Create Amazon Echo Flash Briefing Skills for WordPress & Audio Podcast
If you ask me which is my current favorite device then I can say its Amazon Echo. Alexa is our best entertainer and infotainer at my home. From my mom to sister everyone using it for a heterogeneous purpose.Like playing Songs to booking UBER ride. I feel this bi-directional audio technology really creating an impact on our daily lifestyle in a positive way. In 90's radio was popular but it was replaced with video because of its unidirectional nature. Voice is really getting mature using AI assistant like Amazon echo & Google home. I love the way Amazon created its Amazon echo skills [especially flash briefing skills ]marketplace for a developer to build some amazing voice-based applications.
This is encouraging people to try and taste something new in this emerging platform. I read lots of news, interviews, and podcast on my Amazon Echo. Today I'll tell you how you can easily build your own Amazon Echo skill for your existing podcast or blog using RSS feeds.
Steps to build your own Amazon Echo Skills using RSS feed or JSON feed.
1. Go to Amazon Developer, signup for developer account if you don't have.
2. Navigate to Alexa Skills Kit from upper menu.
3. Start a Skill
4. Click on Create Skill
5. Give a name to your skill here I gave" SamTalks by Saurabh Mukhekar" then select "Flash Briefing" option & click on create skill button at the top.
6. Once you do this, your Amazon Echo Flash Briefing skill development process begins, in that you have to enter "Custom Error Message" which will get play when your RSS Feed or Audio Podcast is not available. Amazon Echo automatically translates your text error message into audio. You can test it using play button.
7. Next step, you have to click on "Add New Feed" link to enter details of the RSS feed of your audio podcast or blog. You can get your RSS FEED by creating it on different platforms. In this case, I included my audio podcast RSS from my anchor.fm channel.
Adding RSS/ JSON Feed
If you want Amazon Echo to read your latest blog posts in flash briefing then you can include your blog's RSS Feed or JSON feed in the respective field. Amazon will convert your text into audio while playing on the Echo. You also need to include Feed icon for your skill in JPG format.
Make sure you select a proper 'content type' of your feed & 'content update frequency' this really matters when amazon pull your data when your skill gets triggered.
8. Now simply click on Save and your newly created skill will be shown in a list.
9. Once you save this then you have to fill your skill details in 'Distribution' tab like Public Name of skill, short description, skill icons, categories, keywords, privacy policy URL, ToS URL etc. Please do it properly as per your skill information. Before you do you can TEST your skill using test simulator.
10. Now you have to fill 'Privacy Compliance' of your skill.
11. Now you have to choose the availability of your skill in a different region like specific countries, only for some business or public. Whether it's in BETA testing etc.
Validation & Certification of Skill
12. If you completed each and every step properly then Amazon will do validation and functional test from their end to check for errors. If there are no errors then you are good to apply for certification for your Amazon echo skills.
13. Once you submit for review of certification, Amazon will do a preliminary check & review your skill, if they find any issues then they will contact you else you will grant certification of listing your skill in their Skill's platform and it will be available for everyone globally as per your preferences.
14. You will receive an email of submission from amazon developer team.
15. It will take 48-72 hours for verification from Amazon if your skill gets approve & ready to go live you will receive another separate email.
Mostly RSS/Json flash briefing skill does not face any issues for certification if your feed is working properly. In my case, it took 48 hours to get it approved and listed in the Amazon skill store.
This is how you can easily create your own Alexa skill for your podcast from SoundCloud, Spotify or from your blog news feed. Voice technology is future and Amazon echo and Google Home are the best examples of its start. Analytics of your skillset is the best part what Amazon is providing to all skillset creators to distinguish its performance over the hour, week, month & yearly basis.
if you have any queries or questions regarding this development of your own skill, please let me know in the comment section. I'll surely help you to build your own powerful voice-enabled Amazon Echo Skill in few minutes. All the best for your new skillset development.
