Skip to main content

Amazon Alexa's newest skill lets you book a cleaning service

Cleaning a TV screen
Daniel Jędzura/123RF
She can’t clean your home (at least not yet), but now she can help you get it cleaned. Amazon Alexa’s newest skill comes from Handy, and allows folks to book a cleaning simply by chatting with Alexa. That marks the first time that the Amazon Echo has made it possible for its users to book a cleaning service using nothing more than their voice. And with Handy’s more than 600,000 customers, you can bet that Alexa will be getting plenty of requests for some tidying up.

“With the world moving toward a smarter home and technology now performing many of our daily tasks for us, we are excited to be the first and only cleaning app integrated with the Amazon Echo,” said Handy’s CEO and co-founder, Oisin Hanrahan. “We aim to make people’s lives as easy as possible and with the ability to order our services by voice, we are freeing up time that would be spent searching for domestic chores further down the line; just one sentence and it is all in hand.”

Recommended Videos

To use the new Alexa Skill, users need only say, “Ask Handy, when is my next booking?” or “Ask Handy to schedule a booking” to their Amazon Echo. From there, Handy (by way of Alexa), can chat with users to confirm a time, date, and location, and even take care of payment online via the credit card associated with the Handy account.

Already, Handy is available in 28 cities across 15 states and three countries, and has facilitated over 2.5 million bookings. “It was a natural extension for us to be integrated with The Amazon Echo as the app itself is already designed to give people more time to do the things they enjoy,” Hanrahan added. “We want the experience and process to be as simple, seamless, and effortless as possible and that’s why this integration is hugely significant to us and our customers.”

Lulu Chang
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…
Can Alexa call 911? How to set up Alexa for emergencies

If you've got an Alexa in your home, you can use it for more than just alarms and playing music. The device can help out in an emergency, allowing you to get in contact with help if there's an unexpected crisis. In 2023, Amazon announced it was adding an Emergency Assist feature to the device, which is a paid service to help a user connect to an agent who will call 911 for them. The device can't call 911 directly, but it can put you in touch with someone who can call on your behalf and give out key information to emergency responders.

If you don't want to try Emergency Assist, you can also try setting up an Echo Connect box to your landline (if you can find one, as these products are no longer available) to call for you, or using an Alexa skill like Ask My Buddy. There are also other security features you might want to try out on your Alexa like Alexa Together, a subscription for assistance for older adults.
Set up Alexa Emergency Assist

Read more
Echo Show 8 vs. Nest Hub: Does Amazon or Google offer the best smart display?
Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen on table.

Anyone in the market for a reasonably priced smart display has probably stumbled across the Echo Show 8 and Nest Hub. Both clock in at under $150 (often less when on sale) yet provide homes with many of the same features found on premium alternatives like the Nest Hub Max and Echo Show 10.

But is the Echo Show 8 better than the Nest Hub? And what exactly is the difference between these two smart displays? Here's a comprehensive look at both to help you decide which one to bring into your smart home.
Pricing and design

Read more
Amazon might launch a paid version of Alexa later this year
An Amazon smart display on a kitchen counter.

Amazon hasn't had much success monetizing its popular Alexa smart assistant, but according to a new report from Business Insider, the e-commerce giant might be launching a paid version of Alexa to help offset costs. The so-called "Alexa Plus" would feature generative AI, allowing it to provide users with more detailed responses that better answer their questions.

Details are scarce, but it sounds like Amazon is expected to launch the service on June 30. The team first announced it was reworking Alexa last September, which was followed by reports that over 15,000 users were helping test the service under the code name "Remarkable Alexa."

Read more