Patiently waiting for Alexa Integration

I don't mind the wait primarily because I can imagine so many ways that the integration can be done wrong. First, Sonos must negotiate with Amazon to figure out who is going to responsible for which part of the integrations. As well, Amazon (and maybe Sonos) how much information to share about how their stuff works and what their future plans are. Sonos also has to make sure their plan will be compatible with Google Home and others, if the need to go that direction. Not to mention future enhancements. Echo isn't a finished product, so as they add features Sonos will need to now whether they can or want to leverage those features. The integration absolutely is something they should do, but it's not an easy task at all.

Some of the things I want to know.
- How much effort will be put into zone control. Will you be able to group zones on the fly by voice or will they need to setup named zones?
- Can you tie a specific zone to a specific echo. In that way, if you ask echo/alexa to play a song, it automatically plays in the default zone.
- If a zone is tied to a specific echo, can you set it so only music plays on your sonos, not the voice feedback? I'd like to talk to the echo without pausing music or the tv sound.
- Will the integration only work when Echo is the source? For example, can I tell echo to source music from 'line in'?
- Will you be able to search a local music library by voice?
- Since Amazon is now integrating video with the Echo Show, will Sonos leverage any of those features? Say the ability to select zones with the Show's touchscreen? If not now, is that a possible future feature?
- Since Echo's will now have voice calling, will Echo automatically mute Sonos when you receive a call?
- Will you be able to setup a schedule or alarm features through Echo?
- Will you be able to group Sonos commands with other smart home devices, so that you can do things like dim lights when you play music and so on. (You can do this with a smart hub integration already, but it is limited)

These are all things that don't work that great when trying to integrate through Yanomi, Smartthings, or Lutron's hub (all things I've tried). If the direct integration doesn't do much better, it's not going to be that useful. I'd much rather it be done right, then done quickly.

Good list of questions. I don't expect we'll find out any of those specific until such time as they release the software (or someone breaks the NDA in any beta that may or may not be going on).

My hope is that the answer to most of them will be "Yes", due to the length of time that it's taking to work on this. My hope is that they're trying to do it "right", rather than just a "simple" integration.

Development on this one is definitely moving forward well, but speaking from experience, the team hates showing their work before it's just about done. We'll be sure to let everyone know when there are opportunities to beta test the software, and of course, we'll shout it from the rooftops when it's ready to go.

It will be available this year. And the team isn't going to rush it out the door just so we can say we have it. They'll be taking the time to do it right.


Thanks for the reply. By this year is the problem with the statement for me. I run agile teams. I get no dates, but you've got to have a general idea on progress for a quarter. As customers, hearing "this year" could very well mean we will have gone 17 months with the promise of integration before first seeing a beta. This conversation began in July of 2016. A bit more transparency is what those of us who heavily reinvested in the Sonos line would like to make sure we didn't make purchasing fools of ourselves along the way. I promise that if I had a play 5 with a line in, I'd probably complain less but, c'est la vie!

We were promised this would be fully integrated by the first quarter of 2017. This original date even seemed a little unreasonable although Sonos insisted that it had to be 100% right before they were willing to release anything. Now I'm hearing by the end of 2017, this is completely unreasonable. Had I known last year that this was gonna be at least another year I would have explored other technologies. I'm now thinking about replacing my Sonos systems

We were promised this would be fully integrated by the first quarter of 2017. This original date even seemed a little unreasonable although Sonos insisted that it had to be 100% right before they were willing to release anything. Now I'm hearing by the end of 2017, this is completely unreasonable. Had I known last year that this was gonna be at least another year I would have explored other technologies. I'm now thinking about replacing my Sonos systems

No you were not promised by first quarter 2017. The statement in the official press release was:

These new voice capabilities will be delivered in a software update that will work with new and previously purchased Sonos and Alexa-enabled devices such as Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, and Amazon Fire TV. The companies will begin rolling out the experience through an invite-only beta test later this year, with general availability in 2017.

http://press-us.sonos.com/134980-sonos-with-partners-and-industry-leaders-ushers-in-new-era-of-connected-home-listening

Any mention of early 2017 was an assumption by the press, an assumption which ignored the official statement above.

For me the issue is this: I'm really unhappy with the usability of my Sonos speakers. They're beautiful speakers and I love the idea of them. I just hate that I can't play what I want to play (Audible, continuity of Podcasts, etc). I would rather know sooner rather than later if the Echo integration is going to fix the issues I have.

My hope is that it will be a full integration and I'll be able to play Echo through my Sonos Speakers -- that way I can connect my phone to the Echo via bluetooth and play anything/everything from my iphone through my Sonos.

But I don't want to wait a year only to find out that's not going to be possible. THAT is why I would like a little more information on how this integration will work. If I'm still suck using the Sonos App and just voicing my commands rather than pressing buttons on my phone, that doesn't add usability for me. It just changes how I do what I already do. So I'd rather know now if continuing to wait it out with Sonos is going to be a waste of time.

The reason I'm concerned it's taking so long (both to get more information and for the actual integration to roll out) is that I've been waiting well over a year for the promised Audible integration. I'm used to promises from Sonos that drag out and don't manifest.

For me the issue is this: I'm really unhappy with the usability of my Sonos speakers. They're beautiful speakers and I love the idea of them. I just hate that I can't play what I want to play (Audible, continuity of Podcasts, etc). I would rather know sooner rather than later if the Echo integration is going to fix the issues I have.

My hope is that it will be a full integration and I'll be able to play Echo through my Sonos Speakers -- that way I can connect my phone to the Echo via bluetooth and play anything/everything from my iphone through my Sonos.

But I don't want to wait a year only to find out that's not going to be possible. THAT is why I would like a little more information on how this integration will work. If I'm still suck using the Sonos App and just voicing my commands rather than pressing buttons on my phone, that doesn't add usability for me. It just changes how I do what I already do. So I'd rather know now if continuing to wait it out with Sonos is going to be a waste of time.

The reason I'm concerned it's taking so long (both to get more information and for the actual integration to roll out) is that I've been waiting well over a year for the promised Audible integration. I'm used to promises from Sonos that drag out and don't manifest.

If you don't like Sonos, move on. Buy something else. There are not that many better linked/online/integrated/etc speakers available. Especially for the price.

Great to know what you think..... bored now

Replace it then! I don't believe Echo is the holy grail or a deal breaker in deciding upon Sonos.

Perhaps the title of this thread should be changed to "Impatiently waiting...."

LOL. Nice catch, Bruce.