Retired Sonos Staff

Alexa + Sonos: How it Works

Forum|Forum|9 years ago
October 3, 2017
179 replies
100089 views

So you’ve read all about Amazon Alexa working with Sonos and you want to know more. Here’s a rundown of how the integration works.

Your Amazon Alexa devices are listening for you to say the wake word, “Alexa”. When they hear that word, the microphones record what you say and send the audio to the Amazon Alexa cloud to be translated.

That voice line turns into a string of text. The Amazon protocols determine if it’s meant for Amazon Alexa or for a Sonos player. If it’s for Sonos, that text is then sent directly, and securely, over to the Sonos cloud to be turned into a command using our own codes.

Finally, the Sonos intended command goes down to the system.

Want to try it out?

Here are some fun commands to try. I like starting with:

“Alexa, play some salsa in the kitchen.”

how it works

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Doublegintonic

Contributor III

I have had my Sonos hard wired in to two Alexa Echos for about 12 months. It meant that my music and Alexa's responses/confirmation played through Sonos in that room. Since downloading the wifi enabled software, all i can get through songs is the music (it also doesn't seem to offer hard wiring) - HOW do I get music AND Alexa's responses through my Sonos?

jgatie

I have had my Sonos hard wired in to two Alexa Echos for about 12 months. It meant that my music and Alexa's responses/confirmation played through Sonos in that room. Since downloading the wifi enabled software, all i can get through songs is the music (it also doesn't seem to offer hard wiring) - HOW do I get music AND Alexa's responses through my Sonos?

It is only for controlling music playback. There is no functionality to have all Alexa audio play through Sonos.

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adjvaughan

Lyricist I

Hello Sonos, long-time customer here. Glad you’ve rolled this out.

One big bugbear - the ducking. I’m listening to Miles Davis on my play:1, but it keeps ducking because my daughter in another room is asking questions of Alexa on her dot. This seems like really poor integration and makes me consider uninstalling the whole alexa/Sonos integration.

Is there a workaround for this, or an update coming that will fix my problem? Thanks

G

Gary-C

Avid Contributor I

I have had my Sonos hard wired in to two Alexa Echos for about 12 months. It meant that my music and Alexa's responses/confirmation played through Sonos in that room. Since downloading the wifi enabled software, all i can get through songs is the music (it also doesn't seem to offer hard wiring) - HOW do I get music AND Alexa's responses through my Sonos?

Remove the device from the alexa app. This then reverts to how you had it before and actually works really well (in someways better than the new update as the dots volume controls work)
OR
Disconnect the hard wire link, then the alexa responses come out of the echo's speaker and the music from the Sonos.

Only problems is with option 1, the system then rediscovers the speakers as devices and it stops working again. I have one dot working over the net with a playbar and that works fine and one directly connected to a play 5. That one keeps on getting discovered and I cant stop it !

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personalvoid

Lyricist I

The most annoying part is to have to repeat the location over and over every time. Amazon says they will remember the last used location, but if you stop and re-play another song, then the dot defaults on its own speaker. awful. I wish there was a way to disable the dot speaker from music playback completely.

The only way I could think of would be to re-create the hard-wire by sending the output jack audio of the dot to a line-in on a computer, then stream the incoming audio to a web stream and set the play1 to play continuously from that stream....

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bigbigdan1000

Lyricist I

If I buy a Sonos One, will the Alexa integration enable me to control things like thermostats, lights and smart locks that I have around the house?

T

TigersJ

Lyricist III

I have a current gen Play 5 and an Echo Dot. Can someone please explain the differences in performance and functionality of each component depending on whether I have connected the two via line-in vs. the new wireless integration.

Ryan SAuthor

Retired Sonos Staff

If I buy a Sonos One, will the Alexa integration enable me to control things like thermostats, lights and smart locks that I have around the house?

The Sonos One can use Alexa skills to control most devices. The Sonos One doesn't have a smart things hub though, so you do need another device if the things in your home need them.

I have a current gen Play 5 and an Echo Dot. Can someone please explain the differences in performance and functionality of each component depending on whether I have connected the two via line-in vs. the new wireless integration.

The way you're using it now, the PLAY:5 is being used as a dumb speaker connected to your Dot. All audio that would play from the Dot instead plays through the PLAY:5.

With the Sonos skill, you'd issue commands to your PLAY:5, through your Dot. So Alexa would respond out of the Dot's speakers, but commands like "Play Unleash The Archers on PLAY:5 (whatever it's call)" would have that playing on the PLAY:5, and you could control what's on from your Sonos app and your Alexa app.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

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TigersJ

Lyricist III

I have a current gen Play 5 and an Echo Dot. Can someone please explain the differences in performance and functionality of each component depending on whether I have connected the two via line-in vs. the new wireless integration.

The way you're using it now, the PLAY:5 is being used as a dumb speaker connected to your Dot. All audio that would play from the Dot instead plays through the PLAY:5.

With the Sonos skill, you'd issue commands to your PLAY:5, through your Dot. So Alexa would respond out of the Dot's speakers, but commands like "Play Unleash The Archers on PLAY:5 (whatever it's call)" would have that playing on the PLAY:5, and you could control what's on from your Sonos app and your Alexa app.

Thank you.

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Scouter1106

Lyricist I

This has happened enough for me to wonder if it's not a coincidence. If I request music through my Echo, Like 'Alexa, play music, in the kitchen', within a day or two i get the message in the Sonos app that i have lost my connection to wifi. I have to reboot my router. IT's happened 3 or 4 times since i started using Echo with Sonos. Has anyone else reported this?

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