Only one will carry out your command if you have two Echo devices in the same room.
Amazon’s algorithm can determine if the command came from the same person, and the two devices will coordinate who executes it.
So, if you asked these two devices to play different music, but both heard the command, only one command would be executed.
Why is this happening? I will explain it later, and I will also provide some more interesting information about owning several Echo devices in one room.
Why is it that only one Echo works?
Amazon created a system that it calls Echo Spatial Reception or ESP.
If two devices hear the same command, only one will respond.
Most likely, it is the device closest to the speaker.
It means that only one speaker will work at any given time if they are within range of each other.
Why did Amazon do this? They did this because the primary function of Alexa is to execute commands, not as a speaker.
The only reason you need several devices is that you do not want to go to another part of the house to make Alexa do something.
In this regard, I can say that it makes no sense to get several Amazon Echo devices and put them in the same room unless the room is really huge.
How many Alexa devices can you have on one account?
There is no limit to the number of Echo devices you can have in your account.
Amazon did not set a limit on this. Why would they?
Amazon wants to allow you to have several Echo devices in your house.
As such, you can have one in the kitchen, living room, dining room, one for each bedroom, and even have some in your garage or work area.
If you have more than one Echo device, the best thing to do is connect them to one Amazon account.
This way, only one profile works, and they will work as a single unit, no matter how many of them are in your house.
How do I set up two Alexas in one house?
If you set up two Echo devices in your house, the process is the same.
Launch the Alexa app, and then add the new device to it.
You can do this by tapping the devices icon at the bottom of the page.
Another option is to tap the “+” sign at the top right of the screen.
A better question you should ask yourself is where to put the new device.
Obviously, you want to put this in a room where the other Echo device can no longer hear you.
If what you mean is to have two different Alexas working separately, what you must do is create two separate Amazon accounts.
After doing this, you will set up one Echo device on one account and another on the other Amazon account.
For example, the Echo device in the kitchen is connected to your Amazon Account A.
The other Echo device inside the bedroom, however, is connected to Amazon Account B.
In this case, the two devices can perform commands separately even if they heard the same command.
You can play music in the kitchen, and you can also play music in the bedroom—these two devices will play different content because they are connected to different accounts.
Can Alexa call another Alexa in the same house?
It is only possible if the two devices are independent of each other, which I described earlier.
In this case, the two Echo devices will treat each other like they belong to different houses.
If you set up your devices like this, you can use the Echo device from the bedroom to call the people downstairs.
However, if you do this, you are only complicating things.
There is a way to set up Echo devices in the same house as an intercom system.
You can do this with only one Amazon account if you like.
To do it, you must enable the Drop-In feature of the system.
You can enable this from the Alexa App and choose which devices can participate.
Here are the steps to do this:
- Launch the Alexa app on your phone
- Tap DEVICES
- Tap the name of the Echo device
- Tap SETTINGS
- Scroll down until you find COMMUNICATION
- Tap DROP IN
No, choose the devices that you can drop into.
From here, all you have to do is talk to one Echo dot and say, “Alexa, drop in on [mention name of the other Echo].”
Once you do this, you can now speak, and the other Echo will function as a speaker.
How do I know if someone is dropping in on my Alexa?
Your Alexa will make a beep and then turn the green light on if someone is listening to you.
The problem is that once you allow a device to drop in, Alexa will no longer ask for permission if this device drops in again.
So, what if you did not hear the beep or did not see the green light?
If this happens, then the other person can listen in to you.
The two things you can do are:
- Do not enable drop-in at all
- Turn off the Echo microphone if not in use
I prefer the first one. There really is no reason for you to use Echo or Alexa as a way to communicate.
You can use the phone to do it in many ways. Just use Facebook or Viber or something, not Alexa.
Summary
You can have as many Echo devices as much as you want.
Only one will execute the command if you set them all up under one account name.
If you want the devices to be independent of each other, you should create different Amazon accounts.
From here, you can connect these accounts independently to different Echo devices.