First time this happened!

[mike27oct]

There have been lots of reports of Alexa speaking out when not prompted, but this incident is a "first" after having an Echo for over two years . . .

Echo is playing a classical Tunein station.  Right as the next track of music begins, the Echo's Alexa responded to its own speaker and said, "I didn't understand the question I heard."  Not so unusual except it responded to its own speaker!  I checked the history of what it heard, and it showed "forty two".  I then listened to what it heard/recorded, it was the radio announcer saying, "Next up is from the Easter Contada from JS Bach; his Contada Forty Two, is the symphonia"

Now, this was a lot more than hearing/recording forty two, and then to react to it??? I am going to reboot the Echo, and hope this was a one time event!

[coyote]

Try saying this to your Echo: "the next up, what time is it?"

.

[mike27oct]

Just what the heck does this have to do with what I wrote about?  Hmm?

Oh, and BTW, the Echo was not turned up loud; it was normal to lower volume.

[coyote]

Just what the heck does this have to do with what I wrote about?  Hmm?

Oh, and BTW, the Echo was not turned up loud; it was normal to lower volume.

"The next up" rhymes phonically with 'Alexa' and has the X in the right place, and so it can trigger Alexa.

[malliekm]

Well I just tried it..."the next up, what time is it?"  Her little blue light came on and she said "the time is 10:19

[mike27oct]

OK, I "get it". Only problem is, the DJ said Next up, not the next up.  I tried it dozens of times with either; blue ring was silent.  I even said the entire phrase over and over. No reaction.  Even said the whole sentence many times.  No go. I even said box, fox, locks, rocks, etc.  Nada. So, Unfortunately for you, the next up triggered the reaction, but not for me.  I have no problem anymore 

Anyway, it has never reacted to its own speaker, and why did it show on the history it heard "forty two" when it actually heard and recorded much more.  I had rebooted the little lady earlier before my testing. Most importantly, not going to loose sleep over this. (And, have had it too long to ask for an exchange or refund!)

[mindmagic]

My Echo and Dot often respond to their own speakers. "Brexit" is one of Alexa's favourites.

[strayfish]

Anyway, it has never reacted to its own speaker,

Welcome to my world! Mine do this frequently, once in the middle of an audio book when something approximated 'Alexa' and it stopped reading to find a radio station 'I might like'; and two days ago I couldn't get through flash briefings because it was completely consumed by a piece from a tech conference, stopping at its name and searching for an answer or actually following an instruction. I resolved it by turning off its microphone till the podcast was done. Not ideal but it did the job.

[strayfish]

My Echo and Dot often respond to their own speakers. "Brexit" is one of Alexa's favourites.

Ha yes - I'd forgotten about that one!

[mindmagic]

Alexa woke up this morning when she heard the word "Mexican" on the news (a separate radio in this case). She started going on about a "Trending Story".

[mike27oct]

Getting triggered from external sources like TVs and radios is nothing new.  The fact that the Echo got triggered by comments from it's own speakers is something new and pesky.

[strayfish]

Getting triggered from external sources like TVs and radios is nothing new.  The fact that the Echo got triggered by comments from it's own speakers is something new and pesky.

We've only had them in the UK since October/November and it's always been 'a thing', in my experience, so perhaps it's related to whatever software updates came at the same time.

As a side-issue, along with what seems to be an increase in sensitivity to words sounding like Alexa/Echo wherever they come from, I'm experiencing a reduced sensitivity to commands from me. Quite often, in low ambient noise or even silence, I have to repeat myself from inches away while the same device responds to an approximation of its name coming from a different room altogether.
Just to add, before it's suggested, there's no voice training facility in the UK so no possibility of fine tuning the software.

[mike27oct]

Not much increase in frequency of not hearng commands.  It just does this once in a while, either I am too for, spoke to softly. etc. or the tings are in some sort of deep sleep. As for speaking out of turn, this has increased.  Amazon tweaked the sensitivity in recent firmware.  Maybe if I feel like going through the customer service phone call, I will report it to AMZ.  Otherwise, I can just wait until it improves.  In my case, I have 2 new additional Dots set up since first of year; maybe that is affecting sensitivity.