# Can I use a smart speaker to remotely monitor a room?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-a-smart-speaker-to-remotely-monitor-a-room/987601>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 26, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-a-smart-speaker-to-remotely-monitor-a-room/987601 "2023-07-26T01:38:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jebert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jebert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jebert)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-a-smart-speaker-to-remotely-monitor-a-room/987601/1 "2023-07-26T01:38:25Z")

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A smart speaker can obviously hear commands addressed to it. “Alexa, play Taylor Swift.” So it must be listening at all times. Is there a way to use the listening capability to remotely monitor the room in which the smart speaker is located? That is, can I hack into what the speaker is hearing from a remote location? How would I set this up?

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-a-smart-speaker-to-remotely-monitor-a-room/987601/2 "2023-07-26T01:56:10Z")

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Yes, if you have both an Alexa and an Echo device. The feature you’re looking for is called “Drop In.”

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**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-a-smart-speaker-to-remotely-monitor-a-room/987601/3 "2023-07-26T02:05:52Z")

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Google smart speakers, I believe, do not offer that. And the software that listens for the activation phrase (Hey Google or OK Google) is running on your local device. So Google, in a corporate sense, is not listening until after you tell it to.

It may be that Amazon is the same unless you have Drop In configured.

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**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-use-a-smart-speaker-to-remotely-monitor-a-room/987601/4 "2023-07-26T14:53:43Z")

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I think that when you “drop in” on another Alexa device the indicator ring is lit green. So, if it’s plain view and the people in the room know the color codes, they’ll know that someone is listening in.