Troubleshooting Echo Devices

📌 General

Alexa responding, “I’m having trouble understanding…” or something similar.

• Reboot
• This error occurs when the Echo device has trouble contacting the Amazon servers to help decipher and understand what you're saying.
  • This is likely due to poor internet connectivity. Try moving the device to a different location in the home. Verify that the K4Community network is being broadcast in the area and what the signal strength is. The user should be able to see this on their phone’s wifi settings.

Alexa responding, “This Alexa is not currently connect to a system with a K4 user.”

Alexas are associated with K4Community systems and, if there’s no resident associated with the system ID for a given Alexa, the K4Community Voice and Smart Home features will not work as expected. Once a resident is associated with the system, the Alexa will perform as expected.

When a resident is not associated with the system:

• If the user says “Alexa, open K4.” she will respond with “This Alexa is not currently connect to a system with a K4 user.”
• If the user asks Alexa to operate any of the smart home devices in the system, she’ll respond with, “Only the owner can do that on this device.”
• If the user asks for other community information like dining or events, she’ll respond as she would if a consumer asked the same question (i.e. suggesting nearby restaurants or recipes for dinner or recommending events for today)

Please contact K4Connect Support to verify or resolve this issue.

Alexa responding, “There seems to be an issue but we are working on it.”

Reboot the device

Alexa responding, “Sorry, something went wrong.”

Alexa device won’t power on

• Make sure the outlet has power (Is a breaker tripped? Is the outlet controlled by a switch?)
• Swap out the power supply to rule out an issue with it
• Replace (contact K4Connect Support for replacement)

Alexa presenting a red ring when the wake word is spoken

• Make sure the mute button isn’t pressed. If it’s only happening when the wake word is spoken, then the issue isn’t about the mute button in that case. If the device is muted, the red ring will persist even when not being spoken to.
• This indicates that the device is having trouble connecting to the internet. Confirm that the K4Community network is being broadcast in the area and reboot the device.
  • If it still does not connect, you can try moving it to a different location far enough away that the device tries a different access point.
  • If it connects to the other access point, bring in your community’s IT team to see if they can determine why it connects in one location and not the other.
  • If it still refuses to connect, please contact K4Connect Support for a warranty replacement.

✏️ K4Community Content

When asked for community content, Alexa responds with “At home, I could help you with that…”

• Reboot
• Try asking for the content by saying “Alexa ask K4 for [content]” or “Alexa Open K4” and then asking for the content.
  • If Alexa only gives the content when saying “Ask” or “Open” K4, please contact K4Connect Support to alert our team of this error.
• If Alexa doesn’t give the appropriate response regardless of how the request is phrased, it appears the skill is not working as expected. Please contact K4Connect Support for assistance.

Alexa is not reading content published from Team Hub to K4Community Voice

• Not reading Posts?
  • Check to make sure the Post is published to the right:
    • Category
    • Folder
    • Start Date
    • Care Setting
    • Audience
• Not reading Menus?
  • Check to make sure:
    • The menu’s cycle and date indicate content should be read for the current date
    • The Restaurant is being shared with the resident’s Care Setting
      • Click on “Edit Restaurants” to verify Care Setting
    • The menu is being shared with the correct Audience (Voice)

If after checking all of the above Alexa is still not responding as expected, please contact K4Connect Support.

💡 Smart Home

Not operating or exhibiting a significant delay in operating smart-home devices

• Reboot the Alexa device
• Make sure the Home Hub is online
• Make sure Alexa has discovered devices for that room
  • If so, try Forget/Re-discover devices

Alexa responding, “This device is not assigned to a room with a resident.”

• Reboot the Alexa device
• This is the expected response for a device that is assigned to a room that is not associated with any residents
• If the room has a resident assigned, contact K4Connect Support

Alexa operates the “wrong” device

If Alexa is, for instance, turning on the Hall light when the resident asks “Alexa, turn on Kitchen light” this is likely because the naming convention we have in the K4Connect system is different than what the resident uses. If it makes more sense for a light to be called “Kitchen Light” or similar contact K4Connect Support for assistance in renaming the light.