The ability to control smart home appliances is one of the most popular uses among Alexa customers today. And according to the National Apartment Association, 84% of renters want an apartment with smart home amenities—61% of whom said they would pay a monthly fee for a voice assistant. Today, integrators offer smart home amenities to apartments, but they have not been able to offer voice as a part of that package—residents have always had to purchase, set-up, and configure their Alexa devices experiences themselves.
Today, we are launching Alexa for Residential—an all-new service that makes it easy for property managers to set up and manage Alexa-powered smart home experiences throughout their buildings. With Alexa for Residential, residents walk in to a ready-to-use, Alexa-powered smart apartment, with no account or device setup needed. From the moment they move in, residents can control their apartment’s smart home features, set timers and alarms, get the weather, news and more—all using just their voice. If a resident has an Amazon account, they can easily link it to access the full range of Alexa features, including the ability to call friends and family, listen to their music playlists and more.
At launch, IOTAS, STRATIS IoT and Sentient Property Services are the first smart home integrators to use Alexa for Residential, and will be opening multiple smart apartment residences across the U.S. this fall.
"Our vision was to create a service that makes having an Alexa-enabled home accessible for anyone, regardless of whether they rent or own their home," said Liron Torres, head of smart properties, Amazon Alexa. "Alexa for Residential goes beyond the smart home—it also enables properties to provide custom voice experiences for their residents, including information on amenities and custom services. We’re excited to be teaming up with IOTAS, STRATIS IoT and Sentient Property Services as we start realizing this vision, and look forward to expanding this experience to even more apartment residences across the US."
For residents: move-in ready Alexa-enabled smart apartments
Residents don’t have to have an Amazon account, purchase any devices, or set up anything in the apartment—it will all just work. From the moment they walk into their new apartment, residents can ask Alexa to remind them when it’s recycling day, or play the news and weather every morning – and control the apartment's smart home features, just by asking. With a few extra steps, residents can also link their own Amazon account to enable full use of all available Alexa features. They will also be able to control and manage the device in their Alexa app alongside any other Alexa-enabled devices they already own.
Like all Alexa services, this experience is built from the ground up with privacy in mind. Property managers do not have access to any customer data, and voice recordings are automatically deleted daily. If a customer links their personal Amazon account, they will have full control of their privacy settings as if the device was their own, with any preferences automatically applied. Residents can unlink their account at any time, and at move out, in-unit devices can be reset along with the rest of the smart home devices.
For property managers: meet growing demand of voice-enabled smart apartments
With Alexa for Residential, property managers will be able to meet the growing demand for voice-enabled smart apartments and communities—with Alexa offered as a permanent amenity in the home. Previously, installing voice-enabled experiences for apartment complexes was time consuming and costly, as property managers had no way to reset or manage multiple devices at once. Each time a resident moved out, the property managers would need to reset each device individually, or purchase new devices. With Alexa for Residential, Alexa-enabled devices are now permanent fixtures in the home—property managers can remotely reset devices to default settings when residents move out, while also ensuring that Alexa’s integration with the smart home remains intact.
Alexa for Residential also allows properties to offer custom voice experiences that go beyond the walls of their apartments. Custom Alexa skills can be enabled for every unit in a property, allowing residents to manage rent, maintenance requests, amenity reservations, and more, all through voice. Property managers can also use Alexa-enabled devices in vacant units to answer common questions, enable self-guided tours, or demo the smart home features available in each unit.
"We're delighted to deliver the first platform to provide fleet management solutions for Amazon Alexa products," said Felicite Moorman, CEO of STRATIS IoT. "Solving challenges in complex buildings requires the most innovative partners to co-create solutions that deliver unparalleled, seamless resident and tenant experiences. With ease of execution for our property management pioneers, this is a home run. We're proud to collaborate with clear technology leaders and these innovations represent the commitment and dedication of Amazon to this complex and exciting new technology frontier."
"As an IoT provider serving up solutions for the multifamily industry, we're all about creating convenience, efficiency, and ease-of-adoption for residents and management teams alike," said Sce Pike, CEO of IOTAS. "Integrating Alexa for Residential into our platform is a perfect fit because it facilitates an even more seamless and delightful smart community experience on both sides of the equation."
