kreg37:
I had this same issue creating virtual switches to run the default routines in SmartThings. I called the switches the name of the routine… “Good Morning” and “Good Night” worked. “Goodbye” and “I’m Back” did not work. I also tried “I’m Home” and “Im Back” and those did not work, either. I tried “Hello” and it started playing “Hello” by Adele instead. I checked the history, and every time it heard me correctly, but did nothing or the wrong thing.
In order to get “I’m Back” and “Goodbye” to work, I ended up renaming them “Apartment” and “Good Bye.” So it’s interesting to note that splitting “Goodbye” into two words fixed that one.
This is a bug that was introduced into echo (nothing to do with smart things) with their April 4 update. They are aware of it and are working on a fix. Basically, echo does hear you correctly but then the echo cloud gets confused about what is a Music request and what is a Home automation request. This has caused some switches which previously worked to stop working. See the following:
April 2016 bug
This appears to be fixed with an Amazon update around May 15, 2016.
if Alexa is giving a chime error tone for commands that have worked for months…
Report the echo failures to Amazon.
Amazon should confirm that an update that they did on April 4 broke part of voice recognition in that echo is having trouble telling that some requests are for home automation rather than for music. It hears the phrase correctly, but then sends it to the wrong processing program.
It turns out this is the reverse of the usual reserved word issue! “Turn on” used to be reserved for home automation devices, but it now works as a music command. ( Try “Alexa, turn on Abbey Road.”).
They are aware of the problem and are working on a fix.
In the meantime, any name which isn’t working can probab…