Sometimes when I’m at a coffee shop or waiting inside a restaurant for a friend to arrive, I hear my name, and look around for the source. Not because I’m hearing voices, but because like-sounding words such as “ready” or “Ed” sound a lot like my name. “Flat white ready at the bar for Ed.” Wouldn't it be great if we could verify what we hear as quickly as new technology?

Today we’re excited to introduce Cloud-Based Wake Word Verification, a new feature that improves “Alexa” wake word accuracy on AVS products by identifying and reducing false wakes caused by like-sounding words. With this update, the wake word engine (WWE) on the device handles the initial detection of “Alexa”, and then a secondary cloud-based check verifies the utterance. If a false wake word is detected, the verification process directs the device to close the audio stream and turn off the LED indicator.

You’ll need to make some changes to your device to take advantage of Cloud-Based Wake Word Verification, but we believe this update will improve customer experience on any AVS device. We’ve created technical resources to help you upgrade your product to take advantage of the new feature:

• Enabling Cloud-Based Wake Word Verification—How to quickly upgrade your product to enable Cloud-Based Wake Word Verification
• Streaming Requirements—Learn what audio stream requirements are needed for Cloud-Based Wake Word Verification.

ecobee4 Leverages Cloud-Based Wake Word Verification

The recently released ecobee4 is more than a smart thermostat. With built-in AVS, the device can listen and respond to voice commands, enabling customers to adjust the temperature, set a timer, hear the news, and more. The ecobee4 is also the first generally available product that takes advantage of Cloud-Based Wake Word Verification, providing customers with improved “Alexa” wake word accuracy and a better user experience.

Buy the ecobee4 on Amazon.com now »

Learn more about AVS

As an AVS developer, you can build products with access to Alexa’s growing list of capabilities and international availability through our regular API updates, feature launches, and from the thousands of Alexa skills contributed by our active developer community. Best of all, AVS is free to use. Learn how AVS can add rich-powered experiences to your connected products.

Have questions? We’re here to help. Visit us on the AVS Forum or Alexa GitHub to speak with one of our experts.