Things you can do with the Amazon Echo

There's a lot of smart things that a speaker can do—so much so that finding out where to start can seem intimidating. Check out this post to know the best tips and tricks to know how to use Alexa as a walkie talkie, rather than search through the Alexa app looking for functionality.

1. Make phone calls—Amazon puts them back right as you thought house phones were gone. Alexa will also be found in other houses for making calls to other Alexa computers. And like the '90s and'00s answering machines, you can even leave a note. Only remember that your Alexa speaker can be called by someone with your number, although you will be able to avoid unwanted incoming calls.

2. Control your smart home- What Alexa is definitely better at doing is monitoring your lighting, door locks, appliances, switches and other smart home gadgets. To see what Alexa deals with, you can browse the smart home compatibility tool, but here are some ideas to get you started:

• Power the lighting. You may ask Alexa to turn on or off the lights. And she's even going to change the hue of the lights.

• Enable the garage door or lock it. You can operate smart garage door openers with Alexa.

• Modify the temperature. "say - Hey Alexa, please set the room temperature to 68." Only a few thermostats that operate with Alexa are Honeywell, Nest and Ecobee.

1. Get ideas for cooking - Alexa can't cook for you but she sure makes it simpler and less difficult to cook. I hold Alexa individually in the kitchen to do stuff like:

• Receive conversions. "Hey Alexa, how to make coffee?"

• Ask for recipes. From AllRecipes, Alexa will get recipes. She can also be used by GoodNes to execute recipes step-by-step on your iPad.

• Only play music. Sing some smooth jazz, Hey Alexa. Since music makes cooking more fun!

• Sous-vide computer power. You may ask Alexa to set the temperature if you are cooking sous vide.

• Set the timer. You should set some timers and ask her for the remainder of the time.

1. Get the news- Alexa will let you know what's going on in the world while you get ready for work or arrive home after a busy day. This is considered to be your Fast Briefings and can be modified to provide the sources of news that you want to hear from. What do you say? Would you like to listen to CNET News? No issue —you're moving here.

2. In reality, something like Alexa is full of games like Easter eggs, dumb answers to stupid questions, and much more, therefore, it can be a great option to keep your kid entertained and also have knowledge. Here are several ways in which Alexa will keep your children occupied:

• Locate Easter Eggs. Alexa is full of good inside jokes.

• Set timers and make music playable. Children can learn how to speak to Alexa quickly and will ask her for clocks, songs, and random trivia.