Amazon Echo devices listen for your voice, but they can also recognize other sounds, too. Using Alexa’s sound detection skills, you can create some useful routines that will trigger when specific noises are detected in your home.
1
Make an Announcement When Your Washing Cycle is Finished
Amazon Echos can recognize several different sounds. One of the most versatile sounds that your Alexa devices can detect is the beeping of appliances. Many of the appliances around your home will emit beeping sounds to indicate that there’s a problem or that a cycle is finished. If you have Alexa devices in the same room as those appliances, you can create routines that will fire whenever the beeping is detected.
In this example, I’ll create a routine that makes an announcement on all of my Alexa devices when beeping is detected in the utility room, which should only occur when the washing cycle is finished.
Open the Alexa app and tap “More” at the bottom of the screen. Tap “Routines” and click the “+” (plus) icon at the top of the screen.
Tap “Add an Event” and select “Sound Detection.” Choose “Beeping Appliance.” Select the Alexa device that you want to listen out for beeping and tap “Next.” In this example, I’ll choose the Echo Dot in my utility room.
Under “Alexa Will,” tap “Add an Action.” You can choose what happens when beeping is detected; in this example, I’ll choose “Announcement” and enter a message that I want to be announced from all my Echo devices when the beeping is heard.
Tap “Next” and choose the devices you want to make the announcement. I’m going to use “All Devices.” Tap “Next” until you’re back on the main screen and tap “Save” to save the routine.
Now when the washing machine beeps at the end of the cycle, the sound should be detected by Alexa, and an announcement made to the whole house. It means you don’t need an Alexa-enabled washing machine to know when your load is done.
You can create similar routines to listen for your dishwasher in the kitchen or to send an alert to your phone if your smoke alarm goes off.
2
Play White Noise When Snoring is Detected
Another sound that Echo devices can recognize is snoring. If you live with someone who snores, you may find that it’s hard to get to sleep once they start sawing logs. If so, you can create a routine that will turn your Echo speaker into a white noise machine when snoring is detected which can hopefully mask the snoring sounds enough to help you get to sleep.
Tap “More” at the bottom of the Alexa app and select “Routines.” Tap the “+” (plus) icon to create a new routine.
Select “Add an Event,” choose “Sound Detection,” and select “Snoring.” Select the device you want to listen out for snoring and tap “Next.”
By default, the routine will be set to only run between 10 pm and 8 am every day. Tap “Change” to edit the times and days that the routine will run. The routine will also run as soon as snoring is first detected. Tap “Change,” select “After Sound Is Detected For,” and choose a time if you only want the white noise to play after snoring has been detected for a set period.
Tap “Add an Action” and select “Music and Podcasts.” Enter the name of a white noise playlist or album and tap “Provider” to select a music provider if you want. Tap “Next” and then “Save.” Choose the device that you want the white noise to play from.
3
Play Soothing Music When A Baby Crying is Detected
If you have young children, they are guaranteed to wake up exactly when you’re enjoying your deepest sleep. Often, they just need soothing and will fall back to sleep again. To save you from getting out of bed, you can create a routine that will play calming music or ambient noise when crying is detected.
Open the Alexa app, tap “More” and select “Routines.” Tap the “+” (plus) icon to create a new routine.
Select “Add an Event” and choose “Sound Detection.” Choose “Baby Crying” and select the Echo device that is in that child’s room.
Tap “Add an Action” and choose “Music & Podcasts.” Enter the name of an album or playlist that you want to play when crying is detected and tap “Provider” if you want to select a specific streaming service. Tap “Next” and then “Save.” Choose the device that you want the soothing music to be played from. In this case, it would be the Echo in the child’s bedroom.
Once your routine has been saved, it will be triggered whenever the sound of a baby crying is detected by your selected device. Soothing music should then start to play from that device.
4
Send an Alert if Coughing Is Detected in a Child’s Bedroom
As well as crying, Echo devices can also detect coughing. If you have older children, you might want to be alerted if they’re coughing a lot during the night. You can set up a routine that will send you a notification every time that coughing is detected by a specific Echo device.
In the Alexa app, tap “More” at the bottom of the screen, and select “Routines.” Tap the “+” (plus) in the top-right corner.
Select “Add an Event,” and choose “Sound Detection.” Select “Cough,” choose the device that you want to listen out for coughing, and tap “Next.”
To get Alexa to only listen during the evening and night, tap “Change” next to “Every Day” and select the days and times that you want the routine to be active. Tap “Add an Action” and select “Send Push Notification.” Enter the message you want to be sent, such as “coughing detected in the bedroom” and tap “Next.” Tap “Save” to create the routine.
When coughing is detected, an alert will be sent to your phone. If it continues, you’ll receive further alerts, at which point you can decide if you need to go and check in on them. If you prefer, you can use the “Start Routine” setting to suppress any notifications until the coughing has been detected for a set period.
5
Get an Alert When Barking Is Detected
Echo devices can also detect the sound of dogs barking. If you have a dog, you can create a routine to send you an alert if Alexa detects the sound of barking.
Open the Alexa app, tap “More,” and select “Routines.” Tap “+” (plus) at the top of the screen.
Select “Add an Event,” and choose “Sound Detection.” Select “Dog Barking,” choose the Echo device that you want to listen out for barking noises, and tap “Next.”
Tap “Add an Action” and select “Send Push Notification.” Enter the message you want to be sent, such as “Buster is barking!” and tap “Next.” Tap “Save” to create the routine.
When barking is detected, a notification will pop up on your phone, even if you’re away from home. You can also use dog barking to trigger other actions, such as turning out your outside lights to scare away intruders if barking is detected at night.
6
Make an Announcement if Running Water Is Heard for More Than Five Minutes
The final sound that Alexa is currently able to detect is running water. This can be useful if you have an Echo device in the kitchen, as it can alert you if you leave a tap running for too long.
Open the Alexa app, tap the “More” tab, and select “Routines.” Tap the “+” (plus) icon in the top-right corner.
Select “Add an Event” and tap “Sound Detection.” Choose “Water Sounds,” and select the Echo device that you want to listen for the sound of water.
Tap “Change” next to “Start Routine” and select “After Sound is Detected For.” Select the amount of time that you want the sound to be detected for before the routine is triggered.
Tap “Add an Action” and select “Announcement.” Enter the message you want to announce, such as “The water has been running in the kitchen for five minutes.” Tap “Next” and select the Echo device or devices that you want to use to make the announcement. Tap “Save,” and your routine is created.
Whenever the sound of running water is detected for more than five minutes, your selected Echo devices will read out your announcement.
Echo devices are reasonably priced, to the point that you may have multiple Amazon Echos around your home. If you do, you can leverage their sound detection capabilities to have them keep an ear out for anything happening in your home. While the sounds that Alexa can detect are limited, there is still a lot of use you can get out of the six options available.
Feeling uneasy about Amazon’s voice assistant listening to you all the time? Find out what Alexa knows about you (and delete your data).