Having issues with Alexa Helper

[JDRoberts]

You may have run into an Amazon reserved word. The first thing to do is see if the echo will accept that word at all, independent of SmartThings. The easiest way to do that is just to create a new group using the Amazon app ( not the smartthings app) and give it the name you want to use and put any of your existing working devices into that group. (A device can belong to more than one group so there’s no problem with your existing set up.)

If you still get the chime when you then try to use that phrase, it’s an Amazon issue. Report it to their support, but you may just have to work around it.

Echo Naming Quirks

Please add more as you find them. echo does not do well with device names that include numbers, like "kitchen 1." If you have a device with a name like this, and you don’t want to change it because you like having that name for your smartthings dashboard, then just put the device into an echo group of one and give it a group name that echo does like. Echo does not like the group name “everything.” Some possible alternatives include “house” or “all devices” Echo will always accept “turn on” or “switch on.” Iris has a list of 20 “basic” command formats for switches and thermostats that echo should always accept (although using a rigid command format sort of defeats the purpose of having echo’s natural language skills). But at least you could use these to test a particular prob…

If on the other hand just setting up an echo group with that name works fine, then it’s something in the SmartThings integration. So check to make sure that you did authorize that device using the SmartThings app, and that you asked echo to discover new devices after you did the authorization. If it still doesn’t work then, report it to SmartThings support.

Tagging @MichaelS