Alexa Live: 3 Key Takeaways from the Event

Last month's Alexa Live virtual developer event provided a valuable learning opportunity for Alexa Skill builders and smart device manufacturers alike. Alexa Live offered training sessions and resources to help Skill builders and device makers enhance their customer experiences. It also gave us insights into the future of Alexa and its use in smart and connected devices. 

Several Bluefin Technology Partners team members attended Alexa Live — here are three of our key takeaways from the event.

1. Amazon Is Listening to the Alexa Community.

Amazon plans to release features that will help everyone in the Alexa community, says Conor Crowley, Bluefin's Technical Project Manager. These features include: 

• Alexa Conversation: Provides an AI-based approach to dialog management that lets developers create Skills that let customers speak freely to their Alexa devices. 

• App-to-App Linking: Lets Alexa users link their user identity with their identity in another service by starting from an app or website.

• Custom Tasks: Enables developers to create custom tasks within a Skill; a task is an action that a Skill performs, and it allows a Skill to fulfill a user's request or find an Amazon provider to handle the request.   

The bottom line: developers have been asking for new Alexa features, and now, they can make Skills to help customers engage with brands like never before.  

2. It Is Becoming Easier and More Cost-Effective to Build Alexa Skills.

Amazon is making it easier and more cost-effective to build Skills for Alexa. As such, voice app developers can use a variety of tools to create Skills quickly and affordably. To illustrate this point, let's consider a few examples from Alexa Live.

With Alexa Conversation, developers can build a Skill that covers all possible pathways. Meanwhile, Quick Links makes it simple to take customers to a custom Skill on their Alexa device.

Expect Amazon to continue to explore ways to help voice app developers integrate Alexa capabilities into existing products or develop Skills for new products. That way, businesses can uncover innovative ways to integrate Alexa into their products and provide their customers with unprecedented experiences.

3. The Future for Alexa and Voice App Development Looks Bright.

Alexa was introduced in 2014, and the technology has grown leaps and bounds since that time. Going forward, Amazon looks poised to listen to the Alexa community, learn from it, and offer new Alexa features. In doing so, voice app developers will be well-equipped to build Alexa skills more efficiently in the years to come.

Want to Add Alexa Capabilities to a Product? Bluefin Can Help!

The Bluefin team helps businesses reap the benefits of Alexa, and we can build a custom Skill for your company or integrate Alexa capabilities into an existing product. To learn more, please contact us today.