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Amazon unveils Alexa for Business Blueprints to enable custom voice apps

The ability to develop private skills was previously only available for home use

1 Apr 2019

Amazon has launched Alexa for Business Blueprints, a platform built for the company's voice tech that allows businesses to create their own Alexa-powered applications for their organisation.

These private "skills" would be limited just to the company's use, but make it much simpler to add the functionality they need.

Private skills have existed for homes in the past, allowing individuals within a household to create bespoke functionality for their families by inputting custom requests and responses to blueprints. But now Amazing has opened it up to businesses too. Once a request has been filed, IT admins are able to review and enable the skills for the entire organisation to use.

For example, businesses can create custom responses to questions employees ask using Amazing Alexa, such as: "what's the password for guest Wi-Fi?" or "when is the IT department available?"

Amazon explained that organisations want the same functionality they have access to at home, but IT teams don't want to have to invest in a specialist Alexa developer or use up valuable resources to implement these customised responses.

Some of the blueprints available are Business Q&A for organisation-related information and Onboard Guide for new starters and HR who may be asking questions about starting at a company.

Anyone in an organisation of any size can make a request for a Private Skill on the Alexa Skill Blueprints website. After inputting the request, it's then tested and sent to admins for approval.

"A main challenge we have faced to date is developing Alexa skills and content fast enough to meet demand," said Kyle Collins, assistant VP of technology transformation at Saint Louis University, in regard to the organisation's use of the business blueprints.

"With the new capability to create Alexa private skills based off of Skill Blueprints with no coding required, we have the solution we were looking for."