If your Voice Command System is not Recognizing the word Alexa

Some synthesized voices are not easily recognized by Alexa.  Changing the pronunciation for Alexa in the Pronunciation Editor can resolve this issue. 

Each synthesizer speaks words in its own way. You can add pronunciation exceptions to a dictionary for each synthesizer. The voice synthesizer on the Editor is not the same as the one on the device, and the two will not pronounce words in the same way. Pronunciation changes made on the Editor will not impact the device.

Two voices we have found not to work with the word Alexa are Ivona’s Russell and Nicole. If you are using either of these voices and Alexa you will need to modify the pronunciation of the word Alexa.

To add Alexa to the pronunciation dictionary:

  1. Choose Menu>Settings>Speech Output>Voice>Pronunciations.
  2. Choose Menu>New.
  3. Type the word Alexa in the Pronounce box.
  4. Tap Next.
  5. Type the word’s phonetic spelling, uk LEK sa in the Pronounce As box.
  6. Test the word by choosing Pronounce It.
  7. Choose Done.
  8. Choose Save.