beninsteon

Hi, Trying to approve a sub account for another alexa location, but when I click "+ Approve" on the account in the administrative console, I get a "Bad Request" response. The status remains as "pending". I've tried redoing it a couple of times but it's not working. Any suggestions? Thanks, Ben

Hi, Thought I'd let you know that with Logitech media server (aka squeezebox server) with the Chromecast bridge plugin installed, you can control a Chromecast device with precision, including managing playlists, playstate, volume, etc. If you install the spotty plugin you can even add Spotify support. This may be useful for announcements (eg. Can tell squeezebox server to restart pervious playlist after announcement done). B

Hey google, turn fan off --> shortcut to run whatever program you want that turns the fan off.

Thanks for your assistance. Do you think I could improve my INSTEON network by bringing the plm closer to my main panel? I'm finding one of my rooms isn't getting as much coverage as I'd like despite using as many repeaters as I thought would be necessary.

Is there a maximum recommended length on the cable between the isy and plm? Thanks, Ben

The command "Hey Google repeat after me XXXX" has the GH say "XXXX" then go back to whatever it was doing beforehand. If you can trigger this, the GH can be used to make an announcement and restart the previous playlist without further programming.

You can use shortcuts to use any voice command to do another, so for example: Hey Google set fan to low ---> interpreted by Google home as hey Google turn on fan program 1 Hey Google set fan to medium ---> interpreted by Google home as hey Google turn on fan program 2 Hey Google set fan to high ---> interpreted by Google home as hey Google turn on fan program 3 This setting is accessed through the GH app by clicking the hamburger icon, then more settings then my shortcuts Ben

The homeseer plugin reports current playstate (playing, idle, paused, buffering, unknown), volume (%), media source (eg. Netflix, Spotify, etc), and what is currently playing (eg. artist/song). See attached screenshot. Given this information is available, I wonder if a plugin existed to link the Chromecast with the ISY to allow for announcements and actions based on Chromecast playstate, one could restart the previous media after the announcement is done.

That homeseer plugin allows total control of the Google home, and all Chromecast devices. This includes announcements, play, pause, volume, audio/video source, etc. So you could make your announcement then tell GH to restore previous play state. It would be nice if there was an isy Chromecast plugin that did the same thing (eg. with polyglot) but I don't think anyone is developing that at this time.

Sorry to resurrect this old thread but if you're running homeseer along with your isy you can install the Chromecast plugin to send announcements to any Chromecast or GH device. https://forums.homeseer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1545

This is possible. Use a shortcut that makes "turn off everything", "turn off all the lights", "turn off lights", etc do something else. This will override the default Google action to turn everything off (Hamburger icon --> more settings --> shortcuts). The same can be done for the turn on commands.

You are right! User defined shortcuts now override any Google predefined reserved words. This is a new feature as just a few days ago Google support said this was not possible. Thanks for the excellent suggestion!

Hi, Has anyone figured out how to make 2 Google home devices execute different commands based on which room they're in? This is complicated for echo, but at least possible (just made the switch to GH because of the awesome Chromecast audio support). Eg. I have kitchen table lights and dining table lights, but in different rooms. When the kitchen GH hears "turn on table lights" I want the kitchen table lights on, and when the dining room one hears the same thing I want the dining table lights on. The devices are far enough apart that one won't get triggered from the other room. Thanks, Ben

Not yet, but there is significant chatter on the net about this problem & I hope google will change behaviour with a future update

Great! Thanks Benoit. Have you figured out a way to override Google's reserved words like "everything"? Ben

Hi, Has anyone noticed that only the first spoken appears in the Google Home list? I'm not seeing alternative spokens appear. Happy New Year, Ben

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately it seems that all reserved words (everything, lights, devices, things, good morning.....) can't be used for anything other than what google programs them for. This even includes shortcuts unfortunately. How do you manage turn off all devices in a particular room? Ben

Hi, I have a program that I've made called AllOff. The else branch turns off all the devices in a particular room. With alexa, I created a spoken called "everything" so that I could say "Alexa, turn off everything" and the else branch of AllOff ran and my devices turned off. I've just changed to Google Home and with the same set up (spoken "everything" for "alloff" program), Google Home responds by saying "OK, turning off X devices" instead of running the program and turns off the devices in sequence. Not all my individual devices are exposed to GH via the portal so it doesn't actually turn off everything. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Is there a way to have Google not reserve the word "everything" and instead to what I want? BTW - I also tried "lights", "devices", "things" and GH has the same behaviour. It seems these spokens are reserved..... Thanks, Ben

Hi, The Amazon Echo API says that the device announces its Audio Player status to interested skills. I'm wondering if it would be possible to use that data to trigger an ISY program? Eg - If Music is playing then run network resource to turn amp On else run network resource to turn amp Off If the ISY could watch the audio player status then I could use a state variable to take care of the rest.... Any suggestions? Thanks, Ben

Brilliant! %40 solves it. Thanks very much, Ben

Hi, Just wondering if it would be possible to change a portal username to eliminate the "@" symbol in it? I know this is an unusual request but I have an app I'm trying to use to control the ISY through the REST API and unfortunately it has a bug where the "@" symbol in the username messes it up. For local control (username/pass admin/pass) I have no trouble. Thanks, Ben

This is my issue exactly. Here's how you fix it. Go into device settings and change device language to English (Canada). You'll then be able to access skills again but only ones approved for Canada (whatever that means). The device's accent also changes for the worse. This also means that unless already installed you will no longer have access to the "Izzy" skill either.... Unless UDI gets it into the Canadian skills list.

I am also Canadian (of course) and on my existing Echo where the ISY skill was already installed there's no problem. I can't install the ISY skill on a new echo because of geographical restrictions on the skill. It's all the more painful that this echo device happens to be at a friend's house, who I convinced to spend $500 on an ISY device with the promise of controlling his lights with his voice. If it is a matter of hours until the new skill is published then this conversation is moot. However given the history, particularly with this skill being done for well over a month awaiting Amazon's approval, I'm not holding my breath. My Amazon mailing address is in Canada, but even with a new Amazon account and a fake US address I was geo-blocked from downloading this skill. I am sure Amazon gave its skill partners time to get their code ported to the Canadian market but presumably owing to limited resources and the imminent release of V3, UDI didn't figure this would end up being a problem. I guess they were wrong. I'd hope for more support from other end users and UDI here ... hopefully none of you are identified by Amazon as being in Canada and need to install the skill on a new Echo device.

I have not contacted Amazon support. Benoit said this is "normal" per his conversation with Amazon. Would appear to me that UDI isn't willing to address the issue and leave new Canadian users hanging, but please correct me if I'm wrong!

Still can't download either skill.