Can an Echo Dot be an always-on microphone for another Echo device?

[friendly robot]

I have a first generation Echo (the tall one) in my living room, and I love it except for one problem: from the far side of the room I have to shout for it to hear me. I have a couple of Echo Dots (2nd and 3rd gen) and I'd love to set one of those up just to listen and relay commands to the Echo.

I understand that I can sort of mimic this by using specific commands (like "play Jingle Bells on living room Echo") but this doesn't work very well. The extra command frequently confuses Alexa, or she ignores it and responds on the wrong Echo. Plus it's clunky to have to specify every time. I'm looking for a permanent redirect where only one device responds, no matter which device hears me.

I've seen the Alexa Voice Remote, which seems to be the right idea, except it only works when you push a button. I'm looking for always-on listening just like every other Echo device.

Is there a way to set up an Echo Dot to act as a listening device for another Echo? Or is there another device I can get to accomplish this?

Thanks for any help!

[iolinux333]

In the Alexa app,

Menu>Routines


You can probably create various Routines to do most of what you want.

It's a bit tedious to do, but worth it after you're all done.