Amazon should use this as a How To for the Show series! No one does video’s like this as well as you do them Brian, this video will be valuable for years to come!
Whew!!! You outdid yourself, Brian. I hope the title doesn't scare potential viewers away as you went WAY beyond what is needed to set up an Echo for your parents, or in many cases, our adult kids. Where I live there are literally thousands of seniors with Amazon Prime accounts so they're already set up. Not nearly all of those folks have Echo devices, though. Many jumped on the Google bandwagon instead back when it appeared they had an interest in smart homes. I'm glad you put time stamps on the content. BTW the big Echo 4th Edition has a Zigbee hub and if caught on sale, is a very versatile device. Nice job, Brian!!!
Thank you sir! You know...I thought it'd be easy to do this but I'm betting more people are struggling than we know. This one started easy and got complex!
Thank you so much. My mother has Alzheimer’s and I am getting her an Echo show so I can drop in on her. I am sure this video will help demystify the process.
Excellent video! I’m saving this one. I’ve been wanting to send an echo to My parents but figured I would have to show up to set it up. This guide means I can send it to them ready to go.
Hi there and THANK YOU! I've watched your vid and will watch it again (x10). I have a further question. I live in the UK; how might I set up an Alexa Show 8 for my Mom in Canada? I have a VPN so can set up her account 'from Canada'. I want to avoid her having to anything more than plug it in, if possible. Thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful knowledge!
Oh good luck! I think the only thing you might have to worry about is getting one from .ca over to you in the UK (with an adapter for power). Your vpn thing should work and all should be good!
Thanks@@AutomateYourLife . I'll purchase it in Canada and have it delivered directly to my Mom. After I've done all the online setting up of an account for her, etc from the UK, is there a way she can just plug it in in Canada and once connected to wifi I can 'see it' some how? thanks!
Great but I’m confused. At 36:55 your adding a number to the Parent Profile and then your looking at the contacts and it shows Kid 1? My wife’s Mother does not have a cell phone so I used my wife’s for her Mothers profile. Then I went into Contacts and created a contact for my wife and again used her cell phone. Do I need to create a Profile on her mothers echo Show with my wife’s name as well? We want to be able to use my wife’s echo show or my echo show at our home to drop in and this part all seems a bit rushed. Back to watching it again. The catch is my mother-in-law will NEVER own a mobile phone.
Ok so I'll explain it in terms that just make sure you have the right things in place. The Amazon account needs its own number for a short time. The profile for your mother needs a number (you can use Google Fi) that is its own. Your wife needs her own separate number. That's to get the blue checkmark next to everything and have it be a free Alexa to Alexa call.
@@AutomateYourLife If I got her mom a Google Voice number, would that work? Google Fi looks to be a cellular plan. Again an extra monthly cost? You say for a short time? After the blue check shows up I can delete / remove the phone number from her account and this will still work? She does have a land line? I just want the echo show working and allowing us to drop in on her. I’ll look into Google Fi as I assume your saying we can set this up without a physical cell phone?
Nope, the number needs to stay. So yes, a monthly cost. The other option that I haven't seen working quite yet is that you can designate 10 people just with accounts on the Alexa app that you can call. No number needed. That has been promised for some time.
Hi Brian, here are a few links you might want to include: @51:55 didn’t see this link for “Ways Seniors Need Alexa Tips and Tricks with Routines” @1:09:37 no link 3D printed mount for Flic buttons @1:11:25 no link Linkind 1-Key Remote Control … bulb
@12.10 you mention viewing the screen camera, but that is only viewable if you log into their account. Of course, drop-in can serve a similar purpose, minus the movement control on Echo Show 10 (Gen 3)
Thanks for all of this valuable information. One question - does my Mom NEED to have a mobile # to do video chat with me and my other 2 siblings? We have her Echo Show in place but cant figure out if she needs a mobile device to set this up?
I think today you can set her as an Alexa Contact and you don't need a number. Once you do that, you should be able to call and she should be able to call now
Hi Brian! I bought an Echo Show 8 for my Dad and he is in a different state then I. He will mainly use it to video call with me. On my phone's Alexa App, am I able to control his Echo Show thru my app? He doesn't use his smartphone.
Hi Emily, I haven't been able to test something like that explicitly, but I have done a few tests that tell me that you will be able to. When you're not on your home's WiFi, you can still manage devices that are online. This should still make it possible, but I can't be 100% when we're talking about different states. Weird things happen! Good luck!
@@AutomateYourLife Thank you Brian! I think I figured it out. I created a separate Amazon acct for my dad then logged out of my Alexa App and logged in as him and could set up his echo show preferences. Have more testing to do but so far it's working. I just got back home and will test more today on my end.
Hi Brian - a fantastic and detailed aid to us all setting these devices up / thank you. Can I ask 2 fundamental questions please. 1) instead of setting up additional Amazon accounts can I not add the parents new Show to my existing account with all the drop in setup etc done. Apart from new WiFi credentials at their home - what are the downsides to this ; 2) in the prescribed setup the phone number for all the contacts that will drop in have to be the same number as the one that was used to set up the parents profile - why ? Surely if each contact verifies their own number and each contact is allowed to drop in then it achieves the desired result ? Thank you in advance for your thoughts on the above Best, Nigel
You can do that Nigel, but I couldn’t name all the downsides and upsides. Just think that it’s going to be more management for you and Amazon is not building their system this way. So there might come a day when it doesn’t work out.
As for the second question, I’m not sure what explicitly you’re trying to avoid, and honestly this is too old for me to remember every nuance. But if I did it that way, there was a reason! Sorry I can’t say why…
Thank you! Trying to set up for my uncle who is in Assisted Living after a stroke (we live 2,000 miles from him!). Around 13:25 you mention something like 'Amazon mis A' application... What is that? (Looks like you were on the Amazon Alexa app at that point.) Please help! Thanks again and blue skies...
@@AutomateYourLife LOL - Thanks for your super quick reply! I am in the process of following your awesome instructions step-by-step and hopefully by next week, I'll be able to drop it off with him and drop in to visit with him when I am back in Louisiana! blue skies!
Hi Brian, @40.31 In the US you can still have 10 Alexa-to-phone contacts without a mobile service link. The mobile service gives you unlimited contacts
One of the main reasons we got my grandmother one of the shows was for birthdays. If I add Bobs birthday to the a calendar and then ask “when is Bobs birthday?” It can’t do that simple search. I got 1 birthday to work by using the how many days function in blueprints but that seems stupid to have to create a new one for every event I insert into their calendar.
Ok, instead of the calendar (or as well) Add to the Notes section of the Alexa app. The question might be a bit weird. Alexa, tell me what you know about Bob's birthday But add into the Notes: Bob's birthday is X
The same method as I show here, but what you'd do is setup an account with an Australia based Amazon account. Tough though, they might not let you do it.
Hi Brian, is there anyway that I could turn off Ewelink app notifications automatically when I reached home and turn on again when I'm leaving home. It would be very helpful since I used the Sonoff motion sensors as part of my home security in conjunction with Google assistant and android phone. Thanks again
Create a profile for her under your account. Then put that on the device when you do the first sign in. That'll keep her from payment info as far as I know. Pretty sure of it too.
Hi Brian. I stay with my elderly mum and we live in Asia. Now that work travel is back on, I bought an Echo Show 8 so that I can do video calls with my mum when I travel. I created 2 amazon account, 1 for my mum and 1 for myself. I used mum account for Echo setup, and setup done via a extra phone. Whereas my amazon account is signed-in on my own phone. I can drop in from the extra phone with mum account into Echo, but when I try to drop in from Echo it says 'No other devices to drop in to'. Is there any way to Drop In from Echo to phone with same amazon account and different account? My mum has mild dementia and is not tech savvy at all. And I felt that it's easier for her to say 'Alexa, drop in on xxx'. And since we're in Asia, the 'Call' function doesn't work. Thanks in advance.
1. You can login to your mom's account on your phone now that you've set it up. Go ahead, you can then manage settings for her. 2. Depending on your country, you can allow drop in for any of your contacts. Go to communication and get into the settings for her and allow drop in.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Somebody do a video on how to setup the show 15 PER ROOM! I only want to see devices AND Routines I can use for that room the Show is in.
While I appreciate your efforts and time to do this video...... There is absolutely no way I'm going to do this... But have a good one, and again thanks for the video!
I did read through the comments in case my answer was already there, but here’s my questions I am in the United States, my mother is in Canada in assisted-living. She already has Internet. If I bought the echo show here in the United States, would it work in Canada? The IT manager at the Care Home said he would help me, but I would like to try to do this myself so I don’t have to inconvenience him My mother does have an Amazon account. She does not have a mobile phone number and he also has an Amazon account. I just don’t understand why you just can’t plug it in at the Care Home find the Wi-Fi put in your Wi-Fi password and be done with it. Other than going in and allowing drop in and somehow adding your contacts, which I don’t understand how to do Is the only way to enable drop in and add contacts by using the Amazon app on a smart phone
You'd be fine to send her one by buying it under her account on amazon.ca. Then she'd put in a few things like her name and her wifi information and she would be done with it. Then you can manage it by switching between the accounts on your phone
Yes the echo show from the US works in Canada, but...setup can be tricky to get a CAN account on to it. I know that from experience because most products I get are US and I'm in Canada
@@AutomateYourLife I have a RUclips friend in Calgary that I’ve known for a few years so I sent him an email to see if I can order it from her Canadian Amazon account and just have it shipped to him. Then he can go through all those 10,000 things to turn on and off, and then we’ll mail it to the IT manager at the assisted-living and from there like you said, hopefully all he has to do is connect to her Wi-Fi.
My mother is hard of hearing. I have to yell for her to hear me on her telephone. I want to get her an Echo Show for video calls. Will it pair with earbuds? I think if an earbud is right in her ear she would hear me.
What would make the most sense is to get her a Fire TV Cube. They work with hearing aids and you can pair them. I believe earbuds would unpair whereas you could just leave the TV Cube turned on. You can also attach webcams to Fire TV Cubes
38:20 this is INSANE to me. Many of our elderly don't have their own phone number. I can't believe you can't make video calls to someone by adding their account's email alone. This is such a huge oversight by Amazon
you can set up skype contacts using email address - I used my laptop to open up skype using my parents email and pwd and then added contacts by searching for contacts email addresses. if the contacts have registered for skype then they will be added - if not they will get a message asking them to download skype to their device and register. no need for a phone number.
Brian. @40:10 although the display states “Group drop in”, Alexa doesn’t support that. I have a workaround using Zoom with scheduled meetings, Google Calendar/IFTTT so that a parent can be part of a group video call even if they are unable to accept an Alexa Call
Amazon should use this as a How To for the Show series! No one does video’s like this as well as you do them Brian, this video will be valuable for years to come!
I sure hope so sir! Thank you!
Whew!!! You outdid yourself, Brian. I hope the title doesn't scare potential viewers away as you went WAY beyond what is needed to set up an Echo for your parents, or in many cases, our adult kids. Where I live there are literally thousands of seniors with Amazon Prime accounts so they're already set up. Not nearly all of those folks have Echo devices, though. Many jumped on the Google bandwagon instead back when it appeared they had an interest in smart homes. I'm glad you put time stamps on the content. BTW the big Echo 4th Edition has a Zigbee hub and if caught on sale, is a very versatile device. Nice job, Brian!!!
Thank you sir!
You know...I thought it'd be easy to do this but I'm betting more people are struggling than we know. This one started easy and got complex!
Agree 💯
Thank you so much. My mother has Alzheimer’s and I am getting her an Echo show so I can drop in on her. I am sure this video will help demystify the process.
Best of luck!
Hi Brian.Thanks for putting together the outstanding and comprehensive guide including timelines!
And thank you for all the help Frank!
Excellent video! I’m saving this one. I’ve been wanting to send an echo to My parents but figured I would have to show up to set it up. This guide means I can send it to them ready to go.
Yessssssssssssss! That's my goal man. Let's get these parents connected!
Tut tut. Much of the fantastic technology which exists today was developed by people who are now seniors. However, excellent video.
It's certainly not meant to look down on anyone. Just meant as a way people can help :)
Hi there and THANK YOU! I've watched your vid and will watch it again (x10). I have a further question. I live in the UK; how might I set up an Alexa Show 8 for my Mom in Canada? I have a VPN so can set up her account 'from Canada'. I want to avoid her having to anything more than plug it in, if possible. Thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful knowledge!
Oh good luck! I think the only thing you might have to worry about is getting one from .ca over to you in the UK (with an adapter for power). Your vpn thing should work and all should be good!
I used a shipping service called shipito
Thanks@@AutomateYourLife . I'll purchase it in Canada and have it delivered directly to my Mom. After I've done all the online setting up of an account for her, etc from the UK, is there a way she can just plug it in in Canada and once connected to wifi I can 'see it' some how? thanks!
Whew thank you so much for this.
Awesome thoroughness. Your a lifesaver, Thank you so much!
Glad it was helpful!
Haha! I'm the senior mom and I need to show my son how to use it! But I also have to show my husband cos he doesn't get technology 😁
I'll rename it. Send an Echo Show To Your Kids 🤣
😆😆
Thank you
You're welcome!
Kool!
We can do annnnnnnything!
@@AutomateYourLife Google angrily leaves the chat.
Great but I’m confused. At 36:55 your adding a number to the Parent Profile and then your looking at the contacts and it shows Kid 1? My wife’s Mother does not have a cell phone so I used my wife’s for her Mothers profile. Then I went into Contacts and created a contact for my wife and again used her cell phone. Do I need to create a Profile on her mothers echo Show with my wife’s name as well? We want to be able to use my wife’s echo show or my echo show at our home to drop in and this part all seems a bit rushed. Back to watching it again. The catch is my mother-in-law will NEVER own a mobile phone.
Ok so I'll explain it in terms that just make sure you have the right things in place.
The Amazon account needs its own number for a short time.
The profile for your mother needs a number (you can use Google Fi) that is its own.
Your wife needs her own separate number.
That's to get the blue checkmark next to everything and have it be a free Alexa to Alexa call.
@@AutomateYourLife If I got her mom a Google Voice number, would that work? Google Fi looks to be a cellular plan. Again an extra monthly cost? You say for a short time? After the blue check shows up I can delete / remove the phone number from her account and this will still work? She does have a land line? I just want the echo show working and allowing us to drop in on her. I’ll look into Google Fi as I assume your saying we can set this up without a physical cell phone?
Nope, the number needs to stay. So yes, a monthly cost.
The other option that I haven't seen working quite yet is that you can designate 10 people just with accounts on the Alexa app that you can call. No number needed.
That has been promised for some time.
@@AutomateYourLife would a Google Voice number work?
Any number you can call and text. I'm in Canada so I've never been able to test. Sorry
Hi Brian, here are a few links you might want to include:
@51:55 didn’t see this link for “Ways Seniors Need Alexa Tips and Tricks with Routines”
@1:09:37 no link 3D printed mount for Flic buttons
@1:11:25 no link Linkind 1-Key Remote Control … bulb
Think I got it all! Thanks Frank!
Great info and review as always.👍
Thanks Lany! 👍
@12.10 you mention viewing the screen camera, but that is only viewable if you log into their account. Of course, drop-in can serve a similar purpose, minus the movement control on Echo Show 10 (Gen 3)
Very true! Thanks Frank!
Awesome as always Brian….very sorry I never got back to you. Next week?
All good! Anytime sir!
Thanks for all of this valuable information. One question - does my Mom NEED to have a mobile # to do video chat with me and my other 2 siblings? We have her Echo Show in place but cant figure out if she needs a mobile device to set this up?
I think today you can set her as an Alexa Contact and you don't need a number. Once you do that, you should be able to call and she should be able to call now
Hi Brian! I bought an Echo Show 8 for my Dad and he is in a different state then I. He will mainly use it to video call with me. On my phone's Alexa App, am I able to control his Echo Show thru my app? He doesn't use his smartphone.
Hi Emily,
I haven't been able to test something like that explicitly, but I have done a few tests that tell me that you will be able to. When you're not on your home's WiFi, you can still manage devices that are online. This should still make it possible, but I can't be 100% when we're talking about different states. Weird things happen!
Good luck!
@@AutomateYourLife Thank you Brian! I think I figured it out. I created a separate Amazon acct for my dad then logged out of my Alexa App and logged in as him and could set up his echo show preferences. Have more testing to do but so far it's working. I just got back home and will test more today on my end.
Hi Brian - a fantastic and detailed aid to us all setting these devices up / thank you. Can I ask 2 fundamental questions please. 1) instead of setting up additional Amazon accounts can I not add the parents new Show to my existing account with all the drop in setup etc done. Apart from new WiFi credentials at their home - what are the downsides to this ; 2) in the prescribed setup the phone number for all the contacts that will drop in have to be the same number as the one that was used to set up the parents profile - why ? Surely if each contact verifies their own number and each contact is allowed to drop in then it achieves the desired result ?
Thank you in advance for your thoughts on the above
Best,
Nigel
You can do that Nigel, but I couldn’t name all the downsides and upsides. Just think that it’s going to be more management for you and Amazon is not building their system this way. So there might come a day when it doesn’t work out.
As for the second question, I’m not sure what explicitly you’re trying to avoid, and honestly this is too old for me to remember every nuance.
But if I did it that way, there was a reason! Sorry I can’t say why…
Thank you! Trying to set up for my uncle who is in Assisted Living after a stroke (we live 2,000 miles from him!). Around 13:25 you mention something like 'Amazon mis A' application... What is that? (Looks like you were on the Amazon Alexa app at that point.) Please help! Thanks again and blue skies...
Yep! Miss A = Alexa app 😃
We just don't say it so it doesn't constantly wake up smart speakers
@@AutomateYourLife LOL - Thanks for your super quick reply! I am in the process of following your awesome instructions step-by-step and hopefully by next week, I'll be able to drop it off with him and drop in to visit with him when I am back in Louisiana! blue skies!
Hi Brian, @40.31
In the US you can still have 10 Alexa-to-phone contacts without a mobile service link. The mobile service gives you unlimited contacts
ahhhhh! Now see, that's an American thing I couldn't get clear on. Thanks Frank!
One of the main reasons we got my grandmother one of the shows was for birthdays. If I add Bobs birthday to the a calendar and then ask “when is Bobs birthday?” It can’t do that simple search. I got 1 birthday to work by using the how many days function in blueprints but that seems stupid to have to create a new one for every event I insert into their calendar.
Ok, instead of the calendar (or as well)
Add to the Notes section of the Alexa app. The question might be a bit weird. Alexa, tell me what you know about Bob's birthday
But add into the Notes: Bob's birthday is X
Im in the US and I want to send a set up and send a Echo 15 to my mum in Australia. How do you suggest I do it?
The same method as I show here, but what you'd do is setup an account with an Australia based Amazon account. Tough though, they might not let you do it.
@@AutomateYourLife ty - I will give it a go and let you know if it works!
Can you add the link to the Amazon Build It Printer? Great video! Thanks!
Yes absolutely Emma! Nice to see you :)
amzn.to/3rV7JU7 (Amazon affiliate link)
Hi Brian, is there anyway that I could turn off Ewelink app notifications automatically when I reached home and turn on again when I'm leaving home. It would be very helpful since I used the Sonoff motion sensors as part of my home security in conjunction with Google assistant and android phone. Thanks again
I'm pretty sure you could find a way to use Tasker for that when the notification pops up on your phone.
@@AutomateYourLife I think that Tasker is the only app that could do just that, thanks 👍
Is there a way to set up my mom on my Amazon account but send her an echo show to use at her home? Does that give her access to my payment info?
Create a profile for her under your account. Then put that on the device when you do the first sign in. That'll keep her from payment info as far as I know. Pretty sure of it too.
Hero Quest! ;)
BEST!
Hi Brian. I stay with my elderly mum and we live in Asia. Now that work travel is back on, I bought an Echo Show 8 so that I can do video calls with my mum when I travel. I created 2 amazon account, 1 for my mum and 1 for myself. I used mum account for Echo setup, and setup done via a extra phone. Whereas my amazon account is signed-in on my own phone. I can drop in from the extra phone with mum account into Echo, but when I try to drop in from Echo it says 'No other devices to drop in to'. Is there any way to Drop In from Echo to phone with same amazon account and different account? My mum has mild dementia and is not tech savvy at all. And I felt that it's easier for her to say 'Alexa, drop in on xxx'. And since we're in Asia, the 'Call' function doesn't work. Thanks in advance.
1. You can login to your mom's account on your phone now that you've set it up. Go ahead, you can then manage settings for her.
2. Depending on your country, you can allow drop in for any of your contacts. Go to communication and get into the settings for her and allow drop in.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Somebody do a video on how to setup the show 15 PER ROOM! I only want to see devices AND Routines I can use for that room the Show is in.
I think the only way to do this today would be to make different profiles and use those to setup the Show 15. Then never use Face ID....I think.
While I appreciate your efforts and time to do this video...... There is absolutely no way I'm going to do this... But have a good one, and again thanks for the video!
LOL ok!
I did read through the comments in case my answer was already there, but here’s my questions
I am in the United States, my mother is in Canada in assisted-living. She already has Internet.
If I bought the echo show here in the United States, would it work in Canada?
The IT manager at the Care Home said he would help me, but I would like to try to do this myself so I don’t have to inconvenience him
My mother does have an Amazon account. She does not have a mobile phone number and he also has an Amazon account. I just don’t understand why you just can’t plug it in at the Care Home find the Wi-Fi put in your Wi-Fi password and be done with it.
Other than going in and allowing drop in and somehow adding your contacts, which I don’t understand how to do
Is the only way to enable drop in and add contacts by using the Amazon app on a smart phone
You'd be fine to send her one by buying it under her account on amazon.ca. Then she'd put in a few things like her name and her wifi information and she would be done with it.
Then you can manage it by switching between the accounts on your phone
Yes the echo show from the US works in Canada, but...setup can be tricky to get a CAN account on to it. I know that from experience because most products I get are US and I'm in Canada
@@AutomateYourLife I have a RUclips friend in Calgary that I’ve known for a few years so I sent him an email to see if I can order it from her Canadian Amazon account and just have it shipped to him. Then he can go through all those 10,000 things to turn on and off, and then we’ll mail it to the IT manager at the assisted-living and from there like you said, hopefully all he has to do is connect to her Wi-Fi.
All it was to do is drop in on itself. This is so annoying I guess I’ll have to be on hold for two hours to some in India for Amazon echo
My mother is hard of hearing. I have to yell for her to hear me on her telephone. I want to get her an Echo Show for video calls. Will it pair with earbuds? I think if an earbud is right in her ear she would hear me.
What would make the most sense is to get her a Fire TV Cube. They work with hearing aids and you can pair them. I believe earbuds would unpair whereas you could just leave the TV Cube turned on. You can also attach webcams to Fire TV Cubes
38:20 this is INSANE to me. Many of our elderly don't have their own phone number. I can't believe you can't make video calls to someone by adding their account's email alone. This is such a huge oversight by Amazon
Yeah, it's a tough thing to get through but you can deal with it by getting something like Google Fi if you're in the US.
you can set up skype contacts using email address - I used my laptop to open up skype using my parents email and pwd and then added contacts by searching for contacts email addresses. if the contacts have registered for skype then they will be added - if not they will get a message asking them to download skype to their device and register. no need for a phone number.
How can I configure an Alexa device to combat dementia?
I'm not an expert on treating that unfortunately. Sorry!
Brian.
@40:10 although the display states “Group drop in”, Alexa doesn’t support that.
I have a workaround using Zoom with scheduled meetings, Google Calendar/IFTTT so that a parent can be part of a group video call even if they are unable to accept an Alexa Call
Do you have a link to that guide???
@@AutomateYourLife It's part of this article
90210 Beverly Hills... @10:40 ;)
I tell ya! People catch EVERYTHING! Good eye.
Thumbs down, if my kid sent me a show like this I would be quite insulted. :-) I would tell him to sent it to his grandmother.
Well see...this video is for you to send her one!😀