Amazon released the announcements feature for Alexa last year initially for Echo devices only. The feature allowed users to broadcast their voice to every Echo device in the house, basically turning them into an intercom system. Amazon has now announced that this feature is being rolled out to every Alexa-enabled device, it’s no longer limited to just the ones that are made by the company itself.
The Announcements feature was different from the existing functionality that already allows Echo users to have two-way conversations between rooms. It’s more for the big announcements that you want everyone in your home to hear. For example, if your children had an Echo device in their rooms, you could announce to all of them at once that the dinner is ready.
This feature is no longer limited to Amazon’s Echo devices only. The company has expanded it to all devices that use Alexa. Users can make announcements by giving commands like “Alexa, announce / tell everyone / … ” and that message will then be pushed out to all the devices on the home network.
Amazon has confirmed that this feature is “available for certified Alexa built-in products to implement and new ones that pass the provided self-tests and certification.” It will broadcast messages to devices like Sonos speakers, Facebook’s Portal, Amazon’s Fire TV Cube, and others.