Configuring Alexa for Zoom Room Appliances

If you want to control your Zoom Room appliances hands-free and consistently, you can use Alexa for Business for this purpose. It is easy to deploy, with a built-in solution that does not require any additional equipment, as it is an integrated solution. As long as users follow a few simple setup steps, they will be able to ask Alexa things like joining a meeting, turning up the volume, finding a room available to them, or providing them with the guest Wi-Fi password within a short amount of time.

Prerequisites for configuring Alexa for Zoom Room Appliances

• Version 5.5.0 (926) or higher of the Zoom Rooms Appliance is required.

• Alexa for Business can be accessed through an Amazon Web Services account with access to AWS

How to setup an IAM user account

The AlexaforBusinessFullAccess AWS Managed Policy can be added onto an existing Amazon Web Services (AWS) Identity and Access Management (IAM) account which is presently being used to integrate Zoom admin portal with Amazon Web Services (AWS). This will require your AWS account administrator to add the AlexaforBusinessFullAccess AWS Managed Policy and allow you to integrate the Zoom admin portal with AWS.

1. Go to https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/ to access the IAM console.

2. You can find your user name by choosing Users, and then entering your user name into the search box
   Click on the name of the file from the list, and then select it.

3. You will be able to add permissions directly to existing policies by selecting the Option Add permissions.

4. Enter AlexaforBusinessFullAccess as the search term and click on the search button
   Choose it from the list and click on it.

5. The next step is to select Next, then Review, and finally Add permissions.

How to setup a new “least-privilege” AWS IAM account

To integrate the Zoom admin portal and AWS with a new, dedicated AWS IAM user with the “least privileges” permissions, you will need to ask your AWS admin to follow the steps below (your AWS admin may require additional configurations depending on your environment), but these are the minimal steps that must be performed in order to accomplish this integration:

1. You can access the IAM console by going to https://console.aws.amazon.com/iam/

2. The Create Policy Visual Editor will be opened when you choose Policies and click Create Policy.

3. Select the IAM service from the section of Services in the left-hand menu.

4. Click on the Actions tab in the top of the screen and then click on Read, and then select GetRole from the drop down menu. Select AttachRolePolicy from the Permissions management menu, and then expand the Permissions management section.

5. To restrict access to resources, click Add ARN in the Resources section of the page.

6. You will be prompted to enter the text AlexaForBusiness-ExternalProviderZoomRole in the Role name with path text field in the Add ARN(s) window. Click on the Add button.

7. The next step is to add tags.

8. It is optional to add tags in accordance with the standards of your organization.

9. Click on the Next: Review button. If this is your first time creating a policy, please enter a name according to the standard set by your organization, for example ZoomRooms Integration IAMPermissions for Alexa for Business, and optionally enter a description for the policy.

10. Once you have clicked Create policy, a new window will open.

11. In the Users section, click on Add users, and then select the user you wish to add.

12. Set a name for the user, select the AWS credential type Password – AWS Management Console access, and enter a password for the user.

13. Then you will need to click the attachment button and search for and add the following two policies directly as well:

    • The first thing you need to do is create a policy.

    • I am going to go over the second policy, the AlexaForBusinessFullAccess policy, offered by AWS.

14. The next step is to add tags.

15. It is optional to add tags in accordance with the standards of your organization.

16. Please click on the Next: Review button.

17. Create a new user by clicking the Create User button.

18. Exit the AWS console by signing out.

How to enable Alexa for Appliances

Note: This feature should be enabled with caution if you want to use it. There is an option to link an Amazon Web Services (AWS) account to all Zoom Room Appliances should Voice Commands already be enabled for each appliance. This action will change Voice Commands for all Zoom Room Appliances immediately to Alexa commands. If you plan to link your AWS account to Voice Commands, then it may be necessary to temporarily disable them.

Make sure you are logged out of the Amazon Web Services Console before you proceed to the next step of integrating the Zoom admin portal with Amazon Alexa for Business in order to avoid using the wrong AWS account. I recommend using a private or incognito session in your browser in order to access this website.

1. Click the Zoom Rooms link in the Zoom web portal after logging in and clicking on the Room Management tab. Next,
   Click on the Account Settings button.

2. You can find Alexa for Business on the Meetings tab by scrolling down. Click on the following link to learn more
   You will need an account with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

3. AWS will ask you for your credentials to log in to the service. If you do not already have an AWS IAM user account, please make sure you login as that user, then click Enable.

4. You can access Zoom Rooms by clicking on the Room Management link on the Zoom web portal. As a result of this, you will be able to enable Alexa for Business from your Account Settings, via your Zoom Room hierarchy, or directly from the room(s) you desire.

5. When you have chosen one of these options, click the Meeting tab on the left hand side of the screen, and then toggle Voice Commands on or off. Click on Alexa for Business on the next screen. Set the city in which you wish to receive local information, such as weather and traffic, if you are interested in receiving such information. Then click on the Save button.

6. To turn on or off Alexa on your touch screen or Zoom Rooms controller, you must tap the Alexa Enable/Disable button located at the bottom of the screen.

How to use Alexa for Business

Basic commands

You can say...	Zoom Rooms will...
“Alexa, join my meeting” “Alexa, start my meeting”	You can join a meeting that is scheduled or you can join by meeting ID.
“Alexa, end the meeting” “Alexa, hang up”	After a meeting, leave the room
“Alexa, end the call”	In the event that the user is the host of the call, the call will end for all participants.
“Alexa, turn the volume up/down”	It is possible to adjust the volume level of the Zoom Room
“Alexa, how is the Dow Jones doing?”	Get general information about the program as well as general questions and answers

Advanced commands

1. Upon opening the Zoom web portal, you need to click Room Management, then Zoom Rooms, in order to enable advanced commands. There are several options for account settings, such as using the Zoom Room hierarchy, or finding specific rooms and clicking the Edit button.

2. You can find Voice Commands under the Meeting tab by clicking on it. The advanced features of AWS can be accessed by clicking Open AWS console. The guide below will help you set up advanced features, such as booking rooms and granting private skills to members.

You can say...	Zoom Rooms will...
“Alexa, is this room available?”	Check general room availability and respond
“Alexa, is this room free?”
“Alexa, is this room free for 30 minutes?”	Check room availability for a specific
	duration
“Alexa, is this room free at 10 AM?”	Check room availability for a specific time
“Alexa, who booked this room?”	Find out who reserved room
“Alexa, who booked this room at 2 PM?”
“Alexa, book this room for 30 minutes”	Make an instant booking
“Alexa, book this room at 2 PM for 60 minutes”
“Alexa, reserve this room until 1 PM”
“Alexa, extend the meeting”	Extend a room reservation
“Alexa, extend the meeting by half an hour”
“Alexa, extend the meeting for 15 minutes”
“Alexa, when is the next meeting?”	Find the next reservation
“Alexa, find me a room”	Find an available room
“Alexa, find a room for an hour”
“Alexa, find a room at noon”
“Alexa, turn on lights”	Control smart devices (requires a third-party Smart Home skill)
“Alexa, turn off lights”
“Alexa, dim the lights”
“Alexa, what's the Wi-Fi password?”	Access company FAQs using Knowledge Skills (requires a Knowledge skill)