I leave mine off most of the time, but sometimes it’s useful.
(I keep my button-activated rather than word-activated, which means I don’t have to proceed commands with “Alexa” because I already have its attention)
I know people named Alexa and also named Alexis, Alexandra, and similar names. What in the world are they supposed to do if they want this capability in their house? (People don’t call themselves by name, generally, but people who live with them do.)
Read the first reply. You can change the wake word to “echo,” “computer,” or “Amazon.”
Alexa does a pretty good job out of the box at recognizing voices and what they are saying (presumably the system is constantly refining itself).
That said, if you are having trouble getting it to recognize you, then you can train it to your voice: How to set up Amazon Alexa Voice Profiles on an Echo device | Digital Trends
Personally, I often find that people who say it does not understand them are not speaking in a clear, well modulated voice and are more like, “Grumble, grumble, grumble, Alexa, grumble, something, grumble” and then complain it didn’t hear them.
It’s not as good as in Star Trek where the crew just says shit and the computer figures out if they are talking to it and context and lots of stuff. You need to actively address the machine, clearly, or it will miss a lot.
Grin! And the doors knew not to open when you approached them, but didn’t actually want to pass through them just yet. Damn clever doors!
I have the Samuel L. Jackson “skill” activated on my Alexa, but it doesn’t make “Sam” or “Samuel” a wake word. You have to still say, “Alexa, ask Sam to tell me a joke.” There are only certain things that Sam is able to do/say, so it’s not a complete replacement for Alexa’s voice or commands.