Amazon Excess: Put an Alexa Device in Every Single Room of Your Home.
You can never have too many Amazon Echos, especially when you can use them to
try these nifty tricks.
Go find your old forgotten Alexa devices. We've got some cool tricks you may
want to try throughout your house. Dale Smith/CNET
Did that headline make you do a double-take? That's understandable. What kind
of person has an Amazon device in every room? Well, call me strange, but don't
judge before you hear me out. Why? Because there are so many neat tricks you
can do with that Echo Dot you have laying around or that Amazon Echo speaker
that's slowly getting dusty in the corner of your room.
I had two Echo Dots -- both white third-gen models that I'd since replaced with
the better-sounding fourth-gen "orbs." But those old hockey pucks still rock,
especially when paired with my black Echo Show 8, so I dug them out and found
homes for both of them. One third-gen Dot went in my half-bath, the other in my
upstairs hallway -- bringing my menagerie of Alexa devices up to a whopping 11
smart speakers and smart displays. That means I now have one Alexa speaker or
display every few feet throughout my home.
Is that overkill? Yeah, you could say that. Should you still put an Alexa
device in your bedroom and bathroom and garage (you get the gist!) anyway?
Well, absolutely. Once you do, you'll wonder why you never did it before.
That's because there are some unique advantages to keeping a houseful of Alexa
devices.
Here are all of the neat tricks you can implement with those Amazon gadgets you
already have laying around, plus some tips on how to keep everything in order.
Why so many Alexa devices? Because more is better
Some Alexa features just work better the more Amazon Echo speakers and displays
you have set up in your home. For example, if you've never experienced
whole-house audio before, it's a surprisingly dazzling experience even if most
of your speakers are Echo Dots (and even if you don't have an Amazon Echo
Subwoofer). On days when you're moving a lot from room to room -- cleaning the
house, say, or hosting a get-together -- it's remarkable how neat it is to have
music playing everywhere you go.
But there are other nifty ways to use a houseful of Alexas, too. Besides
multiroom music, here are some of my other faves:
Announcements: Say, "Alexa, announce dinner is ready," or, "announce that it's
bedtime," and check out what happens (Alexa adds some audio "color" to the
message).
Drop In: You can have an intercomlike conversation with someone in a specific
room -- "Alexa, drop in on the kitchen" -- or with the whole house at once --
"drop in everywhere."
Multiroom audio (but in the same room): You may only be able to pair identical
speakers together in stereo, but you can put any two or three or more speakers
together in the same room, even though the feature is called "Multi-room."But
before you get started on any of this, the first thing you'll want to rein in
is all those speakers
Assign wake words other than 'Alexa'
If you're like me and have multiple Echo devices in the same area, then you
already know how annoying it can be to yell, "Alexa!" and have every device
compete for your attention. If you have two or more devices in the same
vicinity, then it's best to give each one its own wake word.
For example, I have an Echo Show in my kitchen and an Echo Dot in the living
room just a few feet away. I use the Dot mostly to play music, not necessarily
to listen for commands. I gave that speaker (and other speakers I just use for
audio) a wake word other than "Alexa."
While Amazon's traditional options for calling up your voice assistant are
Alexa, Computer, Amazon and Echo, there are several newer wake word additions
you can use like Ziggy and Hey, Disney. Unfortunately, you can't give it a name
other than these, so you'll have to hold off calling your device "Buddy" or
something else unique.
Here's how to change the wake word on individual devices:
1. Open the Alexa app, navigate to Devices.
2. Tap Echo & Alexa from the top row of icons.
3. Tap the name of the device with the wake word you want to change. You'll
have to change each device's wake word separately.
4. Select the Settings icon in the top right-hand corner then scroll down and
tap Wake Word.
5. Pick a wake word other than Alexa (see above for your options).
6. Tap OK when a pop-up lets you know it might take a few minutes to change
over, then either back out of that menu or close the app.
You can also change the wake word with voice commands, too. Simply say, "Alexa,
change your wake word." Alexa will prompt you to pick from the list of offered
wake words. Then select whichever word you want.
Now you're all set! And you can always go back and change the wake word at any
point.
Pair Alexas for stereo and multiroom audio groups
If you've got two identical devices (or functionally identical -- the
same-generation Echo Dot, Echo Dot with Clock and Echo Kids are all
interchangeable in this sense) you can pair them so that audio is divided into
left and right channels, like a bona fide stereo system. That pair will then
appear as a single speaker in the Alexa app when directing audio in a routine
or creating an even bigger set of speakers (more on that shortly).
Before you set this up, make sure both speakers are in the same virtual "room"
in your Alexa app and that both are on the same network. Then, do this:
1.Open the Alexa app, tap Devices on the bottom menu bar, then tap the plus
sign (+) in the upper right corner.
2.Tap Combine speakers, then tap Stereo pair / subwoofer. Tap one of the
speakers you want to use, then the app will highlight compatible speaker
options -- tap one, then tap Next.
3.The app will assign the right channel to one and the left channel to the
other, but you can tap Swap Speakers to toggle the options, then tap Next.
4. Name your new stereo pair (I usually stick with the name of the room, such
as "Master Bedroom").
Multiroom audio works similarly, but without the stereo separation. Also, you
can combine unalike speakers, and previously paired stereo pairs, as many of
them as you wish. And, again, the speakers don't have to be in different rooms.
Here's how to do it:
1.Open the Alexa app, tap Devices on the bottom menu bar, then tap the plus
sign (+) in the upper right corner.
2.Tap Combine speakers, then tap Multi-room music. Tap all of the speakers you
want to include in the group, then tap Next.
3.The app will assign the right channel to one and the left channel to the
other, but you can tap Swap Speakers to toggle the options, then tap Next.
4. Either choose a name from the list or type your own custom name at the
bottom, then tap Save.
Protect your Amazon Echo privacy
With all of these Echo devices scattered around your home, you're probably
wondering: Is Alexa always listening? It's a good question considering no one
wants Alexa to be privy to our confidential conversations.
Echo devices have raised plenty of privacy concerns. Even though they're only
recording and transmitting audio to Amazon's cloud when the blue light
activates, it's widely known that Echo devices can be activated without you
knowing it if one of them hears something similar to its wake word (for
instance, if you say something like "election" or "I'd like some" instead of
"Alexa"). It's also worth understanding that Amazon employees can listen to
your Alexa conversations if you don't take certain precautions.
Luckily, there are settings and other hacks to keep Amazon out of your
business.
For one, you can unplug the device or turn the mic off by pressing the
microphone's mute button to make sure Alexa isn't always listening. You can
also update the settings to delete your Amazon voice transcripts immediately so
they can't be reviewed by Amazon employees.
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