Can I call other Echo devices in my house?

Question

Recently, Amazon introduced calling between devices with Alexa Calling. With this, you can ask Alexa to call other people who have Echo devices (and have enabled the feature).

Is it possible to tell Alexa to call yourself, so that you could use it as an intercom in the house if both devices are linked to the same account?

Clearly, calling a device on a different account should work, but I couldn't find any authoritative reference confirming that calling between devices on the same account works.

Answer 1

Yes, it's possible.

I did some further digging, because I didn't have two Alexa devices at hand, but found some confirmation on Reddit. The exact mechanics are like so:

• Say "Alexa, call home" to the device that you want to call from
• All other devices connected to the same account ring (like this) and wait for someone to pick up
• When someone says "Alexa, answer", that device picks up the call, and the other devices stop ringing
• You now have an 'intercom' between devices!

The device you're calling from won't ring (obviously), and the support for calling yourself seems good. Here's a video of someone calling themselves, if you want to see it in action.

Answer 2

The solution you posted should work fine, but if not, there's also a workaround posted on lovemyecho.com that would allow you to use your Amazon Echo as a 1-way intercom, though it doesn't use the calling system.

Basically, you have to follow these three steps:

1. Record a custom mp3 file

Basically just record an mp3 of whatever you want to communicate to the people in the other room, ie: "Lunchtime!" or whatever.

2. Upload the mp3 file to Amazon Music

Upload the file in a "Messages Playlist", being sure to use good names: they suggest something like MSG_something or something along those lines.

3. Send the message to an Echo / Dot

Go to the Alexa app and choose the message you want to send from the "Music / Books" area. Having used the MSG_something file names and having the files in the playlist should make them easier to find.

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Obviously, if you want 2-way communication, this would clearly be impracticable, but the advantage of this system is that if there is a message that you frequently want to send, it doesn't require the person on the other end to "pick up the line."