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Buy an Alexa Now and Use It to Drop In on Grandma? This is one example of BAD ADVICE, because it’s technically inaccurate and ignores privacy concerns.
THE TRUTH: Most people want to Drop In on an Amazon Echo Device in the same room as their elderly family member. Amazon Alexa Software is the voice-enabled service you use to Drop In on their Echo.
THE TRUTH: Dropping In connects you immediately without “answering the phone”, so please ONLY select TRUSTED family members when you go to the Amazon Alexa App settings to enable Drop In.
You can setup the Drop In feature to connect with an older relative’s Echo Device like an boss-and-secretary private intercom system.
When Person One Drops In on Person Two, Person Two doesn’t have to answer the call.
One and Two just connect immediately.
That’s what makes Drop In unique to a regular voice or video call.
You need your Echo device connected to Wifi with initial setup complete before you can Drop In on your Echo device.
You can check up on family at the press of a button, or a quick voice command “Echo, Drop In on Dad”.
This is the core reason why Drop In is a viable solution for communicating with older people whose minds aren’t as sharp as they used to be. When you want to call someone with cognitive impairment, asking your Echo to Drop In on THEM lets YOU connect with THEM without THEM doing anything.
The key is to enable “Drop In” permissions ONLY between trusted people, like between you and your mom but not odd Uncle Lester for example.
When only One and Two can Drop In on each other, then only One and Two can Drop In on each other. No invasive strangers to peep in and hack you.
"Alexa Together" #ad is a paid service specifically designed to keep family members connected as loved ones age.
But Drop In is free with “The Free Version”.
I’d estimate, Drop In is one of the most-used features included in Alexa Together, because it’s Alexa’s fastest way to talk with family.
But you don’t need paid Alexa Together to use the Drop In feature for free.
My family uses Drop In for free, with just our phones and Echo Devices.
So, the free version of Amazon Alexa voice service is a remote caregiving service to Drop In those you love for free, and works even better after gifting the senior in your life a one-time purchase of an Echo device for easiest-possible Dropping In and Out.
Just Echos and the Amazon Alexa App is how my family keeps connected without paying a monthly Alexa Together subscription.
Drop In is faster than a telephone call because you skip the ring and answer parts. When you Drop In on someone, you connect immediately.
That’s why to protect your privacy, you MUST enable Drop In permissions for trusted pairs of people ONLY.
When Drop In is enabled between two people, then both people can Drop In on each other any time, or just leave the Drop In running and listen in.
If you want to listen in to your elderly family member to protect their safety, you can.
Setting Drop In permissions so that ONLY the adult child and the aging parent have Drop In enabled is the correct way for most American Families.
You don’t want strangers Dropping In on your family, and this way, you’re protected.
Use Drop In in the Amazon Alexa App > Communication tab. The Drop In icon you need to tap is right there. Now you just tap the Echo Device or Contact you want to Drop In to.
Drop In has been equated to an elderly monitoring system, and this way you can be sure you’re the only one monitoring.
Read More: "Setup an Echo Device For Grandpa and Grandma The Right Way".
A caregiver to the elderly buys an Echo Show and puts it next to their elderly client’s favorite chair. Since the Echo Show has a camera and a screen, you can Drop In to a video call. It’s better than Skype or FaceTime because the caregiver can check in on their safety and start talking immediately without the client picking up the call.
Since my dad’s got dementia, it works best when I (the adult son) take ownership of the Amazon Household, including ownership of the Echos. But when it’s just regular adults who want to keep in touch - say like mutual friends. I should buy my Echo with my Amazon Account and keep it my own. My friend should buy their Echo with their Amazon Account and keep it their own. Now both of us get to choose how we enable Drop In permissions for each other. If I trust my friend enough to let them Drop In on me naked, then I will enable Drop In permissions for them. Or if not, then we can just use regular Voice and Video Calling, to mutually respect each other's privacy as mutual friends.
A young professional granddaughter who loves their mom and grandma very much buys one Echo for themselves, a second Echo for their mom, and a third Echo for their grandma. Granddaughter’s Echo and Grandma’s Echo should go under Granddaughter’s Amazon account, so that Granddaughter has complete control over Grandma’s Echo. However, Mom’s Echo should go under Mom’s Amazon account because Mom likely does her own shopping and doesn’t want Granddaughter to Drop In on her unexpected. Now that Granddaughter’s out of the nest, Mom and Dad have grown closer.
Read More: "Are Amazon Echo Devices Good For Elderly People"?
(Inbound) Drop In to an Echo Device - You can only Drop In on an Echo device. You can’t Drop In on someone’s phone.
(Outbound) Drop In from Your Echo - When you are in the same room as your Echo, and you want to Drop In on someone else (who has a second Echo), then you need to use a voice command.
Try: “Echo, Drop In on Grandpa.”
Read the official Amazon knowledge base instructions here: “Use Echo to Drop In with Your Voice”
(Inbound) Drop In to Someone’s Phone - Since this is a particular privacy concern - the ability for someone to Drop In to your phone when the Amazon Alexa App is installed and you’ve enabled Drop In on your Alexa Contact and enabled Drop In on your Echo Devices. But thus far, I haven’t been able to find a way to Drop In to someone’s smartphone. When you Say “Alexa, Drop In on {NAME of PERSON}” it’ll Drop In to the Echo device where that PERSON might be. When you Say “Alexa, Drop in on {NAME of ECHO}” it’ll Drop In on that Echo.
(Outbound) Drop In from Your Phone - The Drop In feature is designed to work great when Dropping In from the App on your phone or from Echo devices. Please carefully enable Drop In permissions by device. Once you get the hang of that, try setting up Drop In permissions by Contact.
I have not been able to find a way to Drop In to Someone’s Computer or to Drop In from Your Computer. I think in 2023 you should be using your Amazon Voice Devices and Apps to be Dropping In on each other.
Say “Echo, hang up.” or “Echo, stop.” If you have a screen, press that HANG UP button.
Here’s a link to the official Amazon knowledge base instructions: “Turn Drop In On or Off for Your Device”
Enter the Amazon Alexa App, then go to Devices. Tap “Echo & Alexa” then find and tap your Echo. Find and tap Communications, then tap Drop In, and then pick “Enable” or “Disable” from there.
It’s really deep down in the App navigation, which stinks. But if you have assumed the honored role of Family IT Helper, then it is your resoundingly excellent duty to properly procure your family’s Drop In permissions. Please follow the instructions about one-after-the-next for each of the Echo devices on your Amazon account. I feel as cool as a cucumber having gone through to “Enable Drop In from MY Echo devices ONLY, and NOT other people’s” on all four of the Echo devices which belong to my Amazon Household. You can be a caregiver tech rockstar like lil gangreen, yessir!
To Enable or Disable Drop In privileges for a particular contact, you need to open the App’s Communication tab, then at the top-right corner there’s a “Two People Icon” that means “Contacts”. Tap it to enter the Contacts page, now you can tap into the particular contact and see their setting toggle for Enable/Disable Drop In for this person.
If you’ve chosen to use Drop In as your primary method to keep in touch with someone throughout the day, then you should make sure that person has an Echo device in each place in the house where they spend a good amount of time.
Two out of four Echos in my home, for example, they belong to my dad. He spends his days in the living room mostly, so he’s got an Echo there. He spends his nights in bed mostly, so he’s got an Echo there too. In this way, we’ve got Drop In Coverage nearly 75% of where my old dad might be at any given time.
Yes, if you’re not ready to be on video in the same room with your Echo Show smart display, then you’re still naked when someone Drops In on you. Amazon has designed a feature which blurs the screen for about 3 seconds at the start of a Video Drop In. You have a 3 second window before they can see your video crisp and clear.
Echo smart speakers don’t have a camera, so people can’t see you naked when they Drop In on you naked if you have a Dot or Pot. That’s the difference for naked people who like to Drop In between an Echo Show (Smart Display) vs and Echo Dot/Pop (Smart Speaker).
Echo smart displays might have a physical camera close mechanism which blacks out the camera altogether, so no eye or camera can peek in through your Echo’s camera. The Echo Show 10 in my living room has a white color plastic sliding mechanism to physically block the camera’s view.
Yes and No. When someone Drops In to your Echo device, the Echo device will chime a sound and the light will turn green. If you are wide awake looking at your Echo when someone Drops In on you, then you’ll probably hear the sound and see the light. But if you’re sleeping while someone Drops In on you, then it’s picturesque sleeping beauty. Or if they Drop In on you when you’re in the shower singing, and you come out in just a towel, still singing - now they know you’re not The Real Whitney Houston.
There might be a built in “10-Minute Drop In Duration Limit” which means someone only has 10 minutes to secretly listen and watch you if they successfully Drop In without you knowing. The 10-Minute Limit means the worst case scenario has a 10-Minute Limit.
I’ve heard rumors about the Drop In feature being able to transform your video image into cutesy animals while inside a drop in call.
I learned you can enable “Enhanced Features” which apply to normal voice and video calls as well as Drop In. Alexa Enhanced Features for communication include Group Calling, Group Drop In, Reactions, and Augmented Reality Effects.
I’ve just enabled them myself, and I’ll let you know if my device turns me into a cat or not.
I cannot confirm. I have tried, but I cannot figure out how to Drop In on someone’s phone.
Yes! As the Family IT helper who owns the Amazon account which purchased several Echo devices, you have 100% permissions to Drop In on any of the Echo devices. A trustworthy IT leader you must be to wield this power.
Yes! You can Drop In to Drop In enabled Echos under one roof. You can Drop In to enabled echos owned by another person located at that person’s home. As long as both the device you’re Dropping In from and the device you’re Dropping In to are enabled by Drop In permissions settings in the App, then the physical location of the Echo device doesn’t stop you from Dropping In.
You can use the Amazon Alexa App on your iOS or Android smartphone to communicate via Drop In on Echo devices. You can also use your Echo device to Drop In on other Echo devices. You can NOT Drop In to a phone. You can only Drop In to an Echo.
UPDATE: This post was updated in April 2024 to reflect Amazon Alexa technology’s feature which allows you to change the wake word from default “Alexa” to preferred “Echo,” “Amazon,” “Computer,” or “Ziggy”. You can change yours using Amazon official instructions, here.
