How to Use an Amazon Echo Show as a Security Camera
Reading Time: 4 minutesFind out how to use your Echo Show to monitor your home.
If you enable Amazon’s Home Monitoring option on your Echo Show, you can use that device as a security camera. You can view its camera footage remotely in a way that’s different from and slightly more discreet than using the Drop In feature. We’ll show you how to set it up, how to use it, and explain some of the options.
What Is Home Monitoring?
Security is an important part of any smart home, and there are lots of security cameras available.
If you like to place a security camera in every room to help keep an eye on things when you’re away, you don’t need both an Echo Show and an additional camera. The Amazon Alexa Home Monitoring feature uses the device’s built-in camera to provide a video feed.
While using Home Monitoring, you can hear what’s going on inside the room as well as see the video feed. You can also hear what’s going on and even communicate with the built-in microphone on the Echo Show.
How to Set Up Home Monitoring
Instructions and options may vary depending on your Echo Show model. In general, there will be some basic steps. From your Echo Show device:
- Swipe down from the screen top and tap Settings.
- Scroll down and tap Camera.
- Tap the toggle button to enable Home Monitoring.
- Tap the CONTINUE button.
You may need to enter your Amazon username and password to verify your account. You’ll be provided with an on-screen keyboard so that you can enter your password. You may also need to enter a two-factor authentication code if you have that level of security.
Some Limitations of Home Monitoring
There are some features included with a standard security camera that are not available with Home Monitoring—for example, the ability to record video. Say you have a roommate who has been stealing your cookies from the kitchen, and you want to capture the evidence. You’ll likely need to use an actual security camera that can record video.
Home Monitoring also does not send notifications. Some security cameras will notify you when they detect motion, for example. Although with the Echo Show 10 (3rd gen) and later, you may be able to set up routines that trigger notifications.
How to Operate Home Monitoring
You’ll need to ensure you have the Amazon Alexa app for iOS or Android on your smartphone, and that you’re signed in to the same Amazon account you use on your Echo Show.
- From your Alexa app home screen, tap Devices.
- Tap Cameras.
- Tap the name of your Echo Show.
- You’ll see the video feed of the Echo Show.
You can also try saying, ‘Alexa, show me (your Echo Show device name)’ from an Alexa-enabled device. You can view your Echo Show video from your Alexa app, another Echo Show device, from a smart TV, etc.
Added Functionality With the Echo Show 10
The Echo Show 10 features a tiling camera, so you can aim the camera in the direction you need to see by swiping on the monitoring feed. You can also set up routines that trigger when people are detected. For example, when you walk into the room and the camera recognizes you, you could have the service turn on the light in that room. Make sure to find out more about Alexa Routines and how they can supercharge your Echo experience.
Here’s how to set up your routines:
- At the Alexa app home screen, tap More in the lower right corner.
- Scroll down and tap Routines.
- Tap the plus sign (+) in the upper right to add a new routine.
- Tap the plus sign (+) next to When this happens.
- Tap Smart Home.
- Scroll down and tap your Echo Show 10 (3rd gen) in the list.
- Choose your routine action to finish the setup.
Echo Show Models Compatible With Home Monitoring
If you have a recent Amazon Echo Show, the chances are good that it will be compatible with the Home Monitoring service. Recent Echo Show models include:
What If You Don’t Have a Compatible Echo Show?
If your Echo Show is not compatible with Home Monitoring, there is an alternative. Any Amazon Echo Show device with a camera will include a feature called Drop In, which works similarly to Home Monitoring.
Drop In is intended to be more of a two-way communication feature than Home Monitoring. In other words, with Drop In, you can make a call to someone in the same room as your Echo Show.
Drop In has its limitations if you intend to use the Home Monitoring feature as a security measure. For example, if you want to watch your roommate steal your cookies without them knowing, Drop In may not be the best option. Its audible notification will alert anyone in the room that you are viewing the live footage..
Dealing With Privacy Concerns
This Home Monitoring feature could present a privacy issue for someone who is in the same room as the Echo Show, but does not know that the feature is activated. Fortunately, Amazon has included a feature that will display a message on the screen while someone is using Home Monitoring. This way, anyone who looks at the Echo Show will know that its camera is being monitored.
The on-screen message includes a stop button so that the Home Monitoring feature can be manually turned off.
Say you are the roommate who is stealing the cookies, for example. You sneak into the kitchen when you are sure that nobody else is around, but happen to glance at the Echo Show and realize that your roommate is using Home Monitoring to watch your every move. You simply need to tap the Stop button on the Echo Show, thereby concealing any evidence of your cookie-stealing activities.
Options Available With Home Monitoring
There are a few settings that can help with any privacy concerns. If you enable the Video Delay option when setting up Home Monitoring, it blurs out the first few seconds of the video feed. Anyone in the room can exit or stop the Home Monitoring session for privacy.
And when you enable Audio Alert, your Echo Show will sound an alert when someone uses the Home Monitoring service. Both these options would give your roommate a few seconds to get the cookie out, the lid back on the jar, and dart out of the room.
Keep an Eye on Your Home With the Echo Show
Don’t unnecessarily double up on your security cam coverage. Instead, use your Echo Show as a security camera. Enable the Home Monitoring feature, and keep a close eye on things like your delicious cookies.
Reference: https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-use-amazon-echo-show-security-camera/
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