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Alexa keeps false triggering on Sonos One

  • 30 October 2017
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Userlevel 1
Apologies if this has been covered already but my Sonos One/Alexa keeps waking up/false triggering while I'm watching TV and it's driving me mad. Whereas others have complained about the mic sensitivity being too low I haven't found this - in fact for me the Sonos One hears me far better better than my Echo and Echo dots ever did and overall I'm loving it. But this issue of Alexa waking up with a loud chirp every few minutes is driving me mad. I've checked the audio files and there's nothing apparent in there that appears to be triggering it - it just seems to be random words with no pattern.

My question is are others having the same issue, is there a way to fix it, or do I have a faulty unit?
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Best answer by Ryan S 21 December 2017, 00:21

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19 replies

yes, me too! It feels that there are far more false positives with the Sonos One and the “Chirp” trigger sound is driving us crazy.
Userlevel 3
Me as well. As I posted in another thread, its not that sensitive at all to 'Alexa' - we virtually have to lean over it - but it appears VERY sensitive to random words whilst we are just talking near it. Wouldn't be so bad if you could turn off the 'i'm awake' ding!
On a positive note Ryan from Sonos stated elsewhere that the mic sensitivity is all in the software so I hope improvements can be made. I know the echos I have have improved immensely over time (or maybe I'm just getting more accepting of their eccentricities!)
Userlevel 2
Im having the same problem. Every time my wife talks Alexa chimes in. Even from 10 ft away it will chime 3-4 times during a short conversation. It is super annoying as the music cuts out constantly when Alexa picks up. My sister was over recently and it did the same when she talked. It happens more with female voices. If this doesn't improve soon I will be returning my set of Ones, with all its other short comings its just not worth it.
Just received my Sonos One today -- same issue. Has anyone here found a solution or any other discussion of the issue?
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My Sonos keeps waking up when the TV is on or people are speaking nearby. It's driving me nuts. This does not happen with my Amazon Echo(s).
Same issue. Just posted a separate thread for this in the hopes of raising visibility to Sonos development team.
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Yesterday we were talking in the kitchen and the Sonos One triggered the Alexa app again and Alex says "Wikipedia says that Satan blah blah...." Really?! We were talking about school for our kids. Satan! Really?
Userlevel 1
I received a response from Sonos technical support basically fobbing me off by implying the false triggering is not a fault of their speaker but is down to me and where I've positioned the Sonos One in my living room. This is clearly nonsense and I once again urge absolutely everyone with this problem to report it to Sonos until they acknowledge it as a major fault on their part and decide to do something about it!
Userlevel 3
I sent my 3 Sonos Ones back because of this issue combined with the ironic situation that when we do want it to trigger we have to scream ALEXAAAAA! at it. We have had it wake on a variety of words - among them 'next to' (understandable) 'Leicester' (OK we'll go with that) and 'crispy' (what!!!). The dot that it replaced never, ever had this issue. Yes, it sometimes didn't hear us or misunderstood but it never misfired. 2 of the Ones never even made it out of their boxes as we were waiting for improvements in this area that just never came.
I sent my 3 Sonos Ones back because of this issue combined with the ironic situation that when we do want it to trigger we have to scream ALEXAAAAA! at it. We have had it wake on a variety of words - among them 'next to' (understandable) 'Leicester' (OK we'll go with that) and 'crispy' (what!!!). The dot that it replaced never, ever had this issue. Yes, it sometimes didn't hear us or misunderstood but it never misfired. 2 of the Ones never even made it out of their boxes as we were waiting for improvements in this area that just never came.

I'm surprised this has yet to be addressed. We too would have returned ours but for we moved to a larger house and simply needed an extra speaker around so it stayed. Had we not moved, it wouldn't have proved itself worth keeping on it's Alexa performance alone. I'm waiting desperately for Google Home integration but fear that the mic's shortcomings will be found there as well. The saving grace is simply that the ONE doesn't cost more than a Play:1, and so it's still earning it's keep in our new house.
Userlevel 3
The saving grace is simply that the ONE doesn't cost more than a Play:1, and so it's still earning it's keep in our new house.

Not sure if you are in the UK, but both Sonos shop and Amazon currently have the Play1 at £149 - £50 less than the One. You could also get a echo dot on offer currently, so both for less than a One. They had the same deal on Black Friday and that's what swung it to return my One's. Yes, we have to specify the room name and the ducking is annoying but at least the dots respond when you want them to and are quiet when they should be!
Userlevel 3
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I have the same problem. I've tried enabling the left, right, or both microphones of the stereo pair with no perceptible change. It is marginally responsive to me, I have to speak loudly and enunciate very clearly in order for her to respond, but anytime my wife is talking Alexa bleeps and bloops like crazy at every third random word. We are both native speakers with average voices and California accents.
Userlevel 7
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Hi everyone, Sonos version 8.2.3 is now available for the Sonos One (other Sonos devices will stay on 8.2.2). This update improves Alexa responsiveness for Sonos One users in US, UK, Germany, and Austria.

You should find that Alexa is getting better at listening, with a decrease in the times Alexa speaks up when not called. Alexa on Sonos One is now more likely to carry out your desired action when requested; especially when it’s noisy, when the speaker is further away, or when speaking quietly.

Update within your Sonos app by going to More > Settings > Online Updates.

We’re continuing to work with Amazon and the Alexa team to improve Sonos One voice control. You can expect to see more developments as we go. Let us know what you think of the changes. We’d love to hear from you.
Userlevel 1
Thanks for the heads up Ryan. Have been using 8.2.3 now for few days now and the improvement is massive. False triggers have reduced dramatically.
Thanks for the heads up Ryan. Have been using 8.2.3 now for few days now and the improvement is massive. False triggers have reduced dramatically.

Yep.
I still notice false triggers after the update. They mostly occur when my 9yo kid is speaking (chatting away on xbox). I have not had it happen to my voice yet. Oddly, none of the words he is speaking sound even close to Alexa when it triggers. When he's yapping away in the kitchen, the Echo Plus has never once had a false trigger that I have noticed.
Running the latest version in Canada and the number of times Alexa perks up when not even saying anything remotely close is pretty high. Granted I don’t know what it was before so maybe it’s better than it was but it still does it at least 4 or 5 times a day for me.

Though on the plus side I’m able to just say at a normal volume “Alexa” from the bathroom (Sonos One is two rooms away) and it hears me is pretty nice.
It is now 2018 and I’m having exactly the same problem with the Sonos Beam which is even more annoying because something on the TV wakes it up and it beeps and dips the tv volume for a while....It is starting to get on my nerves....