What is Alexa and Alexa Skill

Amazon Alexa is a virtual assistant developed by Amazon (the brain behind millions of echo devices)​

Alexa is used in Amazon Echo, Echo Show and Amazon Echo Dot smart speakers developed by Amazon Lab 126​

Echo devices (Echo Show, Echo Dot smart speakers) are physical devices

Alexa is a centralized service this physical devices connect and wakes once you call Alexa wake word

Amazon Alexa is capable of voice interaction, making to-do lists, playing music, streaming podcasts, delivering real-time information such as weather report news, control several smart devices​ and much more. Alexa has infinite abilities.

Users can extend the Alexa capabilities by installing ‘Skills’

Amazon allows skill developers to build, test and publish skills for Alexa using the Alexa Skills Kit called Alexa Skills, these third-party-developed skills, once published, are available across Alexa-enabled devices.

Users can enable these skills using the Alexa app.

While developing the skill to Alexa, developers can design there own custom model or pre-build models such as:

1. Smart Home Skill
2. Video skill
3. Flash briefing skill

This post is a part of ‘Build voice apps for Amazon Alexa and Google action’ series by VoiceTechPrism