With Alexa, your home has a voice of its own

Deutsche Telekom offers Amazon Echo and Echo Dot, the two new speakers boasting Alexa, the smart voice-controlled assistant, in around 700 Telekom shops across Germany. In close collaboration with Amazon, Deutsche Telekom will integrate Alexa into its smart home platform Qivicon. Magenta SmartHome can thus be voice-controlled via Amazon's Echo. Customers can now approach the staff at the Telekom shops and find out more about the various possibilities and options prior to purchase.

"With Alexa, there are many new opportunities to make the connected home even smarter and more comfortable," says Christian von Reventlow, Deutsche Telekom's Chief Product and Innovation Officer. "Working with Amazon allows us to share even more innovation with our customers. We believe strongly in the future of voice-controlled smart homes."

Amazon Echo is so much more than merely a speaker. Residents of a smart home simply have to ask. Amazon Echo connects with Alexa to play music, answer questions, control Magenta SmartHome devices or even order a taxi. Alexa is capable of learning new things and dealing with new tasks and functions every day.

Using Alexa to control Magenta SmartHome

Following the launch of Amazon Echo in Germany, Magenta SmartHome customers can start using an initial beta version of the voice control service in their homes. Magenta SmartHome Skill allows the user to voice-activate preprogrammed situations or switch over to the status "Absent." This service is based on Qivicon, the European non-proprietary Smart Home platform. Qivicon has learned to communicate with Alexa, whereby it enables customers to control their lights, blinds, alarm systems and much more via voice commands.