed to a specific resident.

      Upon unboxing the device, the unit is completely functional and does not require any additional setup.

      Can the resident change the device's settings?

      ✅ Yes

      The user can change the settings on the device from the device itself or the Alexa app.

      🚫 No

      All settings are changed by the community or K4Connect Client Support.

      Can the community change the device's settings?

      🚫 No

      Each user’s device is associated with their Amazon account. In general, users don’t share their Amazon accounts with 3rd parties.

      ✅ Yes

      Configurations can be changed for all devices at once or on a device-by-device basis by K4Connect.

      Settings that can be changed include wake word, speaking rate, and accessibility features such as captioning.

      Home Screen Content (Echo Show)

      Consumer Device

      Enterprise-managed Device

      Can the community display information on the screen of the device when the device is idle?

      🚫 No

      The device will only show content controlled by Amazon. Users can select what categories of content they want to see, but there is no way for the community to display their information such as events and notices. 

      🚫 No

      The home screen content is managed by K4Connect, which includes displaying local weather information.

      Built-in Alexa Requests

      Built-in Alexa Requests are top-level questions Alexa can answer without the need for the user to invoke a specific skill. Generally, the user will say the device's wake word and then a question or command. The chart below is not an exhaustive list, but in general, if the request requires the device to know personal information about the user, the enterprise-managed device will not fulfill it.

      Consumer Device

      Enterprise-managed Device

      Can the user ask the device about local weather, for example: “Alexa, is it raining” or “Alexa, what’s today’s forecast?”

      ✅ Yes

      ✅ Yes

      Can the user ask the device for weather at other locations, for example: “Alexa, what’s the weather like in Seattle”

      ✅ Yes

      ✅ Yes

      Can the user ask for general information, for example: “Alexa, how many teaspoons are in a cup?” or “Alexa, who won the Tour de France?” or “Alexa, What is the capital of North Carolina”

      ✅ Yes

      ✅ Yes
      Can the user set timers and reminders?

      ✅ Yes

      ✅ Yes

      Can the user ask the device for a joke, for example: “Alexa, tell me a joke?”
      ✅ Yes 🚫 No

      Can the user put items on a list, for example: “Alexa, add eggs to the shopping list.” or Alexa, put change lightbulb in the kitchen on the to-do list?
      ✅ Yes

      🚫 No

      No, lists require an Amazon account and enterprise-managed devices are not associated to individual users due to Amazon’s privacy policy 

      Can the user ask the device for current news stories, for example: “Alexa, what’s in the news?”

      ✅ Yes

      		 🚫 No
      Can the user silence Alexa’s “okay” after responding to prompts?

      ✅ Yes

      		 🚫 No

      K4Community Voice Skill

      The K4Community Voice Skill offers residents access to important information from community staff, including updates on events, notices, dining options, and more. While this article does not include an exhaustive list of the skill's capabilities, the table below outlines the various ways users can engage with the skill on both consumer and enterprise-managed devices. For a comprehensive overview of the skill's features, please refer to the Community Content section in Supported Alexa Commands.

      The K4Community Skill provides similar functionality on both consumer and enterprise-managed devices, with the exceptions outlined below.

      Consumer Device

      Enterprise-managed Device

      Can the user request information from the K4 skill without the need to preface the request with the skill name, for example: “Alexa, what is for dinner tonight?” or “Alexa, what are the community notices?” or “Alexa, when is Yoga?”

      ✅ Yes*

      *Personal Alexas do a good job of intuiting which skill to use to answer certain questions, but, in some cases, the user may need to specify, "Ask K4..." or "Alexa, open K4..."

      ✅ Yes

      Because the enterprise-managed Alexas are configured specifically for community-based information, they automatically engage the K4Community Voice skill to answer them.

      Can the home screen of the skill be opened via a voice request, for example: “Alexa, open K4”

      ✅ Yes

      ✅ Yes
      For Echo Show, can the user interact with the screen interface once the skill is opened?

      ✅ Yes

      ✅ Yes

      Third Party Content Skills

      Third Party Content Skills extend the capabilities of personal Alexa devices via independent, non-Amazon skill developers. Skills can be found on Amazon’s website or in the Alexa mobile app.

      Consumer Device

      Enterprise-managed Device
      Can the user have the K4Community Voice skill on their device?

      ✅ Yes

      The K4Community Voice skill is available in the Skill Store. 

      The user must enable the skill themselves using the credentials used to access K4Community on the web or mobile app.

      Refer to How to Enable Alexa Public Skills on a Personal Alexa Device for more details

      ✅ Yes

      The device is pre-configured with the K4Community Skill and it is associated with the user’s room when the device is unboxed and turned on.
      Can the user enable any skill from the skill store?

      ✅ Yes

      Since it is their device the user can enable both paid and unpaid skills.

      🚫 No

      Users can not enable third party skills since the device is not associated with their Amazon account.
      Can the community enable skills on the users device?

      🚫 No

      The device is associated to the User’s Amazon accountant the community does not have access the account associated with the device.

      🚫 No

      While K4, in the past, enableed third party skills on devices, we found this to be problematic and we discontinued the practice.

      Third Party Smart Home Skills

      Smart Home is another area where third parties can extend the capabilities of Alexa devices including smart appliances, entertainment devices, and home comfort and security devices like lights, cameras, and thermostats.

      Consumer Device

      Enterprise-managed Device
      Can the user have the K4Community Smart Home skill on their device?

      ✅ Yes

      The K4Community Smart Home skill is available in the Skill stores. 

      The user must enable the skill themselves using the credentials used to access K4Community on the web or mobile app.

      Refer to How to Enable Alexa Public Skills on a Personal Alexa Device for more details

      ✅ Yes 

      The device is pre-configured with the K4Community Smart Home Skill and it is associated to the user’s room when the device is unboxed and turned on.
      Can the user incorporate K4Community Smart Home devices into device groups?
      ✅ Yes

      ✅ Yes*

      *Groups can be created by sending a request to K4Connect Support.
      Can the user enable other third party Smart Home skills on the device? 

      ✅ Yes

      Since it is their device the user can enable both paid and unpaid Smart Home skills.

      🚫 No

      Only the K4Community Smart Home Skill and devices are available.
       

      Entertainment

      Entertainment includes music and videos directly from Amazon or via third party providers like iHeart Radio, Netflix, Apple Music, and many other content providers. The table below highlights the general differences between the entertainment options available on the two devices, and it does not focus on any particular content provider unless specified.

       

      Consumer Device

      Enterprise-managed Device
      What music services can the device play music from?

      The device can play music from any of the available music services Amazon Alexa offers including Apple, Amazon, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Pandora, and others. The features available for playing music vary depending on the service used. 

      The majority of music services require a paid subscription that is associated with the user.

      		 The device is capable of streaming music from the iHeart Radio service, which is provided at no additional cost to the user.

      Can the user ask to play a certain genre, for example: “Alexa, play country music” or “Alexa, play Jazz music."

      It depends on the music services configured on the user’s Alexa account.

      If there is no service configured Amazon Music will fulfill the request. If the user is not an Amazon Music subscriber, a few songs will play and they will be prompted to subscribe. 

      		 iHeart Radio will play a station that matches the genre requested.

      Can the user ask to play music by a certain artist, for example: “Alexa, play songs by Alan Jackson” or “Alexa, play music by the Beatles.”

      It depends on the music services configured on the user’s Alexa account.

      If there is no service configured Amazon Music will fulfill the request. If the user is not an Amazon Music subscriber, a few songs will play and they will be prompted to subscribe. 

      		 iHeart Radio will play a song by the requested artist then continue playing a station that matches the genre of the artist.

      Can the user ask to play a certain song for example: “Alexa, play Freebird”

      It depends on the music services configured on the user’s Alexa account.

      If there is no service configured Amazon Music will fulfill the request. If the user is not an Amazon Music subscriber, a few songs will play and they will be prompted to subscribe. 

      		 iHeart Radio will play songs in the same genre of the artist of the requested song.

       

      Communications

      Communications includes video and voice calling.

       

      Consumer Device

      Enterprise-managed Device
      Can the user set up personal contacts to communicate with?

      ✅ Yes

      The device uses the contacts from the user's phone where the Alexa mobile app is located.

      ✅ Yes

      Residents can enter personal contacts and friends in the K4Community Plus app and Alexa will recognize those as contacts she can call provided that the friend has a telephone number associated or an email address associated that is also connected to an Alexa account.

      Additionally, staff members can also enter a resident’s personal contacts via the Team Hub.
      Can the community enter community contacts for the resident, for example, security, the front desk, or restaurants?

      🚫No

      Since the device is associated with the user’s Alexa account, each resident will need to enter these contact numbers independently.

      ✅ Yes

      The community can provide a community contact list in the Team Hub. All numbers entered here are available on all enterprise-managed devices.
      Can residents make voice calls to one another on their devices?

      ✅ Yes 

      Provided that the other resident is set up as a contact on their phone.

      ✅ Yes

      All residents in the Directory are added to the contact list automatically and can be called by asking Alexa to call [resident name]. However, residents can opt-out of being called via the K4Community Plus app. In those cases, Alexa will not call the resident.
      Can residents make video calls with friends?

      ✅ Yes

      Provided that the resident has an Echo Show and the friend is set up as a contact on their phone and the friend has a personal Alexa account.

      ✅ Yes

      Provided that the resident has an Echo Show and the friend has a video-enabled device with Alexa and an email address associated that is also connected to an Alexa account.
      Can Skype video calls be sent and received on the device?

      ✅ Yes

      Provided that the Skype skill is installed and the user authenticates the skill with their Skype account.

      🚫 No

      Only the built-in Alexa video calling feature is available.

       

      Shopping

      Consumer Device

      Enterprise-managed Device
      Can the device be used for Amazon shopping features?

      ✅ Yes

      Since the device is associated to an Amazon account, the user can use Amazon shopping services like product ordering and order status.

      🚫 No

      Shopping requires an Amazon account and enterprise-managed devices are not associated to individual users due to Amazon’s privacy policy.
      Will users be asked to add on subscriptions and other costs?

      ✅ Yes

      Since it is a consumer device the users will have an opportunity to purchase and add additional services, such as music, paid skills, and more.

      🚫 No

      Since the device is associated with a room and not a user, no charges or paid services should be suggested or purchasable.