This is my problem as well.  Roam responds saying it understands command but refuses to execute instruction.  Everything else in my Sonos system works with Alexa as expected.  This is definitely a Roam - Alexa issue with the problem lying in the Sonos court.  Having waited for battery powered Sonos to use at the swimming pool for the last 6 to 8 years this is mighty disappointing but I’ve come to expect this lethargic (meaning non-existant) response from Sonos.  I’m expecting the response, if any, from Sonos will be measured in years rather that months!

Same problem here. Still not fixed. Have followed all troubleshooting steps. Alexa works on other Sonos devices, just not Roam. @sonos, any ETA?

Came here to report the same problem.  On my Roam when I say “Alexa, flash briefing” she says “Here’s your flash briefing” and then I only get silence.  Asking Alexa to play an album works.

Same here - one of the main reason I bought Roam was to hear my flash briefing in the bathroom. Why is this not fixed yet?

Same problem here. My Roam won’t play my flash briefing. But it will play music, tell me the weather,  and play podcasts just fine. My other Sonos device (Sonos One) plays my flash briefing. So not sure why the Roam won’t …..?

I also have the same problem since yesterday. Was having issues with intermittent Bluetooth on Roam, (Roam does not show up when trying to connect via Bluetooth when it is in pairing mode) contacted Sonos support yesterday and they stepped me through factory resetting Roam, then the App. Now the Roam will respond to Alexa wake word, can set alarms and the like but will not play media through Alexa…. Responds with radio name or song name and then nothing. All my other Alexa devices are ok. Tried to set up Google assistant - and have the exact same issue. So I am left with a speaker that has intermittent Bluetooth and no Alexa…. Rendering my speaker next to useless. It will play media through sonos app over Wi-Fii but not as a smart speaker and not when out and about!

update… I have managed to get it to work again, I de-registered Sonos Roam in Alexa app, then disabled skill, then on Sonos App, removed Alexa voice assistant. Then added Alexa again on the App, connected to Amazon and it is now working again - or at least until next factory reset

Bump.  Has there been official response from Sonos about this?

Hi @Razorhog 

As mentioned by the original poster, @sbg89, we are aware of an issue whereby Alexa will not play the flash briefing on a Sonos Roam. We are working with Amazon on a fix for this, but as yet we have no time frame to share. There is no workaround that we know of.

Any other issue with Alexa on Sonos will normally be resolved by the steps that @JimB004 took:

Full, detailed instructions can be found on our Alexa commands not working on Sonos help page (under Advanced Fixes).

Thank you for the response. 

Wow - I have several Sonos products in my home. I bought a Roam to use during a 4week vacation and shipped it ahead of time to my destination. Set it up yesterday and have the same problems; no news, flash briefings, etc. I found this thread and have to say that it is disappointing that there is no fix. The product is virtually useless to me now and rather not carry it around on my vacation if I can’t use it. What is going on here, Sonos?

Hi everyone!

I’m a little late as I have been off for a couple of weeks, but the issue of Roam not playing flash briefings has been resolved.

UPDATE - I got News/Flash Briefings to work about 4 days ago, but still wasted almost two weeks. First Sonos product where I have had trouble getting it to work correctly.

Alexa and BBC Sounds. What is going on? Per the script: “Alexa, open BBC Sounds”. She then asks which radio station, show or podcast would you like to hear? You tell her, she confirms and says “Playing BBC Radio 6 Music” then nothing, silence. I’ve tried Disabling the Skill then re-Enabling it. Nothing, What a frustrating and useless App….

I have a sonos move, and as of this morning I’m getting this behaviour too: Alexa enabled Sonos Move just never plays flash briefing?
 

Alexa says here’s your flash briefing and then never plays.

So it’s not working for my Sonos Move.

I’ve got a Move. Not resolved for me. Latest software and updates on everything.

Hi @CovertDirt 

Thanks for reporting this - we were able to reproduce the issue ourselves. I’ve asked for it to be fully investigated.

6 days on, flash briefings still not working on my Move. How’s the investigation going? Any update?

Hi @CovertDirt 

Sorry - I’ve nothing more to share at this point, but we are working with Amazon on resolving this as quickly as we can.

​​​@Corry P  Hey, just a heads up:Another 5 days has gone by and the Alexa flash briefing skill is still not working only Sonos Move. Same issue remains. This is a long wait for a fix.

I too am having the same issue. My Roam was working fine until my device battery went dead. After charging my device did not function at all. I performed a factory reset and got most functionality back with the exception of this noted issue where Amazon will accept and repeat a command, but nothing will happen after that. The device also will not cast from Amazon Music App. I confirmed that my wifi settings are all correct and working. I can play amazon music through the sonos app or when connect via Bluetooth. So that might be something to look at is the connection from Roam to Amazon and how it differs from Sonos app to Amazon. 

Glad to see some recent activity from Sonos on this. 

Another 5 days have gone by, but the problem still hasn’t been fixed yet. Still no flash briefing from Alexa on the Move. 

Unfortunately its not clear from your community profile which Country/Region you are located in, but I can say Alexa and Flash Briefing on Sonos are working okay here in the U.K. (not sure if that helps?).

However, have you tried removing both the ‘Alexa component’ and the ‘speaker component’ from your account device list at alexa.amazon.com - the online Alexa configuration utility? The devices are located in the Settings area of the site.

That’s in addition to removing thd VA from the speaker and disabling the Sonos skill from the Alexa App. Once you have done those four things, then re-install the VA on the speaker again via the Sonos App. 

There are some other options which you can try too, like deleting the Sonos/Amazon sharing agreement at this link below, but I perhaps would not bother with that at this stage until trying the things mentioned above.

Login with Amazon (Sharing Agreement)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ap/adam?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=ya_mb_login_with_amazon

Thanks, I’m in Australia. Sonos confirmed three weeks ago this was a fault they could replicate. I asked a week after that if it was fixed (it wasn’t) and I asked a week after that, and now again this morning.

Asking Alexa on the Move “What’s my flash briefing?” has a response saying “Here’s your flash briefing” and then nothing. No error, no explanation just silence.

Asking again Alexa replies “you’re already up to date”.

so flash briefing is not working still. 
 

And yes unfortunately I’ve done all the standard enabling and disabling and resetting which sadly is a common requirement between the Sonos skill and the app and the Alexa integration.

@CovertDirt,

Ah okay, no worries, I just wasn’t sure which Country you were in. My thoughts were if you were in the U.K. you’d know it was likely fixed and to try the suggestions. Anyhow, hope it gets sorted for you soon.

My Move wasn't working with Flash briefing yesterday and i’m based in the UK. One part of Sonos said no time frame for a fix and another part spent the last two months telling me it was my system configuration at fault.

As this fault is introduced with Sonos software releases and only exists on their bluetooth products I think the “we’re working with Amazon” is misleading. Amazon’s attitude is going to be that Sonos complies with Amazon’s  software not that Amazon will change to suit Sonos. Easy fix. Remove the part of the last S2 release that caused the problem. My Move worked for the period before the May21 S2 release.