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SONOS ALEXA Integration?


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Been waiting to hear news about when this will happen and am starting to think it never will. I have Sonos and Alexa in every room. I did this with the assurance that Sonos and Alexa are going to work together. There has been next to no news regarding integration for the past 6 months.... When can we expect to hear about Sonos and Alexa integration? Is it still happening? Please any update would be appreciated.
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Best answer by Ryan S 31 August 2017, 23:52

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Thanks for jumping in everyone. Great answers already. As suggested, I can't really provide any extra details today, but I assure you, we're as excited about this as you are. It is coming. We'll let the world know as soon as there's more to say, and we'll announce here on the community (and elsewhere) if there are any opportunities to help us beta test.
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There seems to be enough noise out there to reasonable assume the private beta is well underway. I've been a Sonos use since 2002, and I still have my trusty CR100 controller, and Sonos, bless them, still provide support (although the hardware replacement program has dried up). The point is, that the parallels with Sonos and Apple are grey, to say the least. I do think Sonos has made the right choice to use Alexa for voice control.

I'm one of those nerds that was messing around with voice recognition back in the late 80's and it sucked, big time. I'd say until Alexa, it still sucked, and that's including high-end systems. The go-forward battle is between Alexa (good head start) and Google (vast amounts of data). Apple have squandered a huge opportunity with Siri, and continue to do so. Even the Homepod is marketed as a music-first device, with Siri tagged on; it's not a competitor to Alexa or Home. By taking the best distributed audio system (Sonos) and meshing it with Alexa, where the entry point is $40, is a smart move. A Play:1 and an Dot is still much less than the HomePod, and more functional, and I'm sure we'll see bundles from Amazon once the integration is fully baked.

Having said all of that, I wish they'd hurry up. Assuming Apple hit their deadline this time, the holiday shipping period could be pivotal for Sonos. Since many people new to Sonos will already have an Alexa device, it becomes a $200 (Play 1) vs. $350 (HomePod), and that's a tough sell for many people. So the sooner Sonos go public with this, the better.
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"Indignant posters" aka frustrated Sonos customers. Frustrated customers voicing their concerns are not the problem, that's called "feedback". It's when we stop caring that it becomes an issue.


If 'we' means Sonos, then I agree to an extent. How much is up to them. "We ', meaning the other customers in this forum...I don't see why we need to care.

I personally would agree that voicing frustration and concerns is positive. But it's not productive when customers threaten to sell their stuff if demands are not met, repeating inaccurate rumors, generally assuming that this is all easy, and Sonos doesn't care.[/quote]


The "we" I'm referring to are the Sonos users. We care because we like the product and we want them to keep improving it. I, for example, had three Logitech Squeezebox Radios that frustrated me to no end. Software updates seemed to only make things worse. One of them bricked during an update with no way to fix it or replace it. That's where they lost me. I don't care what they do with that product anymore.

Sonos, i care about. Sonos has great products and, hands down, the easiest setup of any consumer electronics product I've ever seen. They are fantastic and fair with their warranty and non warranty repairs. Customer service has been great in my experience. I have no plans to sell any of my Sonos components. I love my Sonos stuff and I've told everyone I know to go with Sonos because they make the best products in the category.

That's why I'm riding their butts on a few things, I want Alexa integration, I want an Audible app and I want it all yesterday. I want the software side to improve on some things. By making it better for me, hopefully it makes things better for others. It might sound like complaining because that's exactly what it is. I'm sure it's not easy but I'm also sure they can pull it off and, until they do, I'm going to keep asking about it.

Anyway, that's where I'm coming from. Now what's the big holdup on the Alexa thing??? Let's go! Lol!
It is coming. Glad to hear this, as I very much want better Alexa integration. I worry that the innovation will be focused on the hardware side more, like another line in for Alexa or even built-in Alexa. Would not benefit the $1.5k Sonos hardware I've already got.

No need to worry. It has been stated the implementation will not require a line-in, and will work with all former and current Sonos products sold.
Steve_199, I'm no expert, but I think I understand the framework of how Alexa works pretty well. What you think of is pretty easy...really isn't all that easy.

Your typical Alexa skill works as such.
1 - local Echo dot hears a command.
2 - local Echo dot sends command to Alexa servers that converts voice to text, then determines what to do with it.
3 - if the command is for a 3rd party skill, it sends the skill to the 3rd party server for processing
4 - 3rd party server processes and performs action and gives Alexa servers a response.
5 - Alexa 3rd party servers give a response to your local Echo.

So it's somewhat complicated, but beyond that...Sonos doesn't have a server out there to act as a 3rd party server in this scenario. It would have to set that up in order for a basic 'Alexa tell sonos to play xxx'. On top of that, your sonos system doesn't have a presence outside of your local network. There has never been any sort of registration process of such where the Sonos server (that doesn't yet exist) could no one zones you have in order to command it do something.

That said, there are some work arounds. Your local echo isn't completely dumb in that it can do some actions on it's own. That's why there are some bulbs that work with Echo without need for a smarthub...or work with a smarthum. Most of the time there is a smarthub. So if you have smartthings for example, your Echo knows to send a particular command to your local hub for processing. FYI, there are some hubs that can control sonos, and are setup with Alexa. Therefore you can control Sonos from an Echo by way of a hub...but the functionality is limited.

And I think your statement about simply saying "Alexa, stop" brings up another point. With all of the above mentioned, that command won't work...because you didn't tell it what to stop. You would have to say "Alexa, tell Sonos to stop". And Sonos management has seemed to acknowledged that that is far from ideal. Annoying perhaps. Hence, they want to spend the time to get tighter integration so that when you say stop, Alexa knows it's playing music on Sonos and that must be what you want to stop. Or perhaps when you ask to start music, it knows you mean in the sonos zone you're currently in, and not on the echo's speakers.

And sure, they could have gone with being able to drop the whole 'tell Sonos' at a later date, but the development work for going all the way can't be built off of going halfway. So why not just go all the way.

Again, not an expert, but that's what it seems like to me.
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I am sure I am biased, but I just can't be that impressed with HomePod. What I've read just doesn't give me a good feeling about it all.

I've searched a little about Airplay 2, but I don't see anything elaborating on what they consider to be multi-room. I'm sure you can play the same source in multiple rooms, but I see nothing about different sources. And yes, you could play music from Apple or whatever is on your phone, which sounds nice, but is really rather limited in practicality, especially when you consider what Sonos offers.

It will be a rather interesting Christmas retail season.



Apple is making a gamble. They are trying to target Sonos customers. By what I see on this forum, they are forever expecting more and better. But customers who experience the effortless setup with Sonos and migrate to Homepod will likely face the same issues but will Apple support the network issues they face? I can't get them to fix the issues I am facing at home in an Apple Store. Then they have to setup a support infra for the home network and third part products like routers et al. I use all the Apple products and know they are good but this is home!! Integration is key. Involvement is also key.

If Apple is prying on Sonos customers well good luck on that! I'm a new Sonos user and I bought it purely for its sound quality, wide range of products and integration with MultiRoom capabilities. Voice integration comes as a bonus for me if it does.I suppose most of the users here actually care about music hence they choose this brand to pay a premium. HomePod may be good but I'm sure it can't beat a Play 5 when it comes to sound quality, it also won't have the capacity to add-on and expand the system as we Sonos customers love to do. Personal opinion, I wouldn't jump the ship as Apple won't be able to replace my P5 pairs and Sub or the sound quality any soon 🆒
Based on all I have understood, you will need as many Amazon devices as rooms from where you want to do voice commands. Where different bits of Sonos are in one space where the device can pick up your voice, only one device will be needed.
You're most welcome, although I'm fairly certain, having been involved in my fair share of software development processes that there's no amount of board posting that would have any effect whatsoever on the speed of the team. In fact, often to the opposite, as I often had difficulty keeping my developers from reading the boards. The more posts there were to get them riled up, the slower the development effort, even if I forbad them to post in the boards.

At this point, I think Sonos is quite aware of the pent up desire for the software to be released.

I hope you have a wonderful day as well.
It has been confirmed several times by Sonos personnel that it is being worked at this time and will be released this year. Assuming it is in private beta right now, it means they are going to be especially tight lipped. In other words, the less you hear, the more is going on. Unlike Denon and others who promise things which then never come to fruition, when Sonos announces they are working on something, they deliver.
There was no official statement from Sonos. Anyone who knows anything about any testing going on is under a very strict NDA. So anyone saying anything is guessing, because nobody in the know would risk violating the NDA.

That post is pure speculation and rumor.
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So I have been waiting 1/2 year. I have six Echoes, and approximately 20 SONOS speakers ( big house). I bought my first Sonos roughly 15 years ago ( early adopter ). I also like Apple products. If Apple delivers a voice-controlled high-quality speaker before SONOS, I'm a buyer. Simple. Too bad for SONOS. It's taking too long. I'm a little bit sad.

I read this in Trump's voice. If he is a SONOS user... we found him. But seriously, most people in huge houses or early adapters don't have a bunch of plastic homepods or play1s plugged in like 1970s lamps on every end table. Their houses have in-ceiling/wall speakers or speaker towers on powered SONOS AMPs or receivers with CONNECTs. Early adapters aren't really effected by the new homepods/Play1s..

But all of us who bought our family these stupid Echo Dots for Xmas are saying WTF. We were told Q1! IMO, these Dots aren't that great unless you have a specific use for it. For some its ordering Dominos or filling a Amazon order or asking the weather. My kids don't care about it except "Alexa, tell me a joke." I was supposed to be the only one to have dad jokes.
Just not how I read the Sonos Staff statement. hence why I asked. Maybe Apple is the answer. it usually is

If Apple is the answer, i'd sure like to know the question! Planned obsolescence? Upgrades every two years? Overpriced?
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I think Sonos might have been too ambitious on this idea. They seem to want to be everything to everyone which will usually leave everyone disappointed.

All I want is to say "Alexa, play my 80's rock station on my living room Sonos" and hear her say "ok". If they could have rolled out a few simple skills while they were working on their plan for world domination, they could have avoided a lot of the bad blood.

For those concerned about not being heard over the music, just say "ALEXA, STOP" in a loud voice. She will usually respond to that and stop the music. Then you can give your next request. Just don't scream it too loud or your neighbors might think someone named Alexa is trying to kill you.
The only bad blood I see is from a couple indignant posters. Most are waiting patiently for what was promised to be delivered 6 months from now, as should be expected.
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The analysis by melvimbe is pretty good.

Some code is needed on the local network, and the Smart Devices method used for a few lights will not work for Sonos. Code is needed in the Sonos players themselves, I assume this will be using a similar method to the Spotify-direct stuff. (This is also why my Skill requires a Windows 10 PC).

The "Alexa, stop" would not require "tell Sonos" if Sonos uses the audio-API set, and Sonos was the most-recently used audio skill. However, the current audio-API set has a poor extension model, so cannot add "in the xxx-room" to commands. It appears that the Sonos/Alexa features as described publically require a bunch of new features in the Alexa infrastructure itself, and Amazon are very slow at rolling out such updates.

Also Amazon are very US-only in their Alexa support, which is another problem for Sonos who are much more international-thinking in their products.
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The only bad blood I see is from a couple indignant posters. Most are waiting patiently for what was promised to be delivered 6 months from now, as should be expected.

"Indignant posters" aka frustrated Sonos customers. Frustrated customers voicing their concerns are not the problem, that's called "feedback". It's when we stop caring that it becomes an issue.

Look, I know we'll get it when we get it and customers should just shut up about it, but six more months will make it almost 3 years since it was suggested as a feature. I'm reminding Sonos that I've wanted this feature for years and I still want it. They say they've been working on it for years. The next question becomes, ok, so where is it? Maybe requesting an update is out of line, but I don't think so.

Customers that don't care don't bother posting they just move on and buy something else.
Reminds me of my childhood vacations in the back of the Family Truckster . . .

"Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?"

😃

The "Alexa, stop" would not require "tell Sonos" if Sonos uses the audio-API set, and Sonos was the most-recently used audio skill.


Where does the API reside? Is this within Alexa? I'm kind of surprised that it even exist right now, as I was not aware that Alexa was aware of any other audio then it's own. I was assuming that any APIs on the Alexa side would be rather generic, leaving the 3rd party skill to figure out what it is, or what to do with it. However, I can see where leaving off the "tell" command would prompt Alexa to assume you are referring to the same skill previously. I just figured a typical audio command like 'stop', 'pause', 'play' would be assumed to refer to the Echo's speakers, not a skill.


However, the current audio-API set has a poor extension model, so cannot add "in the xxx-room" to commands. It appears that the Sonos/Alexa features as described publically require a bunch of new features in the Alexa infrastructure itself, and Amazon are very slow at rolling out such updates.


Again, assuming you are talking about an API on the Alexa side, isn't there a generic API that Alexa doesn't try and interpret at all, just simply pass to the 3rd party skill? I don't know why you would need a specific audio-api, accept that it could make life a little easier for the 3rd party skill developers.


"Indignant posters" aka frustrated Sonos customers. Frustrated customers voicing their concerns are not the problem, that's called "feedback". It's when we stop caring that it becomes an issue.


If 'we' means Sonos, then I agree to an extent. How much is up to them. "We ', meaning the other customers in this forum...I don't see why we need to care.

I personally would agree that voicing frustration and concerns is positive. But it's not productive when customers threaten to sell their stuff if demands are not met, repeating inaccurate rumors, generally assuming that this is all easy, and Sonos doesn't care.
I believe that Philips, Logitech, Nest and the others you speak of all have a 3rd party server outside of your internal network. If you can control your lights and things while outside of your network, it almost certainly does. Notice that you cannot access your Sonos system from outside your network.

Philips and the like had good reason to setup those servers, as it was key to functionality to their products. It's way more useful to be able to turn on/off your lights when you aren't there, so it was needed. That was designed before there was any voice control. However, it wasn't as necessary for Sonos, since people don't typically don't listen to music when they aren't there to hear it. So in way, besides lights being easier then audio to control, they had a head start with the integration. Besides that, we don't know how long Philips and Amazon were working on their integration since it was there when Echo was introduced.

Then again, I imagine these smartskills work differently then what I described earlier. Seem to anyway.

When Echo controls without a hub, it's only for some basic things over wifi protocol. Many lights don't use wifi, they use zee wave, zigbee, clear connect, etc, so your Echo doesn't know how to talk to them.
Yep, those of us who've been involved with large scale, multiple vendor systems integration projects know how complex and time consuming they can be. Software Engineering has improved a lot over the years, but any project of this scale and scope takes a huge effort just to get through the beta stages. Then there will be ongoing updates and support for years to come, on top of the existing updates and support. Keeps lots of people employed, for sure.

For those who think it's easy, here are the docs. Have at it! Lol

https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-voice-service/content/avs-api-overview
Don't feed the troll...
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The way most voice control functions today, the device listens for its wake word, then it records the audio that follows, sends it up to the appropriate cloud, where it's translated into a command and sent back down. Without an Internet connection, the assistant is just going to tell you that their service isn't available. This page has a good rundown of how Alexa works.

Once an alarm or timer has been set, it'll still go off without the internet, but the voice control to turn it off wouldn't work.
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I'm pretty sure that 2 play 1s will beat homepod. The sterio seperation and clarity of play 1s is brilliant. The build against obsolescence is where Sonos will win. After care is second to none. Massive Sonos fan and likewise I bet for majority of Sonos owners

as Amazon Prime Day half price big echos so ill just get one of those and sell the Sonos. I dont need wireless to play music. I dont need bridges to play music etc etc Not having bluetooth in all Sonos is stupid. Its a pretty useless expensive speaker if you dont have wireless! Time to get rid tbh. Tired of hearing excuses or actually not hearing anything its arrogant for Sonos to think its OK.

Good idea, because Sonos isn't the solution for someone that has your kind of needs as outlined above. The nice thing for you is that you will get good resale prices on the kit you sell. Sonos holds resale value better than any other brand.
Sonos has never given release dates or detailed progress reports. They release according to testing goals met, not calendar days passed. It has nothing to do with respecting their customers, unless one counts not misleading their customers with estimated release dates that may or may not be hit depending on how the testing goes.

If you want release dates, go buy Denon. They gave release dates for a Windows UWP app, Google casting, and Alexa integration. Of course they missed all three dates, and have yet to deliver on any of these promised items. But hey, they gave dates, so they must respect their customers! ;)

As to updates, there have been several in this and other threads. The Sonos/Alexa integration is currently the top priority, it is being worked on, and it is on schedule for the announced release in 2017.