Echo Connect not working properly when set up outside of North America

[welfakir]

I just purchased the Echo connect and I am trying to use it outside of North America.  It receives calls fine and broadcasts them to my echo devices, but I cannot make outgoing local or international calls with it.  My best guess is that it may be expecting the call to originate from a USA service provider. 

I suspect it prefixes outgoing calls such that it replaces the "+" with a "011".  This will not work in foreign countries where the "+" is converted to a "00".  For local calls without "+" I think it adds a "1" if it not present, hence local calls do not work either.

The Alexa app where you set up the echo connect has a drop down box for the originating country. Right now the only country you can select is USA.  I have read that  Amazon is planning on releasing these internationally in 2018.  If so, until they update the app to allow multiple countries, you will not be able to call local numbers, unless you have a work around.

So if all you want to do is receive calls it works fine.  It needs an update , however, if you want to make calls when not using a North American service provider.

[jwlv]

If you don't use the contact list, you can just say "Alexa call [the number]", e.g. Call 00123456789.
If you do use the contact list (e.g. Call Robert), then you may encounter the problem that you mentioned.

[welfakir]

You are correct it will dial local numbers in you say them manually.  It just will not work with the contact list.

[maff]

I just purchased the Echo connect and I am trying to use it outside of North America.  It receives calls fine and broadcasts them to my echo devices, but I cannot make outgoing local or international calls with it.  My best guess is that it may be expecting the call to originate from a USA service provider. 

I suspect it prefixes outgoing calls such that it replaces the "+" with a "011".  This will not work in foreign countries where the "+" is converted to a "00".  For local calls without "+" I think it adds a "1" if it not present, hence local calls do not work either.

The Alexa app where you set up the echo connect has a drop down box for the originating country. Right now the only country you can select is USA.  I have read that  Amazon is planning on releasing these internationally in 2018.  If so, until they update the app to allow multiple countries, you will not be able to call local numbers, unless you have a work around.

So if all you want to do is receive calls it works fine.  It needs an update , however, if you want to make calls when not using a North American service provider.

I'd be interested to hear if your Alexa cloud account is on the US or UK servers? I have imported an Echo Connect, but given I have a UK based Alexa account, there is no option to set up an echo connect. I'm a bit gutted! If you do have a non US based Echo account, how did you set it up?

Thanks for any advice...

[Shoogon]

Hi,

I succeeded to set up the Echo Connect to be used in Israel by utilizing Chrome dev tools. I changed the Calling Country d-country-select combo box (select) to: <option class="d-language-option" value="IL">Israel</option>
and pressed the Save button.
I am not sure if it has changed it to "Israel", but it might just set it to be non USA. Anyway, I can use my Echo devices to call all of my contacts in my contact list.

Alon.

[maitai]

I tried using Chrome Developer Tools to make the modifications as Shoogon suggested above. (As I do not live in the USA, Canada, nor Mexico either).

However I could not find the "<option class="d-language-option" value=" line to change the country code, as per instructions. I then came across an old article detailing how to change an echo dot USA address using "CURL". I then proceeded to follow the same process to change the country code and dialing prefix to match the country I am living in to use the echo connect for its intended purpose in my smart home. I can now tell Alexa to call someone in my contact list, using the persons name, rather than speaking the telephone number.

Here is the link I found: https://beebom.com/how-to-set-up-and-use-amazon-echo-outside-us/

My next objective is to figure out how to get Alexa to announce the caller id (name of the caller) for incoming calls. Currently, Alexa will only indicate the phone number thats calling my land line.

If I can find a solution to this, I will post a note here, in case it can help someone else.

Also thank you Shoogon for your post....it got me started in my quest to use the echo connect outside North America.

[gmukomol]

Hi Alon
Thanks for sharing . Can pls elaborate how to save the changes that you mentioned ?
I was able to find the section and modify but dont know how to save these . It's just saving a local html file for me
Thanks
Gadi

[RamP]

I've managed to set my Echo Connect to work in Israel by using "Request Maker" tool for Chrome.
You will need to follow the following steps:
1. download Request Maker add-on https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/request-maker/kajfghlhfkcocafkcjlajldicbikpgnp
2. go to the Echo Connect device settings under https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#settings
3. choose "Calling Country"
4. Click on Save
5. look for PUT entry on the Request Maker list
6. on the Raw Data section, on the lower part of your screen, change the "US" to "IL" or whatever your country is - and click on Send.

good luck.

[Yerman]

I live in Europe and would like to buy an Echo Connect off eBay. I have Echo Dots and an Echo Show.
If I follow RamP's advice:
(1) can I expect my Dots to announce the names of callers?
(2) Can I expect to be able to call a contact by saying "Amazon, call John"?