What is Alexa Guard and what can you do about it?

Amazon hosted the Echo event last week where the company unveiled a huge line of new Echo products. It also introduced several new software additions, one of which is Alexa Guard, a kind of home security assistant.

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In short, Alexa Guard can listen for certain sounds, such as glass breaking, smoke alarms, or the high-pitched squeal of a security alarm. When it detects these sounds, it can send you a notification on your phone that something is wrong.

How does it work

Since the Echo is always listening, there’s no special device you need to add to make Alexa Guard work — Amazon simply trained Alexa to listen for specific audio frequencies to determine if a smoke alarm went off or a window was broken.

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If Alexa hears anything suspiciously close to these sounds, it will send you a notification on your phone. Or, if you have a Ring or ADT security system installed, it can also send a notification directly to the dispatchers who are monitoring your home.

Alexa Guard can also automatically randomize the lights in your home to make it look like someone is home. Of course, you will need a supported smart lighting system to do this. There is no official word on which smart lights will support Alexa Guard yet, but we assume that if they normally work with Alexa, then they will work with Alexa Guard.

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The kicker with Alexa Guard is that it’s not on 24/7; You must turn it on manually when you plan to leave the house. The good news is that it’s pretty easy to do just by saying something like «Alexa, I’m leaving.» It can also automatically arm your ADT or Ring security system.

How can I get Alexa Guard?

Unfortunately, it’s not available yet, and Amazon hasn’t said when we can expect Alexa Guard to arrive.

Amazon is very good at releasing their new products on time, even if they don’t provide any specific details about when that might happen. So we can expect Alexa Guard to arrive soon, perhaps when all new Echo devices start shipping next month.