Falkirk Council: Ask Alexa when your next bin collection takes place

All you’ll have to do is simply say: "Alexa, ask Falkirk Council: when’s my next bin collection?"

It’s Falkirk Council’s first entry in providing information through voice recognition technology – which can greatly enhance the lives of people living with disabilities – with other voice-activated services a possibility depending on usage.

This Alexa skill uses the address location in your Amazon Alexa account to provide details about the next Falkirk Council bin collection due at your property.

After adding the skill in your Amazon account, you’ll be asked for permission to access the address location stored in your Alexa device’s settings. This permission is required in order for the skill to work and to identify your bin collection schedule.

Once it has permission to access your address information, you can say "Alexa, ask Falkirk Council: when is my next bin collection?" to get the information.

This skill only works for residents in the Falkirk Council area.

Alexa is Amazon’s cloud-based voice service available on more than 100 million devices from Amazon and third-party device manufacturers.

Voice-operated services gives users an easy, hands-free way to interact with the technology they use every day.

The tech has been the bedrock of our Technology Enabled Care and Analogue to Digital Telecare projects, which help vulnerable people being assisted by our Mobile Emergency Care Service (MECS).

The council is looking for feedback on the Alexa skill and expanding its voice-activated services. You can let them know by emailing [email protected].