If you have a house filled with various devices that support Alexa, Amazon’s digital assistant, you will now be able to use them as a sort of intercom, regardless if the device is an Amazon product or if it’s a 3rd-party speaker. They have announced that the Alexa Announcements voice broadcasting feature will now be available for other brands that are not Amazon but have Alexa support. This means you’ll be able to make one-way announcements in your house or in your office regardless if it’s an Echo device or not.
Alexa introduced the Announcements speaker previously for Amazon’s own smart speakers only. That meant you could only make announcements to and from Echo speakers. But as we all know, there are several third-party brands that have Alexa as well so it would have been more useful if all Alexa-powered speakers and smart TVs would be able to make use of this function just by saying, “Alexa, announce” and followed by your message.
Alexa Voice Service (AVS) says that the Announcements feature is now available for “certified Alexa built-in products” as well as new and future products that have passed the self-test and certification. It will enable users to make and receive one-way announcements to and from the compatible devices. You can use it to tell your kids that dinner is ready or that it’s time to wake up or to let your small office know that the meeting is about to start.
If you’re away from your home, you can still use the speakers to make Announcements for those who are at home. All you have to do is use the Alexa app on your phone and they’ll still be able to hear your message from where the speakers or devices are placed. The process is the same as when you’re using the smart speaker as well.
Amazon says they will be releasing continuous improvements to this feature to make sure that the consistency across devices, including the third-party speakers, will remain the same.
