Echo & Alexa Forums

General Category => Amazon Echo Discussion => Topic started by: GrahamMackie on November 23, 2020, 04:01:28 pm

Title: How do I keep an Echo awake
Post by: GrahamMackie on November 23, 2020, 04:01:28 pm
I want to use an Echo as a speaker for my PC for video calls.  I can connect using Bluetooth and it all works fine however the Echo seems to go to sleep after a period of time and when it gets a sound from the PC it precedes it with 'connected to Graham PC' or something similar before playing the sound.

This means that when I get an e-mail during the night I get the Alexa voice heralding the beep.

I could turn the PC volume off when I go to bed but is there a way to keep the Echo permanently awake ?  I have 2nd, 3rd and 4th Gen Echo's about the house so could use anyone if it matters.

regards
Title: Re: How do I keep an Echo awake
Post by: renegade600 on November 24, 2020, 09:53:48 am
it's not the echo, it is your pc that is disconnecting from the echo.  it could be because of your power management setting.   when your computer powers down because of sleep, hibernation or whatever, it disconnects everything.  I am not sure if there is anything you can do about that.  If you are running win10, try installing the alexa app from the microsoft store and see if it works better. 
Title: Re: How do I keep an Echo awake
Post by: GrahamMackie on November 24, 2020, 01:00:22 pm
Hi thanks for the advice.  I had already set the PC up to sleep 'never' and run it on a performance power plan to try and keep everythign alive - although there doesn't seem to be a setting for Bluetooth.  I have given up and connected a 4th gen device via a 3.5mm jack cable and that seems to do the job - although the 4th gen is overkill for video calls :)
Title: Re: How do I keep an Echo awake
Post by: renegade600 on November 24, 2020, 03:10:04 pm
Something to consider, there are utilities out there that will act like a mouse and will keep the computer active.   I used to use one at work until IT decided it was a security risk.  Wish I could remember the name but a simple search will find different ones. 

also a co-worker plays a cd with the sound off in order to keep the computer active