Amazon Echo & Alexa in Your Law Practice Speaker(S)

Unedited transcript of

Amazon Echo & Alexa in Your Law Practice from Harness the Power of Virtual Assistants to Streamline Your Practice: Tech2Practice Recorded 01/12/2018

Speaker(s) Jeff Kirkey, Michigan Institute of Continuing Legal Education , Ann Arbor Maximillian H. Matthies, Esq., Michigan Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Ann Arbor Odey K. Meroueh, Esq., Meroueh & Hallman LLP, Dearborn

>>: Thank you. The Amazon Echo is the original smart speaker released by Amazon in around 2015. The small cylindrical device is designed to sit on your countertop or bookshelf. And the voice that comes out of it is Alexa. Odey, what are some of the ways that you use your Echo?

>>: I use it in a lot of ways. Let's just start from the morning. I wake up in the morning. What wakes me up? - it's my Echo. Alexa wakes me up with a song, whichever song I ask for. Right now I'm doing the "Groundhog Day Song" from how he wakes up in the morning every morning. And "Groundhog Day," I have my Alexa play that song in the morning to wake me up. And it's starting to get monotonous actually. I'm going to change it up soon. But once I've woken up, I ask her the weather so I know what I'm going to have to wear. I ask her the news so I know what's going on before I go out. And then I also get her to remind me what's on my calendar. I wake up. I don't know what's on my calendar. I tell her, you know - Alexa, what's on my schedule for the day? And she'll list the first five things. And I know - OK, I've got court. Then, I've got this. Then, I've got that. And I know sort of how to get my bearings for the day as I'm getting ready. I don't have to pull out my phone. I don't have to do any like - anything like that. I can just do it all from my Alexa. Then, I have it call my assistant. I have my sit - tell my assistant what I want her to do for the day. And then I leave my house. It's wonderful. When I get home, my lights turn on. My TV

>>: Where in your house do you have your Echos?

>>: It's a great question. So I have one in my bedroom, the Echo Dot. And then I have one in my bathroom, this old Echo. This was the original Echo that you mentioned that came up in 2015. And then I have the brand new Echo in my living room. You want to have them in a spot that's more central lo - sensory located in the room so it can permeate throughout the room. However, in my bedroom, I just have it right next to my bed so I can hear it when I wake up and there's no issues. In the bathroom, I have this big one because the audio actually is not so good at these small ones. And they're, OK, for normal purposes. But for the bathroom, the shower is going. And I want to hear the news. Or I want to listen to music. I can't really hear it very well. So I had this big booming Echo in there to listen to. That's where I have mine. I don't have one in the office at the moment. And we'll talk more about that shortly.

>>: Well, you've talked a little bit about that Alexa calls your assistant in the morning. So how - has this made you more productive?

>>: It has, you know. I honestly - I can walk around, do - get dressed. And I'm get - while I'm getting dressed, I don't have my phone on speaker and have to take it around with me. I don't have to do anything. I'm just yelling at my phone - my Alexa as I walk through the different rooms. And it's transferring. And I've gotten it to do that. And so I'm talking and just doing what I have to do for the morning. It's so much easier to just get my things done in the morning, get out the door and not have to sit down, answer emails. I can tell my assistant, you know, I need you to send an email to this. Send an email to that - whatever it may be. It really streamlines my day before I get out the door, makes...

>>: And how...

>>: ...My morning better.

>>: Well, my partner uses it. He's not technologically savvy. However, he really loves it. It's - he asks it funny questions. He asks it his calendar. He gives it - tells it to remind him. That's the most important thing for him is the reminders. It reminds him in the morning before he goes out - he has it - tells it the things he needs to get reminded in the morning. He asks it - what am I supposed to - you know, what are my reminders? And it'll list them out for him. And he remembers - I've got to do this for the day. I have to do that for the day. It's really helpful for him. And so everybody can use it in their own different way. And it's going to get better and better.

>>: And he has this at his office?

>>: No. No. He has it only at home. In the office, we had it in the office previously, both of us. However, because of the potential listening ability of - or hacking ability, we don't know exactly what's people - we don't want people to listen to our client conversations. We do have an Echo Dot in our back room, which is private just for me and my partner to - as a relaxation room sort of during the day. And we can use it to listen to music back there while we - while we do work sort of away from the hustle and bustle of the office.

>>: And how should a lawyer choose between the Echo devices?

>>: It's just up to them how they want to choose what they need it for. The big ones are better for them - for music. They sound better. The average is about $79.99. It's a good price. But it offers good music and great functionality. And the Echo Dots are more for little rooms as a connection to the other one. So they're more ancillary. To have them alone is, OK. However, it's better to have them as a extra device, sort of supplement your larger Echo.

>>: And do you have a favorite?

>>: My favorite is the old stallion over here. I don't know. I don't actually have a name for it. But it is my first one. And she still sounds great, great

>>: So, Odey, you've connected your email and your calendar to your devices. Are there any special considerations, challenges a lawyer should know about if they want to do the same?

>>: It as easy as knowing your password, really. You just grab your app - Alexa app in your phone. You go through it. You start connecting it to the various systems that you use. I use Google Calendar, so I just have it. I put in my password for Google. And it actually connects pretty seamlessly with the Google apps in your phone. And there you go. It's connected. For example, for music, I use spotify premium. To get the Spotify to connect was as easy as pushing a button. It's telling it to connect and having a password - knowing my password. Really, anything you use in your everyday life in terms of technology is starting to adapt with both Google Home and Alexa. So you're going to be able to connect them. So depending on whatever calendar you use, whatever remainder device you use, whatever it is that you use, you can connect it with Alexa. I use something called to-do list. That gives me a to-do list for every day that I set up myself. And I asked my Alexa - you know, what's on my to-do list? And she can connect straight to that just by password through the app. It's very simple. You go into the app, into the settings, connect. And it tells you - here are a list of the things that we can connect to. Choose the one. Put your password. Good to go. It's pretty seamless.

>>: And you have to have an app in order to connect with the - a device?

>>: That's - yes, exactly. So at the beginning, any time you get one of these devices, you've got to use your smartphone to be able to connect to it. You've got to download the app specific to that device. It's super simple. It's just - download the app. Put your Amazon password in or your Google password in. And you're connected. And it tells you the rest of the way. In fact, it tells you how to set it up through its own system. Right now, it came in here and was setting up. And it says, you know, follow your - the instructions in your Alexa app. And then it gives you instructions. And it's really simple and easy to do.