is there a way to activate the red stop listening mode with a voice command?

[rocket888]

I listen to several tech pod casts live that often trigger my echo. Since the unit is across the room, I often would like to say something like, "<wakeword> go to sleep".

But that doesn't work. Is there a way to do this?

If not, maybe this would be a useful addition, assuming the stop listening button is not a physical on/off, but just a momentary switch. I wouldn't mind there being a confirmation, like "are you sure you want me to sleep?" with a short timeout if I don't reply, say with ok, or yes. This should of course be an option one could set in the app.

[cookie]

Saying Alexa STOP should solve your problem.

[jwlv]

If I understand your question correctly, you want to turn on/off the microphone on the Echo device so that Alexa can listen for commands or not listen at all. The red light on the Echo device indicates whether the mic is on or off. (Red = mic is off and not listening, no light = mic is on and listening).

The only way that you can turn the mic on or off is by pressing the button on the Echo device itself. Amazon calls it the "microphone off button" and it has a picture of a microphone w/ a slash through it.

It's the button on the left in the picture of an Echo Dot below.

[rocket888]

Saying Alexa STOP should solve your problem.

Well, sorry but that doesn't work if I'm listening to anything, unless I shout really loud.  And even when it does hear me, that still doesn't stop the echo from responding to the next thing it hears. So, I still have to get up and go to the echo to hit the mic off button. 

And of course that's what I'm asking this for, to avoid having to get up. When I'm listening to live shows I'm on the computer typing in a chat room, and not close to the echo. Since the show I listen to is Leo Laporte's tech guy show, he's always talking about the echo, and "echo" is my trigger word. So, I have to mute it one way or the other.

I know that the echo is supposed to be able to tune out noise, but that does not work too well, in my experience - requiring that I shout, which is annoying to me and others.

Just looking for a way to improve the experience.  As it is now, I find I have to keep the mic turned off most of the time because my echo often thinks the tv or the computer is talking to it. I would also like to have it turn off on a schedule, since I never want it active when I'm sleeping. The echo has the ability to get smarter, I think being able to tell it to turn off the mic would be a useful enhancement.

[scottrods]

Get a Google Home or another AI, and "connect" it to a Smart outlet your Echo is plugged into. Ask it to shut off the Echo and set the name of the outlet to "Echo" and that should kill it. The only way I can think of to "Kill" the mic on the Echo without getting up. Might be doable through a cell phone app as well, but not the Alexa App. Whatever controls the other AI would have it's own cell phone app I would assume.

[iolinux333]

Get a Google Home or another AI, and "connect" it to a Smart outlet your Echo is plugged into. Ask it to shut off the Echo and set the name of the outlet to "Echo" and that should kill it. The only way I can think of to "Kill" the mic on the Echo without getting up. Might be doable through a cell phone app as well, but not the Alexa App. Whatever controls the other AI would have it's own cell phone app I would assume.

That's hilariously brilliant.

You could do the same with a smart plug.

[jwlv]

There's also the option of using an Echo Voice Remote. It used to come in the box with the original Echo but now it's sold separately. It's a lot like the Fire TV Voice Remote, except that they cannot be used interchangeably.

Here it is on Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Alexa-Voice-Remote-Amazon-Echo/dp/B01E9AHU8Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1523132102&sr=8-4&keywords=echo+voice+remote

[scottrods]

Can Alexa turn off the outlet it is plugged into? That'd be classic! Control to turn back on with phone app I suppose... It's a thought.

[AlanH]

“I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”