Echo & Alexa Forums

General Category => Amazon Echo Discussion => Topic started by: mrblint on May 29, 2018, 05:54:21 pm

Title: What is this alarm?
Post by: mrblint on May 29, 2018, 05:54:21 pm

For the MP3 that I made of this sound: http://www.filedropper.com/echo-trimmed

I do not know what that sound means, or why it's happening. It has come on twice now, both times when I've been listening to music.  Once was in the middle of the night when I was asleep. It keeps making that sound over and over until I  tell the device to STOP.

Title: Re: What is this alarm?
Post by: Laurel on May 29, 2018, 08:22:09 pm

Can't listen to your audio tape. Have to sign up and I see no evidence of the audio anywhere.

Title: Re: What is this alarm?
Post by: mrblint on May 30, 2018, 08:46:10 am

I've never used that FileDropper site before. Please try this link instead:

https://instaud.io/2fuy

I was able to upload the MP3 to that site and there's a MP3 player on the site.

Title: Re: What is this alarm?
Post by: AlanH on May 30, 2018, 08:48:37 am

That’s the end of a Timer notification. “Alexa, set a timer for 60 seconds” and compare the sounds.

Title: Re: What is this alarm?
Post by: mrblint on May 30, 2018, 12:51:48 pm

Thanks for the info.  The device must have (mis)interpreted something I said as a request to set an alarm since I never used the word "alarm".  At night I usually say "Sleep timer, two hours" or something like that.  The other day I probably said something like "Play XXXX radio station for 15 minutes" and Alexa took "15 minutes" to be an alarm request.

I just now did a little test:

"Alexa, one minute"
-- Hmm, I'm not sure.

"Alexa, for one minute"
-- One minute, starting now.   

And then there was the alarm sound after 60 seconds.  So it's the phrase "for {time}" that Alexa is interpreting as the request to set an alarm.

Title: Re: What is this alarm?
Post by: AlanH on May 30, 2018, 01:03:51 pm

From your description it seems that you’re setting a countdown timer rather than an alarm. Anyway, glad that you got to the bottom of it.

Title: Re: What is this alarm?
Post by: strayfish on May 30, 2018, 01:14:33 pm

What you said sounds - if you're Alexa - like an instruction to set a timer. To set a timer you say, 'Alexa set a [10] minute timer' and that's what happens. When the time's up, you get a sound which will only stop if you say 'Stop', as you discovered. It's not an alarm; to set one of those you say 'Alexa, set an alarm for [2pm]' and you'll get the alarm at that time. Sometimes I'm asked if I mean pm or am if I haven't been precise. Hope you get it tamed!

Title: Re: What is this alarm?
Post by: AlanH on May 30, 2018, 01:19:37 pm

The sound effect in the link is the end of a countdown timer.