Amazon Echo Club

And now more confusion, brought to you by Amazon.com:

As I was typing the last post I got an update message on my iPad that there was an update available to install for the Alexa app. I installed it and here is what it states: See attached image. Notice that the text seems to indicate that the Video calling and Drop In calling are available via an iPhone, no mention of them working on an iPad. So why they include the Drop In option in the Alexa app on the iPad is anyone's guess.

The Drop In option was already available before this update to the app. So no telling how long ago it became an option.

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by jswinden

The Drop In option appears in my Alexa app on my non-cellular iPad Pro 9.7. So apparently it can show up on devices other than phones. I don't think the actual Intercom feature will work on my iPad though, just to add to the confusion. "Houston, we have a problem...."

Now that you mention it, Drop-In settings are available in the Alexa app installed on my Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet. I just edited my earlier post to include that.

How absurd that Drop-In settings can be accessed on phones/tablets without calling capability but not in the Alexa app on Amazon's own Fire tablets!

[Catlady]

Thanks, folks; since it seems like the Alexa app on the Fire tablet is a different critter from the one on Android and Apple devices, I guess I don't need to worry about Drop In being on. But Amazon's logic seems to be getting weirder and weirder!

According to this Amazon Support page, https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo..._i=16713667011, only the Echo, Dot gen 1, Dot gen 2, and Echo Show can do Drop In calling. However, the Alexa update info says it will work with my iPhone 7. I wonder if Jeff even knows?

[wodin]

Never mind.

[tubemonkey]

The Echo Show is now shipping. If you pre-ordered one, it should arrive today.

Who ordered one?

[Keslynn]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Thanks, folks; since it seems like the Alexa app on the Fire tablet is a different critter from the one on Android and Apple devices, I guess I don't need to worry about Drop In being on. But Amazon's logic seems to be getting weirder and weirder!

It's not related to the Alexa app or the hardware the Alexa app is installed on. Drop-in corresponds to the Echo device. I have 3 Dots and a Fire tablet. The Drop-In setting only appeared in the Alexa app settings for my Dots and not the Fire tablet (or my Dash).

Edited for clarity.

[wodin]

I renamed all of my Echos (except the one that's currently offline) to room names, set them all to drop-in "Only my household" and went home and told the Living room Echo to call the bedroom; and she did! Both Echos started to softly chime and showed a flashing green ring. When Wifey said "Alexa Answer" they stopped chiming, the green ring went solid and we could talk to each other. Since the two echos are within audible range from each other I could tell there was a slight (500 mili-seconds or so) delay, but that's about the same as cell phones or the Nucleus intercom system.

Getting her to stop intercoming (is that a word?) was a bit of a chore as she didn't seem to listen to the wake word, and I had to push the button. And I haven't experimented with connecting to my Alexa app on my cell phone. I don't see a way to initiate a call from the app.

Originally Posted by wodin

I renamed all of my Echos (except tho one that's currently offline) to room names, set them all to drop-in "Only my household" and went home and told the Living room Echo to call the bedroom; and she did! Both Echos started to softly chime and showed a flashing green ring. When Wifey said "Alexa Answer" they stopped chiming, the green ring went solid and we could talk to each other. Since the two echos are within audible range from each other I could tell there was a slight (500 mili-seconds or so) delay, but that's about the same as cell phones or the Nucleus intercom system.

Getting her to stop intercoming (is that a word?) was a bit of a chore as she didn't seem to listen to the wake word, and I had to push the button. And I haven't experimented with connecting to my Alexa app on my cell phone. I don't see a way to initiate a call from the app.

I'm assuming you signed up for Calling and Messaging. That seems to be a prerequisite.

I have no idea how all this stuff will work, but it wouldn't make any sense to me for the Intercom feature to work with phones. The Intercom should only be for devices within the home, though Amazon did allow friends and family and friends of friends and family to drop in on you unannounced. Very creepy. Now Calling and Messaging does make sense to work with phones. However, it is not yet clear what Amazon actually allows. We should start to find out as Shows arrive and more people try to set up Intercom capability.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I'm assuming you signed up for Calling and Messaging. That seems to be a prerequisite.

I have no idea how all this stuff will work, but it wouldn't make any sense to me for the Intercom feature to work with phones. The Intercom should only be for devices within the home, though Amazon did allow friends and family and friends of friends and family to drop in on you unannounced. Very creepy. Now Calling and Messaging does make sense to work with phones. However, it is not yet clear what Amazon actually allows. We should start to find out as Shows arrive and more people try to set up Intercom capability.

I guess I must have, back when Calling and Messaging was first announced (without the intercom feature) I experimented a little with it, found that it could not distinguish between Echos within a single account (intercom feature), whined to Jeff's bozos about wanting an intercom and forgot about it. I assume that during those experiments I must have somehow signed up for it, though I don't explicitly remember doing that.

The literature explicitly says that the intercom should work with the Alexa app, and that would be useful for me as it would enable video calling between my phone and any Echo Shows I might decide to buy, but at this point I don't see how that would work.

At any rate, Jeff's kids came through and gave me an intercom, which is the main feature I wanted. Have you checked the prices of dedicated intercom systems lately?

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by wodin

I renamed all of my Echos (except the one that's currently offline) to room names, set them all to drop-in "Only my household" and went home and told the Living room Echo to call the bedroom; and she did! Both Echos started to softly chime and showed a flashing green ring. When Wifey said "Alexa Answer" they stopped chiming, the green ring went solid and we could talk to each other. Since the two echos are within audible range from each other I could tell there was a slight (500 mili-seconds or so) delay, but that's about the same as cell phones or the Nucleus intercom system.

Getting her to stop intercoming (is that a word?) was a bit of a chore as she didn't seem to listen to the wake word, and I had to push the button. And I haven't experimented with connecting to my Alexa app on my cell phone. I don't see a way to initiate a call from the app.

I'm so glad it's working for you!

Amazon and their literature are not always accurate. It wouldn't be the first time they advertised a new device and said it would have certain features, but some of those features didn't show up for a very long time, if at all. Having worked in the software industry for 25+ years before retiring, I often witnessed promised features getting axed at the last moment due to various reasons, however the marketing people were seldom on the same page as the developers, so marketing ads often listed features that did not make it into that development cycle. Marketing people also invented features from time to time, and we never understood why they did so nor why corporate HQ would let them get away with that.

We have already seen discrepancies in the various literature released by Amazon concerning the Drop In stuff. One source states phones are compatible with it, another source says only the Echo, Dot gens 1 & 2, and the new Show are compatible. So even within Amazon there seems to be some confusion.

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

The Echo Show is now shipping. If you pre-ordered one, it should arrive today.

Who ordered one?

I didn't.

I think it's an interesting device, though. If it comes down in price and I get a cell phone someday (which is necessary to set up the Show!), I may consider it. That's not likely to happen anytime soon, however.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Keslynn

It's not related to the Alexa app or the hardware the Alexa app is installed on. Drop-in corresponds to the Echo device. I have 3 Dots and a Fire tablet. The Drop-In setting only appeared in the Alexa app settings for my Dots and not the Fire tablet (or my Dash).

Edited for clarity.

Right, I get that Drop-In isn't a function of the Fire tablet, but the Alexa app as it is installed on the Fire tablet doesn't offer me the Drop-In option in the section for the Dot settings.

[wodin]

Well, I found the Conversation Icon (the balloon at the bottom) in the Alexa app, but I'll Be darned if I can find the Drop In bar.

It lets me see people on my contact list who have Calling and Messaging, but it doesn't show me a list of my devices. I didn't try calling anyone as both of the contacts listed are co-workers, and I didn't want to inadvertently disturb them.