A new Alexa skill called Burglar Deterrent has just been released that might interest you if you’re worried about home security while you’re away. Once activated, the skill makes it seem like someone is home by playing a clever assortment of realistic audio that mimics common activities. Launch the skill by saying “Alexa, open Burglar Deterrent” and select the environment that best suits your smart speaker’s location. You can choose from a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and home office. Each option plays varied audio tailored for the location, like vacuuming for the living room, clanging pots for the kitchen, running water for the bathroom, and a printer for the office. Those examples are just one of many sounds heard in each location. You can also select a barking dog as a general deterrent. Start the skill before you leave and it will play sounds until you say “Alexa, stop” when you return or you can say “Alexa, set a sleep timer for [time]” after the deterrent audio starts for it to turn off after a set period. The audio played is quite convincing and should be enough to make a would-be burglar pick a different target.
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Kitchen sounds are quite convincing!
Yeah, they’re pretty good. The coughing sounds fooled my wife while I was testing it.
Any idea how you would activate for say a week long vacation? Can’t imagine you’d want to leave it running 24/7 while gone. I used to pull up music on the Alexa app and have it play to a certain device every now and then while away.
I’m not sure how long the burglar deterrent runs for but maybe you can control it from your phone.
How do u pull up songs away from home. Can’t figure this one out. Any help will be very much appreciated. Thank you
Somewhat related to Chris’s comment, I have discovered that the Burglar Deterrent skill stops playing after a relatively short period of time. That’s not so good when are planning to be away from home for more than a short while.
Reminds me of the beginning of Home Alone.
Just make sure to tell the neighbours about it if they know you are going away or they’ll be ringing the police thinking someone has broken in ♂️
LOL…pretty lame if you ask me.
LOL…It’s a sound effects record.