OnStar continues to expand — beyond the vehicle, beyond the smartphone and now into the home. This fall, GM and Amazon announced the introduction of the OnStar Guardian™ skill for Amazon Alexa,1 a new feature that will provide a voice-enabled connection to Emergency-Certified OnStar Advisors2 at home through compatible Alexa-enabled devices.
The OnStar Guardian skill allows members to link their OnStar membership with their in-home Alexa-enabled devices. Once enabled, members will be able to reach OnStar Emergency-Certified Advisors, who are available 24/7, by saying, “Alexa, call for help” to their in-home Alexa-enabled devices that support Alexa calling, such as Echo, Echo Dot or Echo Show.
What does this mean for the First Responder community? It means OnStar may be contacting you for emergencies outside of vehicles and the OnStar Guardian mobile app-based services. This new service offering is a benefit to our society which openly embraces smart device technology. More and more people are working from home with the impacts of COVID. In addition to the increasing acceptance of smart devices across the U.S. and the decline of landline phones, the OnStar Guardian skill fills a void for access to emergency services.
OnStar Emergency-Certified Advisors are certified and accredited by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch and can assess a situation, contact 911 as needed, provide critical medical instruction and stay on the line until help arrives. Emergencies can range from having an Advisor listen with the caller in a stressful situation — prepared to deploy public safety, if needed — to more severe situations, such as a fire or sending First Responders to treat loved ones experiencing medical emergencies.
When enabling the OnStar Guardian skill, Members can build their own household safety profile, listing important details that include: the location where the device will be used, name and age of residents in the home, and whether any pets reside in their home. Profiles can provide critical information that Advisors may use in the event of an emergency to help determine the proper response.
The OnStar Guardian skill for Amazon Alexa will be available as a pilot program with GM and OnStar employees. Next, invitations will be sent to select OnStar Members, with the intent to roll out the service in 2022 to anyone in the United States with a compatible, in-home Alexa-enabled device.
