Mic sensitivity control Echo Dot

[Jim hamel]

Hello, I was wondering if you can control the sensitivity of the mic on the echo dot? I have the echo and the dot and they both respond to my command even though they are in seperate rooms?

Thanks,
Jim

[DParker]

Hello, I was wondering if you can control the sensitivity of the mic on the echo dot? I have the echo and the dot and they both respond to my command even though they are in seperate rooms?

Thanks,
Jim

There is no way I know of to control microphone sensitivity on any of the Amazon Alexa devices.  However, you can give them different wake words (for instance, call one "Alexa" and the other "Echo" or "Amazon").  Not the ideal solution, perhaps.  But it will address your problem.

[renegade600]

Hello, I was wondering if you can control the sensitivity of the mic on the echo dot? I have the echo and the dot and they both respond to my command even though they are in seperate rooms?

Thanks,
Jim

more likely you will have to control your voice.  I have the same issue.  I moved the echo and dot as far apart as I could in the two rooms.  I also don't give commands as loud as I did when I only had one.   That was the only way I could solve the problem. 

[mike27oct]

Same issue and solution.  It is the price we pay for having more than one Echo device.

[renegade600]

I completely forgot to mention is you can rename one of them.  At this time you can use alexa, amazon, and echo as names.  I dont change names because I would forget and use the wrong one on the wrong device but it is still out there as an option. 

[DParker]

I completely forgot to mention is you can rename one of them.  At this time you can use alexa, amazon, and echo as names.  I dont change names because I would forget and use the wrong one on the wrong device but it is still out there as an option.

I wish I'd thought of that. 

[mike27oct]

How I have dealt with the Echo name game:

The Echo downstairs in living room kept the name Alexa.  The Tap needs no name, and the two Dots are both named Echo (I refuse the name anything Amazon!). One Dot is in family room near the living room, and what does it matter If I get Alexa and Dot confused once in a while; not a big deal.  The Dot in the bedroom can hardly hear the name Echo from downstairs or vice versa.  So, we all co-exist fairly well.  One thing for certain; we talk a little quieter to the devices than we used to. 

Well, I do, but my wife grew up in Brooklyn, so she can often trigger both Dots, and it gives me the chance to tell her again that she is not living in Brooklyn anymore, and that she is talking too loud! 

If you change any names, just put a small post-it on top of each device with its name on it; that can help get adjusted to the new names.

[jwlv]

When Echo first came out, it only had two names: Amazon or Alexa. It took almost a year for a third name to be introduced: Echo.

I think that Amazon can make the Echo respond to any name quite easily. But they won't do it because they want their brand embedded in people's heads for a good long time.

Let's say Jill went to Jack's house and when they walked in, Jack says, "Alexa, turn on the hallway lights." Even if Jill has never seen or used an Echo before, she would probably remember the commercial and instantly associate Amazon to whatever Jack was talking to. Same thing if Jack said "Amazon" or "Echo."

But let's say Amazon allowed us to use any name we wanted for Echo and Jack named his Echo "Jennifer." They walk in the door, Jack says, "Jennifer, turn on the hallway lights." Jill's first reaction would be, "What's that?" instead of thinking about Amazon Echo first.

The name restriction is likely a marketing strategy to saturate the general public with Amazon's brand names. I guess Apple and Google have been doing the same. Siri can't be named anything else. Hey Google can't be changed to anything else either.

[mike27oct]

Exactly!  Meaning, we will never get another name for these gadgets.

[renegade600]

Exactly!  Meaning, we will never get another name for these gadgets.

might get dot as a name.

[mike27oct]

Yea, maybe; before Dot was shipped, I asked in an Alexa app feedback request for Dot or Dottie.  We'll see.  Maybe we will get Dorothy; who knows!

[mde8965]

Wait a minute.  I was under the impression that you can control the mic sensitivity on the ECHO at least with the volume level of the echo.  Just turn it down using the top of the unit (turn counter clockwise).  I was having the issues with both Echo's responding to everything.  I changed one's name to Echo and hated it.  It did not respond reliably to that name and I would sometimes forget I was talking to Echo and not Alexa. 

Now both are named Alexa and I have both of them at 50% or less volume and they usually do not respond to each others commands unless I shout.  They are no more than 25 feet from one another...

[DParker]

I was under the impression that you can control the mic sensitivity on the ECHO at least with the volume level of the echo.  Just turn it down using the top of the unit (turn counter clockwise).

All you're doing with that is turning down the speaker volume.  It has nothing at all to do with mic sensitivity.  You can turn off the mic completely with the red button on top, but there is no sensitivity adjustment.

That said, I've seen reports on other forums that ~3 months ago some people's Echos suddenly became less responsive, requiring they speak louder/stand closer in order for the wake word to activate the unit.  For instance:  https://www.reddit.com/r/amazonecho/comments/42mwi0/is_it_just_me_or_have_you_been_having_to_yell_at/

But nothing about the ability to adjust the sensitivity yourself, nor have I experienced this change with either of my own Echos.

[strayfish]

I'm a new user - Echo became available in the UK on the 28th and mine arrived that day. At first it was very sensitive to voice but as of yesterday it's taken some effort to get it to respond. Quite often then, it just swings its blue light around and switches off again. This happens even if I use the remote to overcome ambient noise. Impressively though, it randomly responded to hearing 'England manager' on the TV news the day Sam Allardyce stepped down and told me, correctly, that the England manager was Gareth Southgate!

Has anyone found a solution to this problem yet (the microphone sensitivity, not England's chances of winning anything!) or are we all still yelling at it from 3 inches away?

[mike27oct]

As has already been discussed by US users since it came out, Alexa can get confused if too close to a Telly, and if user tries to give commands while it is playing music loudly it can't hear you well  so turn down volume for making commands.  Many of the common problem you have already been discussed, so take time to read through this forum even though there are lots of posts here by the time you guys arrived.