Tim McDermott

I, too would like to chime in with my thanks for UDI's efforts in integrating with Alexa. I can remember when Amazon first announced the Echo to Prime members. I immediately wrote Michel to encourage him to work with Amazon to coordinate a cloud-to-cloud voice control solution for ISY. He is to be commended for showing the foresight to place a priority on this development effort. I couldn't have hoped for a better outcome. I feel that integration has cemented ISYs' place in the crowded Hub market. We have seen hubs come and go, many with considerably higher capitalization. My ISY has proved to be a very smart investment. Thanks again, Michel.

I, too appear to have this issue, but my system has considerably fewer Insteon devices. I have a keypadlinc who's built-in switch used to work, but since reinstalling I am unable to get it to work with Echo despite it being completely recognized and functional through ISY. This is also the case with an Insteon thermostat. I'd given up trying to resolve, but am tired of the workarounds I must resort to. Perhaps others will have some suggestions. I, too appear to have this issue, but my system has considerably fewer Insteon devices. I have a keypadlinc who's built-in switch used to work, but since reinstalling I am unable to get it to work with Echo despite it being completely recognized and functional through ISY. This is also the case with an Insteon thermostat. I'd given up trying to resolve, but am tired of the workarounds I must resort to. Perhaps others will have some suggestions.

Matin,I too would like to chime in with thanks. Graphical buttons (

Outlander, just restart your Dash and you will see an obituary statement displayed at the bottom of the screen. Dash has been a good companion these past few years. I will miss them.

Seemingly more on-topic, I have not resisted the Echo Show. I ordered a two-pack and am anxiously awaiting delivery. Of particular interest to me is the supposed integration with Netgear's Arlo (and Ring's) cameras. The reason I say supposed is neither company appears to be aware of Amazon's marketing prominently touting this compatibility. By some cosmic convergence, the release date of the Show devices coincides with the sundown for Sony's Dash Internet devices, two of which I have enjoyed for years. The Show does most everything my Dashes do with the addition of Alexa functionality and the camera compatibility. I'll post a review here once I've had a chance to evaluate.

Thanks for the replies, guys. Sorry for my apparent duplicate posts, but I somehow lost track of the first and therefore reposted. Cheers, Tim

With regards to the "Unlock" command in the custom skill, should one disable the custom skill, or if it were to go away, is there existing or are there plans for a PIN-constrained Unlock command? Thanks, Tim

I frequently use the unlock command as my circumstances are not compromised with it, however, with the prospect of it going away, I must ask: is there currently, or are there plans for an unlock command whose prompt would include a PIN or the like? I

Benoit, What is driving my questions is actually my concern for the fate of the ISY custom skill. Is it, and its (admittedly few) unique commands slated to go away?

Benoit, Thanks for the response regarding the (new?) lock status query. Less specifically, can you speak to the future of the "Status" command in the skill. Will it be going away and will there be an equivalent replacement? I find it useful to check up on important automations without having to resort to a GUI.

I make frequent use of the "status" command as in "Alexa,ask ISY for status of front door." I get the reassuring response "Front door is locked." Are anticipated changes going to prevent this exchange?

I have a couple of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jabra-Solemate-Mini-Portable-Wireless-Bluetooth-Speaker-Blue-Sealed-NEW-/371595583040?hash=item5684d29e40:g:PfIAAOSw8RJXB~t5 One of which I use with my Dot. The are well rated, with a lot of bang for the buck.They have both Bluetooth and a line-in with a storable cable. They originally sold at Best Buys for $200; I got a NIB for $40.

I, too rely upon the ISY skill without problem for my Schlage lockset. The only downside, of course is having to invoke "IZZY."

I, too have noticed a bunch of oddly named devices in my lineup. I also deleted them and they have not yet returned. I had thought at first that they were misinterpretations of verbal commands, but upon further consideration, I realized that shouldn't have created additional devices. I, too would be interested in knowing where they came from and how to prevent them from recurring.

UDI really needs to remove references to spokens with regards to the notes field. This has continued to cause confusion for some time now.

I'm not sure if this is related to your issue, but I've been having alarm problems. In speaking with Echo Support (remarkably prompt callback), they tell me that they have problems with times and dates with daylight savings time change approaching. Specifically, when I set alarms,, the verbal confirmation reflects my request, but when subsequently requesting status of alarms, the time of the alarm reported is an hour earlier. Although it makes no sense to me that there are problems this far out from DLST change, I was assured that this was a perennial problem they have yet to resolve, but that the alarm would actually occur at the originally requested time. Go figure.

Given it's out-of-stock status and prices of up to $300 (!?!) on eBay, my thoughts on buying Dots speculatively seem particularly prescient. But that I had acted upon them. Mind you, I don't know why someone would forgo the better value of an Echo for considerably less cost unless they were particularly invested in the smaller form factor or line-out.

In theory I don't see a problem, but I do anticipate you will have issues with signal attenuation and impedance as you increase the number of devices you connect in parallel. Perhaps someone here can propose a circuit or device to overcome these issues.

The Echandelier reminds me of a previous thought of ceiling-mounting a Dot. I would think a Dot would work nicely mounted to a 4" round blanking plate over a standard round junction box containing the power supply. Has anyone tried this yet? I will probably give it a shot when my remodeling commences.

I, too have noticed background noise via the line output of the Dot. I'd imagine this is exacerbated by the Dot's relatively low gain. I do find it annoying, but as an audiophile accustomed to a finely tuned SACD playback system I don't expect much anyway when the source is a streaming service served wirelessly.

The prices they are asking for these accessories are simply ridiculous,but I guess if you need one you're going to pay.

I don't know whether this has been discussed elsewhere in the forums, but I have to wonder if or when Amazon will voice-enable the Alexa app. It seems like a no-brainer to me. I don't know how many times away from home I've almost uttered Alexa's name, especially in the car. Has anyone heard of any such plans? Does anyone wish to speculate as to whether or when this might come to pass or why it might not? I'm sure I'm just one of many who have already requested this of Amazon, but more is probably merrier.

Ditto, now. It seems kind of expensive for Amazon to let the ship date slip while honoring the original delivery date. Perhaps they consider the expense an investment in customer satisfaction.

Well, I continue to keep my fingers crossed as far as a delivery date for my Dot of 3/31. It's supposed to ship "3/29," but here in Eastern time it's not looking good as Amazon still reports it as "preparing to ship." I believe I was probably one of the first to respond to the Prime invitation, so it will be interesting to see if dates slip.

The delivery date for my Dot seems to be holding fast at 3/31, to ship tomorrow. we'll see.