Hands-on Building Alexa Skills

Hands-on Building Alexa Skills

by Paul Hickey
Released January 2020
Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
ISBN: 9781838985660

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Video description

Build voice commands for Alexa devices with the Alexa Skills Kit

About This Video

  • Engage and captivate your target audience via a strong opening invocation series
  • Build a conversation that works for your business growth goals and your stakeholders' demands
  • Navigate the Alexa Skills Testing and Submission/Approval Process and build Voice UIs

In Detail

Alexa is the most popular and widely used virtual assistant. Using simple voice commands, you can ask Alexa to find and read the news, play music, order a pizza, or control other smart home devices. The most valuable use of these voice-based apps on top of Alexa, called Alexa Skills, is for business use. There is a risk that many businesses are not taking advantage of Alexa Skills benefits, and are also wondering how and why they can—and should—use Alexa Skills to help drive their business growth. This course introduces the core concepts of voice design and how to program your backend using the Alexa Skills Kit.

You will learn Voice User Interface Design principles, and how to build custom voice commands for Alexa devices using the Alexa Skills Kit, Voiceflow, and Node.js. You will explore the Alexa ecosystem and the components that make up custom Alexa skills; learn how to configure the Amazon Developer Portal, and create, code, and deploy it using Voiceflow, Node.js, Lambda functions, and Amazon Web Services. You will discover how to test your skills in the browser and on an actual Alexa device and share them with other Alexa users. You will learn to develop, test, validate, and troubleshooting skills, manage the publishing process, and work with the Alexa developer console.

By the end of this course, you will be able to create voice UIs, configure Alexa skill functionality, and test/expand your skills.

This course is suitable for developers who want to learn how to master Alexa Skills and use Alexa to build amazing voice UI applications, with real-world commercial benefit. Basic JavaScript and Node.js experience would be beneficial but not necessary.

Table of contents

  1. Chapter 1 : Why All Businesses Need Alexa Skills
    1. The Course Overview 00:04:07
    2. How Alexa Skills will Improve Your Audience's Experience 00:04:49
    3. Alexa Skills Are the New Websites 00:02:45
    4. How Alexa Skills Reduce Friction and Save Time 00:01:03
    5. Alexa Skills with Account Linking (For Retention) 00:02:03
    6. Alexa Skills as Integrated Extensions of Other Pre-Existing Applications 00:02:06
  2. Chapter 2 : Setting Up an Amazon Developer Account
    1. Setting Up an Amazon Alexa Developer Account 00:04:30
    2. Overview of the Types of Skills You Can Build 00:06:38
    3. Building Basic Conversations 00:01:30
    4. Building Games 00:04:12
    5. What Is In-Skill Purchasing? 00:02:46
    6. What Are Alexa-Hosted Skills? 00:02:20
  3. Chapter 3 : Setting Up a Voiceflow Account
    1. Overview of Voiceflow and Why We Use It 00:02:09
    2. Creating a Voiceflow Account 00:01:41
    3. Overview of Voiceflow Blocks 00:09:49
    4. Other Benefits of Using Voiceflow 00:03:23
    5. Collaborating with Co-Workers 00:02:34
  4. Chapter 4 : Writing Your Skill's Title, Description, and Icon Creation
    1. Writing Your Skill's Title and Description 00:02:54
    2. Creating an Icon for Your Skill 00:02:15
    3. How to Categorize Your Skill 00:01:19
    4. How to Pick Relevant Keywords for Your Skill 00:02:08
  5. Chapter 5 : Starting to Write Your Skill - Learn the Basic Blocks
    1. Writing Your Skill - Basic Blocks (Speak and Choice Blocks) 00:03:49
    2. Learn about Speak Blocks to Make Your Skill's Voice Come to Life 00:05:54
    3. What Choice Blocks Are and How to Use Them 00:03:21
    4. How to Keep the Conversation Going 00:02:42
  6. Chapter 6 : Adding Advanced Functionality to Your Skill - Logic and Advanced Blocks
    1. Basic Conversational Skill Recap 00:02:04
    2. Learn "Capture" and "Set" Blocks 00:08:55
    3. Learn "If": Set Conditions That Modify Paths Only When True 00:03:12
    4. Learn "Random": Choose Randomly from a Set Number of Paths 00:05:53
    5. Overview of Interactions, Intents, Streams, Integrations, Flow, Code, and Exit 00:15:48
  7. Chapter 7 : Testing and Deployment
    1. How to Test Your Skill Using Voiceflow 00:04:12
    2. How to Deploy Your Skill to Alexa Developer Console 00:02:37
    3. How to Test Your Skill in the Alexa Developer Console 00:04:23
    4. How to Submit Your Skill as Public or Private (Alexa for Business) 00:06:49
    5. Approval Process/Finding Your Skill in the Store 00:03:51

Product information

  • Title: Hands-on Building Alexa Skills
  • Author(s): Paul Hickey
  • Release date: January 2020
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781838985660