New intercom feature

[AlanH]

Amazon has added an intercom feature to Alexa-enabled devices. US and Canada soon, article reports.
https://9to5mac.com/2018/04/05/amazon-echo-intercom-update/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

[Drwoodr]

Just tried it, nice feature! I like how it even uses your own voice for the announcement. Thanks for the info.

[AlanH]

Looking forward to trying this when it reaches the UK.

[malliekm]

This is called "Broadcasting" on the Google Home platform.  Some broadcasts use Google's voice with what they call "delightful sounds" and others use your voice.  I like how you can Broadcast from your phone when you're away from home and tell the dog you're on the way   What I'm hoping Google gets some day is the intercom feature that lets you speak to one device instead of the whole house.

[kenf]

It's neat.  tried it once when I read about it yesterday.

Seems like it'd be handy for when I'm trying to intercom the wife in the living room and it turns out she's somewhere else.

Then I could say "hey, call me in the office when you get a chance" and she'd probably hear it unless she's in the one location I can't think of that doesn't have an Echo.

For a big house/family, it's most obvious use is "hey, it's dinner time!"

[malliekm]

What's the command to start the intercom feature and can you do it from your phone?

[Laurel]

Mailliekm, I have said "Alexa announce it is supper time" and it saying announcing, and then a bell dingles and my voice says "it is supper time".  If I say "Alexa it is time to wake up", then a rooster crows before my voice says "it is time to wake up".  Yes it seems to work with the phone app too.

[AlanH]

Hope we get this feature soon in the UK - I need dingles in my life 

[malliekm]

Mailliekm, I have said "Alexa announce it is supper time" and it saying announcing, and then a bell dingles and my voice says "it is supper time".  If I say "Alexa it is time to wake up", then a rooster crows before my voice says "it is time to wake up".  Yes it seems to work with the phone app too.

Thanks Laurel!  I'm glad it has little jingles/dingles too

[maitai]

What's the command to start the intercom feature and can you do it from your phone?

You can just say "Alexa Announce".......then wait a second. She will come back and say "What's the announcement?"

Then immediately after,  just say what you want the announcement to be.

Hope this helps.

[malliekm]

Thank you

[Chitriguy]

Here's the big problem, though, the announcement announces at the volume each Echo device is set at.  If someone has set the device to "2" they may not hear the announcement.  I found this out shortly after the update came out and I tried it.  The kids/monsters couldn't hear that it was time to go to bed because it wasn't loud enough.  Granted, they didn't WANT to hear it either.  It would be nice if you could set the level on all devices for announcements to get around this.  I believe the same is true for multi room music.  It plays at the volume level set on that device.

[Drwoodr]

Hmmm, so I wonder if the announcment volume is based on the alarm, timer, and notification volume?

[UP_RoaR]

Do all the devices have to be under the same account. For example I have one registered under my account and my two sons each have one upstairs but they are registered under there own account. Three devices and three separate accounts. Is there any way to get the announcement feature to work or do they have to all be under the same account?

[AlanH]

Announcements feature is now working in the UK.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GHQLL3HFVRYKFD5C&ref_=pe_3080231_253870871
What's quite amusing is that the 'chime' reflects the announcement content. Try "Alexa, announce that it's bedtime."