bmercier

Instead of exposing the sensor directly, you can expose a variable that is set by a program that reacts to your sensor state change. Benoit

Could it be that the device is an ISY scene? Benoit

I have an Echo show, and an older echo similar to this one, but black. Benoit

I do not know the cause. All I know is there is a user who contacted Amazon support, and when they tried it, he found out it was now working. So I don't know if just waiting is sufficient, or not. If it does not appear within 1-2 days, I would try Amazon support. Benoit

ISY Portal has no direct support for ELK outputs. This needs to be controlled by an intermediate, such as controlling a program, or a state variable that triggers a program. Benoit

The limit is per "sensor". If you reuse the same state variable for multiple sensors, using a different motion detected value (or Contact closed value), then it's a different sensor for Alexa. So, no need to have multiple variables. I would "reset" the variable shortly after to a value such as 0, which would mean no alert (Provided that you don't have a sensor with motion detected value=0). If you have another program changing the value, it's the same as if it was changed to 0 for that original sensor. You can think of sensors as binary. They are active if the value is the specified one, or they are inactive for any other value. But there is a cavest: If your routine is only triggered by the motion or contact closed event, your good. If your routine is triggered by the No motion, or Contact open, then I believe it will be triggered multiple times if the value changes to different "inactive" values. Benoit Benoit

Some have it working in Canada, including myself. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Try ‘hallway’ I have not tried many, but this one did Benoit Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Please try again. Now you should be able to turn off a scene in a routine, as long as the percentage is < 50%. (Recommended is 1%) Let me explain what is happening. Interestingly, when you have a scene in a routine, there are 2 commands sent in the sequence below: When turning On: Activate Scene, then Set Brightness. When turning Off: Set Brightness, then Deactivate Scene. So, when turning off, a Set Brightness was sent, and the minimum value you could choose was 1%. Because this is a scene, the brightness can't really be set, so any value >0 had the effect of turning on the scene. So, the whole process turned on the scene, then turned it off. When you turned on a scene in a routine, the above had the effect of turning on the scene twice, which was not noticeable. The Set Brightness for a scene has been changed such that any value>50 will turn on the scene, and <50 turn it off. Benoit

Thanks, I tried it and I'm able to reproduce the problem. Let me find a solution. Benoit

When you manually "Play routine", you still see the problem? When you try the routine without turning off the scene, your lights are unchanged, correct? When you try the routine with only the scene in it., you still have the problem? Perhaps you have another good night routine, turning on the scene? Could you try the same routine, but have it turn on the scene instead of having it turn off. Just in case there is an Alexa but which would turn it on first. After trying all of this, please PM me your UUID and scene address, I will check the logs, just to make sure the scene is only turned off. I can't see why Alexa would turn it on first, but I would check. Benoit

It works in Canada. Make sure you have a sensor configured, and wait a few hours. Ref: Benoit

Turning off the insteon scene from an Alexa routine is identical to turning off the scene from the admin console, web interface or Agave. Is it possible that you have something else being triggered by having the TV or other device being turned off? I would first try the routine, by editing the routine, and using "Play routine". This is just in case Alexa does something else related to the goodnight. I would try the routine, without turning off the scene. I would try the routine, with only the scene in it. Benoit

For those who may have difficulties with getting Alexa routines to work, the following FAQ may help you: Benoit

Following the vast interest in Echo routines, I have prepared the following FAQ. What are Alexa routines and how can I use them to make my ISY talk See the wiki which explains how: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY_Portal_Amazon_Echo_Integration_V3#ISY_Can_Talk_To_You.21_.28Alexa_Routines.29 Motion or contact Sensors not found in the Alexa app Sensors can be found in the Alexa app, under Smart Home | Devices. Whenever you make changes to your spokens, please remember to have Alexa discover the devices. You can just ask "Alexa, discover my devices". In the Alexa app, you can "Swipe down" to refresh the list of devices so it includes those newly discovered. You should be able to view the status of the motion or contact sensor in real-time using the Alexa app. If you do, your spoken is correctly configured and the discovery worked. When I create a routine, I click "When this happens" but I can't find my devices When clicking "When this happens", you should see "Voice", "Schedule" and "Device". If you don't see "Devices", make sure you see at least one sensor in Smart Home | Device. If you can see your device in the Alexa app, please wait a few hours. It appears that the option Routines | When this happens | Device is shown only if you do have sensors, and it may take a few hours to show. I can create a routine, but it does not get triggered First make sure that the routine works. Click on the routine, then the 3 vertical dots on the upper right, and select "Play Routine". A common mistake is to have the wrong echo talk. Try to delete the routine & re-create it. If you change the type of a device, let's say from motion sensor to contact sensor, and you have used it in a routine, the routine will stop working. Disable the skill and re-enable it. Make sure to choose the "ISY Optimized for Smart Home V3". Some users are still using the V2 skill, and all of this will not work with V2. Open the Admin console, and watch the device changing state. If you don't see it changing in the admin console, Alexa won't see that state change either. You may have a ZWave or Insteon network issue. Why is there is a delay before the routine is triggered A delay of up to 30 seconds may be normal. As per Amazon specifications, state changes cannot be more frequent than every 30 seconds. All of the contact and motion sensors state changes are debounced at an interval of 30 seconds. Typically, if there was no activity on this device for the last 30 seconds or more, the change will be detected by Alexa within 1-2 seconds. But, if let's say a contact sensor goes from closed -> open -> closed in a short amount of time, the state will become open almost immediately, but will close after 30 seconds (if it was not re-opened in the mean time). When a routine turns off a scene, the scene temporarily turn on for a brief moment, then turns off When you configure your scene to turn off in the routine, you have to specify a percentage. This percentage has to be < 50%. Alexa wants to set the scene to that percentage before turning it off, and any value above 50% has the effect of turning on the scene. Can I ask Alexa the state of my sensor? An Alexa contact sensor can be queried this way: Alexa, is <device> opened? Alexa, is <device> closed? This works for ISY devices, ELK zones, or state variables. If Alexa responds with an error message, please try a different spoken. Alexa is a bit picky on the spoken used, especially for querying the contact sensor. For motion sensors, it seems that there is no way to query by voice. You can however query the state in the Alexa app. When I try to add a new Alexa sensor in ISY Portal, I get the error "This item already has a spoken" An ISY Device can only be added once to the list. If you want to have a device be exposed both as a light AND a sensor, so that you can trigger a routine, here's 2 ways: Method 1: Use a scene Expose the device as a motion or contact sensor Create a new scene in the Admin console, and expose it as a light. The drawback to this method is that the scene does not have a state which can be queried in the Alexa app Method 2: Use a program + State Variable Expose the device as a light Create a state variable. We will have it follow the state of the device Create a program: If device is not off, set variable to 1, else set variable to 0 Expose the state variable as a motion sensor. In this example, the motion detected value would be 1. On ISY Portal, when I want to add a variable, I get the error "Variables are not available" This normally means that you have no state variables on your ISY. Please open the Admin console, go to Programs | Variables | State, and create a variable To be useful, you will also need programs that sets this variable as needed. My contact sensor shows as Open when it is in fact Close. Normally, Contact sensors status will be "On" when the contact is closed, and Off when open. Some contact sensors works the opposite way. Here's how you can reverse the state: Create a state variable. Create a program: If contact is closed , set variable to 1, else set variable to 0 Expose the state variable as a contact sensor and set the Contact closed value to 1. Testing with state variables State variables can be exposed as Alexa motion or contact sensors. Whenever the variable is set to a specific value, the motion sensor will be triggered, or the contact will be closed. To facilitate testing, you can manually set the state variable to a value from a URL Syntax: http://<your isy IP>/rest/vars/set/2/<variable address>/<value> NOTE: The "2" means that we are setting a state variable. Example: http://myisy.home/rest/vars/set/2/10/1 will set the state variable 10 to the value 1. Can I have routines speak to multiple echos? When you create a routine, you can add an action "Alexa says". This works but for a single echo. If you want to speak to multiple echos, one option you have is to send an announcement. In the routine Action, choose Messaging | Send announcement. You can then specify want to say, and to which echo. I added my Echo to an Alexa group. Now I get errors such as "a few things share that name, which one did you want? Several users have reported this issue. The solution is to remove the Echo from your accounr, and re-add it. Ref: https://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/24967-alexa-groups-not-working-for-all-devices/?do=findComment&amp;comment=249221 This post will be updated as we get additional questions.

This will work. However, when using a scene, the state of the scene cannot be queried. A better alternative is to leave the device as a light, then use a program to set a state variable exposed as an Alexa motion (or contact) sensor. Benoit

Please try a different a different naming. Alexa is a bit picky. Benoit Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, if the device is a contact sensor. It can be queried this way: Alexa, is <contact sensor spoken> open? Alexa, is <contact sensor spoken> close? Some spokens are not easily recognized by Alexa. If you see she has trouble understanding that, try changing the spoken. Benoit

This is opposite of most contact sensor. I can propose the following work-arounds: Expose them as motion sensor: 255 (open) would be shown as detected (think of it as detected it is open). You can reverse the logic by using a program and state variable. If sensor==0, set state variable to 1, else 0. Expose that state variable as a contact sensor, with a Contact closed value=1. Benoit

This means the ISY device you are adding has already been added. Once an ISY device has been added, it cannot be re-added under another spoken. Use the search at the top-right to search for your ISY device (Descrioption or address). Benoit

Hello, Could you check the output of: http://<your isy>/rest/nodes/<sensor address> ? What is the ST status when open? What is the ST status when close? Benoit

Thanks for reporting this problem. It's now fixed. Benoit

Hello everyone, The maintenance is completed. Benoit

Interesting, this is a node server node. Could you try with a state variable or a regular light, exposed as a motion or contact sensor? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are you able to find the sensor in the devices and query the status? Benoit Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk