Alexa

We use it to control lights and I can contact Alexa through the app to tell DS that dinner's ready when he's upstairs. We also love the music quiz.

I still don’t understand how it works

DS and DIL are being driven insane because GC keep asking Alexa to play Baby Shark!

"Alexa, ask the question of the day", a general knowledge quiz, so far I've amassed 875 points.
Ask for a Flash briefing, and you get the news headlines. I play the radio through my Echo devices as the radio reception here is almost non existent. I subscribe to Amazon music unlimited to take full advantage of their music library, it's £3:99 per month on one device only.
I like the night sky, so have enabled the Stellar skill. It tells you what you can see in the sky at any given time.
The DGC like 20 Questions, the Magic Door, (an interactive story), and Ditty.
You'll have to give them a try, to find out which ones you like. All the skills are on the Alexa app.

The weather, a flash briefing, the time, I use it as a multiple timer when cooking, I use my echo in my bedroom as an alarm, The weather in other countries are some of the things I ask her.