7 Reasons to Consider Getting a Smart Speaker

While living alone has its pleasures, it has its downsides, too. That’s why many older adults who live alone are using voice-activated smart speakers to make their lives a bit easier — and to stay more connected with friends and family in the process. (If you’re not sure how smart speakers work, you can read more about them below.)

Because the devices are hands-free and respond to voice commands, they’re a great choice if you don’t have a computer or have vision or mobility restrictions. Instead of typing on a computer or tapping on a screen to get information, you can simply ask Alexa or Google — the digital assistants that operate on the smart speaker — to tell you the answer to your questions or perform tasks for you.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are all sorts of ways you can benefit from having a smart speaker.

We’ve outlined the top reasons to consider getting one below.

Connect With Loved Ones

Dislike holding the phone to your ear to make a phone call? You can place calls and answer them quickly and easily using a smart speaker. No wonder staying in touch with friends and family, especially kids and grandkids, is one of the most popular ways older adults use voice-activated tech.

Hear Automatic Reminders

Setting reminders is one of a voice assistant’s simplest features, but it is also one of its most powerful. You can ask your smart speakers to set reminders for all sorts of things, from taking your medication to watering the plants to calling a friend to reconnect.

Find Entertainment Easily

Smart speakers let you play almost any kind of music you want, anytime, with a simple voice command. In addition, you can listen to audiobooks, play games, or ask Alexa or Google to tell you a joke. There are also lots of funny “Easter egg” questions you can ask.

You: “Alexa, open the pod bay doors.” Alexa: “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’m not Hal and we’re not in space.”

You: “Alexa, who you gonna call?” Alexa: “Ghostbusters!”

You: “Alexa, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Alexa: “I think the sound of it is way more precocious than atrocious.”

Have Someone to Talk To

While these devices aren’t human, they have features that make it feel like you have a companion, and they can help you feel less lonely, too.

Get Assistance with Everyday Tasks

When your smart speaker is connected to other smart home devices, you can control your TV, lights, and thermostat with just your voice. Talk about convenience!

Get Help in an Emergency

While you can’t use your smart speaker to call 911, you can still get some peace of mind. Link your device to a service provider like Ask My Buddy, which sends text messages, emails, or phone calls to someone you choose or connects with first responders via the Buddy Assist feature. To link, you’ll need to create an account on their website. It’s free to use and costs $5 a month for more advanced features. In addition, Alexa allows you to pick one emergency contact to both dial and message if anyone in your household asks Alexa to “call for help.”

Check in with Yourself

If you’re over 50 and live alone, you could be one of the more than 8 million people who are missing out on the health benefits of social connection. In addition to offering convenience, smart speakers are a terrific way to stay healthy and connected while on your own.

FAQs

Learn the ins and outs of using a smart speaker in your home

What are smart speakers?

A smart speaker is “smart” because you can activate it by using your voice and can tell a “digital assistant” to perform electronic tasks for you. Once the smart speaker is set up, you just ask a question and the speaker responds.

There are three popular smart speaker devices with their own voice assistants:

Smart Speaker	Amazon Echo	Google Nest	Apple Homepod
Voice Assistant	Alexa	Google Assistant	Siri

What can I ask the smart speaker?

Get the weather forecast, hear the latest news, find out the date and time, play trivia games — a smart speaker can answer all sorts of practical and fun questions. (You can even ask it to tell you some jokes.)

Ready to relax? Ask it to read you an audio book or play your favorite music. Want to remember something important? Ask it to add items to your shopping list, mark an event in your calendar, even remind you to take your medication at the same time every day.

Plus, if you have smart home devices in your home, you can connect them to your digital assistant and then use your smart speaker to turn lights on or off, adjust the thermostat, or operate your TV with simple voice commands.

How do I use the smart speaker?

Keep a smart speaker plugged into an electrical outlet in convenient areas of your home, like the kitchen, living room, or bedroom, so you can easily speak to one throughout the day. Always start by saying the name of the digital assistant — Alexa, Google, or Siri — so you “wake up” the device and it knows you are speaking to it: “OK Google, what’s today’s forecast?”

In addition to using the digital assistant’s name, you may also need to learn and practice specific phrases called voice commands. For example, if you’re interrupted when listening to an audiobook on an Amazon Echo device, you’ll need to say “Alexa, pause.” When you’re ready to listen again, you’ll need to say “Alexa, resume.” You can also ask the device to “go back,” “go forward,” or “read slower”; just remember to say the digital assistant’s name first.

What do I need to get started?

In addition to the smart speaker itself, you will need a smartphone or tablet to set up the speaker by using the app for the digital assistant. If you don’t have a smartphone, then a friend, relative, or caregiver can use theirs to set up the smart speaker for you. You may also be able to set up the speaker through a website on a computer.

All speakers require Wi-Fi access to operate, so you’ll need to be connected to a Wi-Fi network in order to use one. Read more tips for setting up popular smart speaker devices.

Are smart speakers expensive?

Basic models start around $39. If you participate in a federal assistance program, you may also be eligible for reduced-cost internet services through government programs — learn more here.

Do smart speakers listen all the time?

Smart speakers are designed to listen so they can respond when you need them. Think of them as sleeping until you wake them up by saying the wake-word “Alexa” or “OK, Google.” Smart speaker companies do collect what you say to learn how to improve the speaker’s performance — but if you’re worried about privacy, you can usually disable this function in the digital assistant’s app settings. Learn more.