Distinguishing between various Echo Shows

[Cassandra]

I have 4 Echo Shows dotted around the house.  When I go to the App, it lists them as 1, 2, 3 and 4 but how do I ascertain which Echo Show is in which room.  Once I have this info, can I then rename them, for example Echo Show Bedroom?

[strayfish]

You can change the name in the app. Go into settings, click on each Show in turn, look down till you find the name (Show 1 or Show 2 etc), look to the right and you'll see Edit. Click on that then give each one the name you want it to have according to where it's sited (if it turns out to be in a different room, rename it again). If you want to activate them separately, you might need to give them different wake words. There are four to choose from (again, that's in settings) - Amazon, Alexa, Echo, Computer - but if your rooms are far enough apart, two, or even just one, might suffice. Hope that's come close to answering your question. I have two Dots, two Shows, and an Echo, and because of the way the house is arranged they're more or less in a line which means I can get away with alternate wake words.

[Cassandra]

Yes, but HOW do I know where, for instance, Echo Show 1 is situated so that I can rename it?

No, could not cope with 4 different wake up words ha ha - not at my age!

[kenf]

Yes, but HOW do I know where, for instance, Echo Show 1 is situated so that I can rename it?

No, could not cope with 4 different wake up words ha ha - not at my age!

This is actually a really good question, and I had to think for a moment to figure out a plan to find out.

I did not find a command to get Alexa to tell me what device I was talking to.  Nor did the command history show which unit heard the request.  The goal is to find a command that identifies or singles out one of the devices.

I realized one command that is device centric.  The drop-in or "call DEVICENAME" command.

Let's assume you've got the 4 Shows setup in 4 different rooms.
Go ahead and rename them to the rooms you intend them for.  It doesn't matter where they actually are right now.

Let's pretend you named them: bedroom, kitchen, office and living room.
Go to the kitchen and tell it "Alexa, call the bedroom"
Worst case, the Show you are talking to is "the Bedroom" and the call won't go through.  Now you know where that one is.
Best case, the SHow named bedroom starts beeping in one of the 3 other locations.  Go find it.
Put a post-it note on the SHow you just found by name.

Repeat that process for 2 other SHows, and the last one is inherently the one you haven't called.

Now, unplug the Shows that need to move (not the whole cable, since they're all the same, just unplug from the back of the Show).  Then move them to the correct room as identified by the post-it note you placed there.

Problem solved.  You now know which one is which and they are in their respective rooms.

[strayfish]

Yes, but HOW do I know where, for instance, Echo Show 1 is situated so that I can rename it?

No, could not cope with 4 different wake up words ha ha - not at my age!

Ha! Well, if they all have the same wake word, the nearest one will respond so why does it matter if you don’t know which number Show is situated where? But if it still does, unplug three of them, set a timer on the one that’s plugged in, go to the app to see which of the four is running the timer, name it according to where it’s sited. Repeat for two others, the fourth should be no problem 😊 How’s that sound?

[StevenR]

Saying "Alexa, which device is this?" works for me if I need to check what the device name is in the app.

[strayfish]

Saying "Alexa, which device is this?" works for me if I need to check what the device name is in the app.

Brilliant! It was too much to hope there was a simple way, but there you go 😊

[Cassandra]

Duh - dont you just hate it when someone shows you a far simpler way ha ha?

Anyway, thanks for all your input - and yes just merely asking her worked a dream!

[strayfish]

Duh - dont you just hate it when someone shows you a far simpler way ha ha?

Anyway, thanks for all your input - and yes just merely asking her worked a dream!

Big tick and an A* for StevenR

[kenf]

Saying "Alexa, which device is this?" works for me if I need to check what the device name is in the app.

Dang it, I tried a variant of that first, and it didn't work.  Good find, and a even simpler than what I worked out.

To the other guy's comment to the effect of "why does it matter?"  It matters for the intercom, the feature I demonstrated with my more complex AlexaSortingRoutine.   it works best when each room has an Alexa and is named after the room because people think about the room they are in or trying to reach more naturally.

Also, you create a group named after the room and it's easier to assign the proper Alexa and the lights in that room.  Then you can walk into the bedroom and say "Alexa, turn on the light" and the lights turn on, just for that room.