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Use Alexa to Send a Text on a Flip Phone

By:  Frank Engelman   |  Posted: September 24, 2021   |  Updated: April 18, 2023

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The Problem to be Solved

Need Help Making Alexa Useful

Need Help Making Alexa Useful

I am setting up Alexa for my parent who lives at a distance. I am unsure what features to include, or how to set it up so it is as useful as possible.

View the problem

Solution Details

 

I was recently trying out the Jitterbug Flip2 phone — a “senior friendly” flip phone made by GreatCall, now called Lively and now owned by Best Buy.

While I have long been a fan of moving people away from Flip phones to smart phones, I found a feature I really liked when I was evaluating this Jitterbug Flip2. I found you can set it up so that you can use Alexa to do voice to texts, which in my mind can make a big difference for people who don’t weant to learn to use a smart phone but still want to be able to swap texts with friends or family members.

See my review of the Jitterbug Flip2 here. Read on for how to use Alexa to send texts.

 

Voice to Text

I think the “key feature” is that you can use Alexa to send text messages to your contacts with your voice! This is a HUGE improvement over the “key pad” method”. Here is the phrase you would use to do that.

“Alexa, ask Lively to text Frankie”

 

You will then be prompted through the creation and approval of a message to send.

You can also place a voice call by saying:

“Alexa, ask Lively to call Frankie”

 

OK, but that sounds like a cumbersome command to remember.

If you are willing to create a couple of Alexa Routines, you can make the command much simpler per my attached samples using “custom actions” in Alexa Routines.

To see samples of the routines below, go to:

 

You will then be able to say:

  • “Alexa, text Frankie”
  • “Alexa, call Frankie”

You can even have multiple verbal commands for the same Routine such as:

  • “Alexa, send a text to Frankie” or “Alexa, message Frankie” or any command you think they would be suitable!

 

Another benefit of creating Alexa Routines is because Lively didn’t provide a way to verbally respond to a text, although you could always use this command upon receiving a text:

  • “Alexa, ask Lively to text Frankie”

 

Instead, I suggest that you create another Alexa Routine that allows you to say:

  • “Alexa, Respond to Frankie”

 

Here is a YouTube video of the Alexa Routines in action:

 

 

*Disclosure: The research and opinions in this article are those of the author, and may or may not reflect the official views of Tech-enhanced Life.

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Author

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Frank Engelman

Retired Intel Engineer wanting to share DIY technology tips for the children of parents wanting to remain living independently. I like posting ideas and answering technical questions. If a product or software has an issue making it hard for seniors to use, I try to offer workarounds and also try to contact the manufacturer for solutions. I write a column for this website in the Innovation- Homebrew Solutions & Ideas section

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