Alexa Announcements comes to the UK: Intercom feature lets you broadcast messages to every Echo in your home

Amazon has started rolling out its broadcast feature to Alexa devices in the UK, three weeks after the feature launched in the US.

 Called Alexa Announcements, the feature acts like a one-way intercom and lets you send the same voice message to all of your Echo devices at once. You can alert your family it’s time for dinner, for example, or give them a five-minute warning when about to leave the house. 

You record the message once and it will then play out simultaneously to any device on the same network. 

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To use the tool, say: “Alexa, announce that dinner is ready,” and “Dinner is ready” will be played. You can also say, “Alexa, tell everyone…” to make an announcement and the last part of the sentence, after the word “everyone” will be played in your voice.  

Google Home already offers a similar feature called Broadcast, which uses Google Assistant to create a custom message before sending this message to all of your Home speakers. To activate, say “broadcast”, “shout”, “tell everyone” or “announce” followed by your message. This feature also lets you send broadcasts from Google Assistant on your phone even when you’re out of the home. Learn more about Google Assistant here. 

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Alexa Announcements builds on the recent addition of other multi-device features including Alexa Calling & Messaging, Drop In, and Multi-Room Music. It specifically builds on the two-way intercom feature released last summer which lets you speak to individual Echo devices and have a person reply. This can be used either while you’re in the home or when you’re out.