Amazon Alexa users are one step closer to finding the home of their dreams. This week, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC is announcing its first Skill for Amazon Alexa. By prompting Amazon’s voice assistant with “Alexa, Ask Coldwell Banker for the Home of the Week,” users will hear a one-minute description of a featured Coldwell Banker listing and can be connected to their local Coldwell Banker office.
In January, a Coldwell Banker consumer survey found that 72 percent of Americans with smart home products want voice control, which prompted development of the Coldwell Banker Skill for Amazon Alexa and the addition of the Echo Dot to the Smart Home Staging Kit. The kit, available at smarthomestaging.com, is a curated slate of smart home products that meet the Coldwell Banker / CNET Smart Home definition. The kit easily and affordably turns any home into a smart home through smart lighting, smart temperature controls as well as smart security locks and cameras. The Echo Dot joins products from August, Lutron and Nest in the kit. Now homeowners and agents showing smart homes can control the house’s core functions through simple voice commands.
“As the real estate leader in smart home, Coldwell Banker is focusing on what’s resonating with our network and consumers – voice control,” says David Marine, senior vice president marketing for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “By developing our first Alexa Skill, Coldwell Banker is deepening the connection between consumers and our agent network.”
“The Home of the Week skill provides agents with a new and modern way to showcase their most prominent listings,” says Jade Mills, global luxury ambassador and estate director for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Beverly Hills, Calif. “Not only does it provide users with a look into the most luxurious homes, the skill also connects users to their local Coldwell Banker office, opening a new line of contact between potential clients and agents.”
The Coldwell Banker Skill for Amazon Alexa is an extension of the Coldwell Banker Home of the Week video series. The Home of the Week series currently profiles one active Coldwell Banker listing per week in a video that takes viewers on a tour of a breathtaking home. The first Home of the Week listing featured on the Skill will be 1006 Laurel Way in Beverly Hills, listed for $34.9 million by Mills.
The Coldwell Banker Skill for Amazon Alexa will provide an interactive narration of the same Home of the Week listing and will provide users with more information on the listing. Users will also receive contact information for their nearest Coldwell Banker office via the Alexa app. The Home of the Week Skill will be listed under the Business & Finance category.
Coldwell Banker recently surveyed nearly 1,000 Coldwell Banker real estate professionals to gauge their opinions on smart home technology and learn more about homebuyer demand for smart home technology. Seventy-nine (79) percent of respondents report that homebuyers are interested in smart home technology, underscoring growing demand for voice controlled assistants and other smart home devices.
For more information visit www.coldwellbanker.com.
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