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Intermittent Alexa Voice Assistant.. Sonos Voice Control all OK!

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151 replies

Schlumpf
Userlevel 7
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@RichTea

Imho reacting with a replacement sadly shows that they aren’t aware of the problem like it should be.

If someone from Sonos would have read this thread an would have sent this as a quick info to their support system, they could save money and time by avoiding replacements. 

Ralf
Schlumpf
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

PS: and just to clarify… it’s NOT a problem of how you are speaking. Using and holding the micro on/off button on top does the same job as saying „Alexa“. And doing it that way produces the same problem. 
And I can also confirm that using SVC works absolutely fine. So it’s no hardware issue. 
Besides since a few weeks ago everything worked like it should. So imho it’s unlikely a hardware problem and a replacement won’t make sense. 

Ralf
Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @drbabbers et al,

We want to thank everyone for their patience going through this and all the troubleshooting you all have done so far.

While our teams are still investigating the root cause of this issue, we are not currently asking users to call in for troubleshooting - we only ask that you wait while we investigate this issue further.

If there is an update we can share we will be sure to post it in this thread.

Again, thank you for your patience

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
C
Userlevel 6
Badge +11

 

And I really can’t understand why the Sonos mods were answering most threads after new years day but seem to be avoiding any comments to this issue. 😉 

 

We have a saying here in the UK ‘No news is good news’, and also ‘Good things will come to those who wait’

Just my 2 pence 😀

 

G

Hi all. I have the same issue in UK. I’ve just done live chat with Sonos and agent was very helpful. Confirmed it’s a known issue and being worked on.  There’s no fix other than persisting until Alexa kicks in and no timeframe for resolution but very much being worked on.

I do find switching active listening on in the Alexa app settings has helped a little bit that might just be coincidental.

Hope that helps.

F
Badge

Chiming in to say I am experiencing the same problem with Alexa & Era. Will await a future firmware update :).

If Sonos Voice Control could control Spotify then I wouldn’t really need Alexa tbh.

Ken_Griffiths

It’s been going on for over 2 months

I think the recent release was hoped to solve the issue, but it hasn’t… so a fix is potentially even further away.

TBH - the lack of app development and stability issues is making sonos less compelling, this will result in some revenue loss if first time buyers don’t get the right first impression

I think it’s been half that time since the issue was made clear here in the community, but let’s not quibble over that. There’s been one update since of the firmware and I certainly did not expect to see it in that, as other issues were in line before that, not least the Sony Bluetooth issue and the ongoing issue with Connect Amp/Playbar. I actually don’t personally expect to see a fix for this issue in the next update either, but that’s just my own point of view, as I think there are bigger priorities than the issue I’m seeing/reported here and experiencing myself. 

I’m happy to wait patiently, rather than running off to tell the media, but I guess that’s your prerogative. If you can’t wait and your device is within the return period, then just send it back. I’m not about to cut off my nose to spite my face and will just wait patiently for the fix.

There are far more important things in the world than a minor speaker assistant intermittent non-listening issue. Meanwhile I will just use SVC installed on the device.

J
Userlevel 2
Badge

Hey everyone, I just wanted to point out I'm having the exact same issue described in this thread on my Era 100 here in Germany. I also just received a brand new unit from Sonos support and it is exhibiting the same behaviour. Very frustrating for a smart speaker, but good to see I'm not alone in this issue. I will talk to support again and link to this thread, hopefully this'll help to escalate things. 

Schlumpf
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

And imho just more important be sure that your Alexa app is up to date. I think the big part of the fix was done on Amazons side. 

Ralf
M
Userlevel 2
Badge

From Italy I really think that the problem has been solved.

Do this uninstall alexa from sonos

From Alexa, uninstall the Sonos skill

Close all apps, then activate Alexa from the Sonos app.

Having done this I have been trying Alexa voice for a while and it hasn't missed a beat, it seems to be working.

Try it

M
Userlevel 3
Badge

Just try and i confirm the resolution. Thanks

T
Badge

Thought 16.0 update would solve the problem but unfortunately not. Will keep on waiting as suggested BUT it is very frustrating!

M
Userlevel 3
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Glad to know we are not alone with this issue

Schlumpf
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

Glad to know we are not alone with this issue

Yes… 👍🏻

And @all: 

Don’t forget to contact Sonos support and give them a diagnosis you sent after this happened. 

Ralf
D
Userlevel 2

Yea I assumed (wrongly) that I would stumble across something on Google but no such luck.. it is a very odd issue indeed.. IMO I’ve tried everything I can.. but can’t resolve it.

I might try again with Sonos or maybe Amazon support..  as I say I have Amazon Echos in the household all working 100% with Alexa on the same Wifi, Router and ISP etc.. Also the fact I can’t replicate this using the Sonos voice control seems to indicate the Sonos hardware is good and something specific between Sonos & Alexa.

Out of curiosity how do you think this is network related? Wifi or ISP? Any advice on what to do?

If I can’t find a fix then I think I will return the unit as using the Alexa voice assistant is a ‘must have’ for me. A new out of the box product shouldn’t be this problematic to get working.. I appreciate it is a 3rd party integration but still it should be working & stable.

Schlumpf
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

Might be worth a read of Diagnostics - How do they work? thread.

Thx @Airgetlam 👍🏻

EN community is not my daily playground. 😉

I didn’t know about this thread until yet. 
Will keep it in mind. 😎

Ralf
Schlumpf
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

I‘m not surprised that a new device has the same problem. If so many people suddenly run into the same problem that didn’t exist before on their devices, it’s not likely a hardware issue. 

Ralf
M
Userlevel 3
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Hello Everyone,

today i went to my retailer and proceed a return of my Era 100. I exchange the product with another new one.

Here is the test with the new one : this exactly the same issue, so this is not an hardware problem. So this issue must be identified by sonos, this is not understandable that there is no reaction from Sonos ! This my first contact with this brand and i’m totally disappointed. I think now a return with a refund.

 

 

C
Userlevel 6
Badge +11

Watching these videos with sound makes me smile. The examples of attempting to wake an Era-100 wakes the Echo Dot in my office 😀

M
Userlevel 3
Badge

I tried to send a mail to the CEO of Sonos on the support page, maybe this will help .. or not ...

Ken_Griffiths

I’m just happy to wait patiently for the issue here to be fixed - I only reported my case yesterday to Sonos Support, so I will wait for the next three App/Firmware updates to see if things get fixed - it usually takes other manufacturers (like Apple/Google etc.) a couple of updates to get these kind of things resolved, tested and included in a release. I’ve just added an echo dot to the room for the time being and set that to control the Alexa ‘enabled’ group that contains the Era100s.

Airgetlam

I suspect keeping all the various places that Sonos has with the same info is challenging. The ones I know about are German, French, English, Nordic (I assume multiple languages, that is a generic name), and Reddit. I imagine there may be more?

Bruce
Schlumpf
Userlevel 7
Badge +16

@Airgetlam

Yes, of course they are present at many several places. This has its good but also bad points. For us on DE it’s quite familiar but also big enough to help each other and to share and discuss important issues. 
Sometimes I visit you guys over here to get more information or just to meet different people. 😎 But I have to say… it’s a different kind of speed and various content. 
A member of german Sonos support staff called it a „shark pool“. 😅

But don’t worry… I still like to visit and learn. 😉

 

Ralf
C
Userlevel 6
Badge +11

Thanks for your advice and suggestion… but sadly this doesn’t seem to help. I activated the option for my Era100 but the issue still persists. 

Yep, same for me. I made the setting change yesterday, and thought I would try it out. It made little difference on my ERA-100, was still worth a try though..

 

Ken_Griffiths

This is my 1st experience with Sonos kit and support so I’m also very disappointed. :/

So what did Sonos Support say to you when you got in touch with them, with your diagnostic report?

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