Alexa Announcements will help you save your voice by serving as an intercom

Why raise your voice when you can just get Alexa to do it? If you are the proud owner of an Amazon Echo device, you will soon be privy to the associated smart assistant’s latest parlor trick. It’s called Alexa Announcements, and it will help you make one-way announcements via every Echo device in your household. So whether you’re wrangling your family members for dinner or ensuring that everyone is preparing to get out the door for an early morning, Alexa can help.

Amazon calls it “an easier way to quickly get your family on the same page,” and really, the new feature functions much like an old-school intercom system. You simply say, “Alexa, announce that dinner’s ready” to the nearest Echo device, and from there, Alexa will broadcast, “Dinner’s ready” to every other Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show (and all the other members of the Echo family) in the home. Best of all, it won’t be Alexa’s voice that gives your family members your desired announcement — rather, it will be your voice that is broadcast. Think of it as a great way to save your vocal chords.

You can also use the command, “Alexa, tell everyone…” or “Alexa, broadcast…” for the same end result. You will be able to get your message across to everyone at home without having to hunt down individuals or scream at the top of your lungs.

Per an Amazon spokesperson, this new feature will work automatically across the entire Echo suite of devices, and rollout of the useful new functionality will begin today. Alas, only folks in the U.S. and Canada will have access to this new tool at first, but we imagine that customers in other countries can expect to be graced with this option in the near future. As for compatible devices, that list is extensive and includes the original Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Dot, Echo Show, and Echo Spot. We should point out, however, that Alexa Announcements, unfortunately, will not, at the current juncture, support the mobile Amazon Tap.

The feature should be particularly useful as Amazon claims that millions of customers already own more than one Echo device (given their relatively low price point and plethora of useful features). As it stands, Amazon already announced a number of other multi-device features, including Alexa Calling and Messaging, Multi-Room Music, and the device-to-device intercom system, Drop In.