You can now ask Amazon’s personal voice assistant, Alexa, about your veteran benefits. If you’ve ever wondered if you or someone you know was getting all the veteran benefits they’ve earned there’s a few ways to go about it. You can ask a friend, research online, or talk to a VSO at your county or other veteran organization.
Between all the Veterans Affairs and state benefits it’s hard to keep up with everything a veteran has earned through their service. Some benefits remain largely unknown so some may go through life never knowing they could’ve applied for something that could potentially increase their quality of life, help obtain an education or job skills, or even gain healthcare coverage.
As a County Veteran Service Officer that assists veterans and their eligible family members in obtaining benefits, one of the most common things seen is that people simply do not know about a benefit or how it works exactly. With the Veteran Benefits Alexa skill you’ll be asked a few simple questions about your military service and VA benefits that you currently receive. Based on your answers, Alexa replies with a list of all of your benefits you may be eligible for. By saying “tell me more”, Alexa will describe the earned benefits in even further.
The best part is you don’t necessarily have to own an Amazon Alexa enabled device such as the Amazon Echo or a tablet. Anyone with an Amazon account and a computer and microphone can try it out by going to http://www.echosim.io after enabling the Alexa skill in their Amazon account. To enable the skill just follow the directions below:
To enable a skill in the Alexa app:
- Go to www.Amazon.com and login
- From the dropdown Menu left of the search bar, select Skills.
- Use the search bar to enter “veteran benefits”.
- Select Enable Skill.
After the skill is enabled, simply say to Alexa, "Alexa, open veteran benefits." There may be different or additional instructions for using the skill. If you are using a computer and microphone go to http://www.echosim.io and login using your Amazon account. You’ll need to hold down the spacebar when you speak the simulated echo on your browser.
The Veteran Benefits Alexa skill was designed by Mark Burger, an Assistant County Veteran Service Officer for Travis County, Texas. Inquiries regarding the skill can be made to [email protected]
