Try setting up a motion-detected routine

Alexa’s great at responding to voice commands, but the newer generation of Echo Shows are working on a new skill: Knowing you’re in the room before you say a word. 

Motion detectors use ultrasonic sound waves to detect movement, but Alexa does it the old-fashioned way: with a camera sensor. (Which means it works best in daylight or early evening setting, not the middle of the night.) 

You can set up a routine to turn on the lights when someone enters a room, turn off the A/C when someone leaves a room, turn on music when you get home from work—whatever appeals.

Here’s how. First, make sure you have Home Monitoring enabled on your Echo Show. 

1. Swipe down from the top of the screen, tap Settings on the far right.
2. Scroll down and tap Camera. 
3. Switch on the toggle to enable Home Monitoring. You’ll need to give permission and enter your password to verify identify.

Next, set up your preferred routine.

1. Go to the Alexa app and tap More in the bottom right, then tap Routines.
2. Tap the plus sign in the upper right and name your new routine. I called mine Welcome to the Office. 
3. Tap When this happens, then, tap Smart Home—and select your Echo Show as the trigger.
4. Set up the rest of the routine as you’d like it. (You might want Alexa to play music when she detects someone, or turn off a light when she doesn’t.)

Pro Tip: After Alexa is triggered, there’s a default 7-minute waiting period before she’ll respond again to the same detection trigger. So you can’t step in and out of room and back in again to trigger the lights—yet.