ISSUE 378|COMPUTER SHOPPER|AUGUST 2019 8787
First, it’sall abit of amouthful, and Alexa
will oftenget confused and play music on
the Echo that you’reusing rather than the
Sonos player.Second, there’s the issue of
ducking. When youtalk to Alexa,the Sonos
Skill is used to duck the volume on Sonos
speakers, so there’s morechancethat your
command will be heard. It’sagreat idea,
but by default, Alexa will duck the volume
on all Sonos speakers. So if you’reusing the
kitchen Echo, the person listening to Sonos
in their bedroom will keep having the volume
go up and down.
The solution to the ducking issue is to
put your Sonos speakers into groups with
your Echo devices, following the adviceon
page 85. Now, when youtalk to your Echo,
the sound will only be ducked on the Sonos
speakers in the same room.
Forthe other issue, youcan setadefault
music player in the Alexa app per group.
TapDevices, then select the group that
youwant. Scroll down and then select
Preferred Speaker,and youcan then select
your Sonos player from the list.
Now, youcan just say to the Echo in one
room, ‘Alexa,play Pink Floyd’ and it will play
through the chosen Sonos speaker.
IT’SGOODTOTALK
As well as playing music and controlling
Sonos, your Amazon Echo devices area
good waytocommunicateeither internally
or externally.We’ll showyou howtoget
everything setup. First, you’ll want to fill in
your contacts list from your phone, so that
Alexa knows who she cancall.
To do this, open the Alexa app and tap
Communicate. TapImport and letAlexa
access your contacts. Tapthe Person icon at
the topofthe list to viewyour contacts. If
youselect acontact, youcan add an Alexa
nickname to makecalling them easier.
DROPIN
Drop In is atool that automatically connects
youtoanEcho, starting aconversation
immediately.For security,the Echo device
youconnect to will beep, so it’sclear that
someone is dropping in.
To activateDropIn, just say,‘Alexa,Drop
In on <name of deviceorname of person>’.
Inside your home, forexample, youmight
say,‘Alexa,DropInonkitchen’. To Drop In
on an external device, youcan say the
name of the person that youwanttotalk to,
such as, ‘Alexa,DropInonMum’.
That mightsound likeamassivesecurity
risk, but the default settings only allow
devices in your household and permitted
contacts to Drop In.And, by default, no
contacts arepermitted. To permit acontact,
go to Communicate, select the list of
contacts, then choose the contact that you
want and select AllowDropIn. If youdon’t
see the option, then either youdon’t have
the righttelephone number recorded for
that person, or theyhaven’t yetimported
their contacts list to allowfor calls.
Why, youmightask, would youwantto
allowDropInfor other people? Onereason
is forsetting up an elderly person’s Echo.
That way, if youcan’t reach them, youcan
Drop In and call out to them.YOUCANCALLMEAL
Youcan also makecalls using Alexa.You can
say,‘Alexa,call <Echo name>’ forlocal calls
on your network, or ‘Alexa,call <contact>’ for
external calls. Provided that your contact
has associated their number with the Echo
devices, your call will come to their house
and their Echo devices will ring and Alexa
will say,‘Call from <your name>’.Voicecalls
aremade to standardEcho devices, but
youcan makevideo calls using the Echo
Show or the Alexa app on your phone.
Similarly,you cansend Messages to a
contact. Their Echo will lightuptolet them
knowthere’s amessage forthem.IHAVEANANNOUNCEMENT
Announcements areawayofbroadcasting
amessage to all your Echo devices –for
example, telling everyone that dinner is
ready.You canmakeanannouncement
from your Echo devicebysaying, ‘Alexa,
announce<your message>’.Your voiceis
then senttoall your Echo devices.
Youcan also use the Alexa app. Tap
Communication and then Announce. You
cantype amessage to be read back in
Alexa’s voiceonyour Echo devices, or you
canrecordavoicemessage.TAKEBACKCONTROL
Communication settings aremanaged on
aper-devicesetting. Go to the Alexa app,
Devices, Echo &Alexa,then select the
Echo deviceyou want to control, then
tapCommunication.
If youwanttoturn everything off, just
toggle the Communication switch. Youalso
havemoregranular controloverDropIn
and Announcements. To manage Drop In,
tapthe option and then choose the levelyou
want (Permitted contacts, My Household or
Off). To manage Announcements, tapthe
option, then toggle the option on or off.
Repeat forall the Echo devices that you
haveset up around your home or officeto
getthe setting rightfor you.