Amazon Echo - Connected Home Feature!

[bmercier]

When I click on the link and enter my email address and password I get a white screen without anything on it.

 

If anyone sees this white screen when linking with his Amazon account, please PM me the URL of that page, and which browser was used.

 

I personally have not seen this error occur.

 

Thanks,

 

Benoit

[502ss]

So I rebooted my isy to try and fix a different issue and now Alexa is broken. If I ask her to turn off bar lights, the light ring spins for 3-5 seconds and then she says something like that command doesn't work for device "bar lights"

 

If I go into the portal I am unable to add any new spoken links to devices, programs, etc. but I can delete the ones that are there.

 

I was going to unlink everything and start from scratch but thought I would check here first.

 

Also if I unlink will I lose my ability to reconnect if more than 450 people have already connected?

 

Thanks

Jim

[stusviews]

Not if you don't delete your account. But, describe your difficulty in more detail. What do you mean by, "add any new spoken links?"

[rossarmstrong]

Was there a definitive answer regarding the ability to use both the Mobilinc Portal and ISY Portal for Echo at the same time?

 

I don't want to lose the ability to remotely control my system with my iPad when away from home.

[bmercier]

Was there a definitive answer regarding the ability to use both the Mobilinc Portal and ISY Portal for Echo at the same time?

 

I don't want to lose the ability to remotely control my system with my iPad when away from home.

 

The ISY can only connect to Mobilinc portal, or UDI portal. Not both.

 

UDI portal supports both the Amazon Echo and Mobilinc.

 

To configure Mobilinc:

- Set the Host type to: ISY

- Set your secure host to: my.isy.io

- Secure port: 443

- Use your portal User name and password.

- On portal, go to "My Profile", make sure your Preferred ISY is set to the ISY you want to control.

 

Benoit.

[bmercier]

So I rebooted my isy to try and fix a different issue and now Alexa is broken. If I ask her to turn off bar lights, the light ring spins for 3-5 seconds and then she says something like that command doesn't work for device "bar lights"

 

If I go into the portal I am unable to add any new spoken links to devices, programs, etc. but I can delete the ones that are there.

 

I was going to unlink everything and start from scratch but thought I would check here first.

 

Also if I unlink will I lose my ability to reconnect if more than 450 people have already connected?

 

Thanks

Jim

 

Is your ISY connected to portal and working? Try using UDAjax. If this works, this means your ISY is connected, authorized, and communicates successfully with portal.

 

Benoit.

[barrygordon]

Bgrubb1,

 

I believe the ISY connected home works the same way. You assign a spoken name to a program. turn on <spoken name> will run the then clause of the program and turn off <spoken name> the else clause.  I think Benoit stated they were go to try and have run <spokenname>   run the if clause of the program and obviously the appropriate then or else.

[rossarmstrong]

The ISY can only connect to Mobilinc portal, or UDI portal. Not both.

 

UDI portal supports both the Amazon Echo and Mobilinc.

 

To configure Mobilinc:

- Set the Host type to: ISY

- Set your secure host to: my.isy.io

- Secure port: 443

- Use your portal User name and password.

- On portal, go to "My Profile", make sure your Preferred ISY is set to the ISY you want to control.

 

Benoit.

 Benoit,

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I purchased and configured the new ISY portal.

 

Sorry to ask this in the ECHO thread, but the using the Portal user/PW to configure the Mobilinc only works from outside my home network.

 

The local URL and port use my normal console user/pw.

 

Should I just not use the local option and direct both home and away locations to go through the secure ISY Portal?

 

The settings for m

[jerlands]

 Benoit,

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I purchased and configured the new ISY portal.

 

Sorry to ask this in the ECHO thread, but the using the Portal user/PW to configure the Mobilinc only works from outside my home network.

 

The local URL and port use my normal console user/pw.

 

Should I just not use the local option and direct both home and away locations to go through the secure ISY Portal?

 

The settings for m

 

To configure Mobilinc use these setting...

 

Host Type = ISY

User Name = Portal Username (email address)

Password = Portal Login Password

Local http://= blank

Local Port = 80

Secure https:// = my.isy.io

Secure Port = 443

Connection Method = Secure Connection

 

 

Jon...

Edited January 14, 2016 by jerlands

[bmercier]

Bgrubb1,

 

I believe the ISY connected home works the same way. You assign a spoken name to a program. turn on <spoken name> will run the then clause of the program and turn off <spoken name> the else clause. I think Benoit stated they were go to try and have run <spokenname> run the if clause of the program and obviously the appropriate then or else.

Unfortunately this is not possible. The ability to say "run <program>" would need to be implement by Amazon. We don't have control over that.

 

Benoit

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[MWareman]

If you want to use local HTTP, create a second profile in Mobilinc. Don't configure the HTTP settings in the same profile that the portal is configured.

[MWareman]

Unfortunately this is not possible. The ability to say "run <program>" would need to be implement by Amazon. We don't have control over that.

 

Benoit

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Of course you can have a program (ProgA) with a 'RunIf' (ProgB) clause in the 'Then' section. Assign a spoken name to 'ProgA' and when you 'turn on ProgA' the 'if' clause of ProgB will be executed.

 

Not ideal and messy - but possible. Personally, for 'If' program triggering I would stick with the skill.

 

This may be a use case for virtual devices. Assign a spoken name to a virtual device and use them in a 'If' statement to trigger it. I'm not sure if UDI is any closer to implementing virtual devices though. Also, does Portal recognise nodes from node servers external to ISY (and let you assign spoken names)? I don't have this going yet, but am interested in knowing.

[DannyFresh]

Truly a game changer, a milestone in home automation.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lex2]

I've just signed up for the beta program for Amazon Echo.   After fiddling with the UDI portal and Alexa skill for the past week, this is sooooo much better.

 

Thanks everyone for the great work!

 

I've just returned my un-opened Insteon Hub bundle back to Costco.  Glad I didn't have to mess with setting up their portal.

[rossarmstrong]

Best Practice Strategy Question;

 

As I have understood the ISY/Insteon philosophy, it is often better to control via scenes instead of devices.

 

Does the same hold true for configuring with the ECHO?

 

Does it make a difference between using the SKILL and CONNECTED HOME?

 

     Edit: It appears the use of PROGRAMs and THEN/ELSE could be more useful as well.

 

I am in the process of transitioning from the use of emulators to the ISY Portal and was wondering how all the really smart folks are configuring!

 

BTW - the emulator and their associated configuration programs are still valuable to HARMONY users wanting to control via ECHO.

 

Thanks to everyone here for sharing, it is really all coming together now - exciting times indeed!

Edited January 14, 2016 by rossarmstrong

[Xathros]

The ISY can only connect to Mobilinc portal, or UDI portal. Not both.

 

UDI portal supports both the Amazon Echo and Mobilinc.

 

To configure Mobilinc:

- Set the Host type to: ISY

- Set your secure host to: my.isy.io

- Secure port: 443

- Use your portal User name and password.

- On portal, go to "My Profile", make sure your Preferred ISY is set to the ISY you want to control.

 

Benoit.

 

Just be be clear, You can connect to the ISY from Mobilinc using the UDI portal just as you can with MLConnect however, MLConnect offers some additional value added features that you won't get if you switch to using the UDI portal.  I believe the custom push notifications are one of features you would lose along with Today view widgets (though the widgets seem to work fine for me without MLConnect)

 

Using the UDI Portal opens up access to Alexa and somewhere down the road IFTTT support/integration is said to be planned.

 

Choices are good!

 

-Xathros

[accd]

Amazon and Insteon making my wife "happy"....ok, that sounds odd.

 

I just wanted to say a BIG THANKS to everyone on this forum for providing some great info.    I had all the Tivo and Sonos Network configuration just sitting here for sometime, however found it clunky to use variables to turn on various functions ether via remote or wall switch.  NOW, I've loaded up Tivo IR commands and Sonos network SOAP scripts and things are getting really fun.  The portal is well worth the subscription and again, I couldn't have done this without the contributions and hard work of some very fine folks posting their work here on the forum.  THANKS very much.

[DannyFresh]

Just be be clear, You can connect to the ISY from Mobilinc using the UDI portal just as you can with MLConnect however, MLConnect offers some additional value added features that you won't get if you switch to using the UDI portal. I believe the custom push notifications are one of features you would lose along with Today view widgets (though the widgets seem to work fine for me without MLConnect)

 

Using the UDI Portal opens up access to Alexa and somewhere down the road IFTTT support/integration is said to be planned.

 

Choices are good!

 

-Xathros

Mobilinc is an outstanding app which Wes has done wonders with. I personally have never used the mlconnect portal. I've have gone the "port forward" route from day one, and use an email account, specifically created for my Isy, to send text messages to my iPhone. This works perfect in my situation. In my opinion, losing custom push notifications, is a small price to pay for the enormously increased functionality you gain, if you already own an echo.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[barrygordon]

I am now set up the way I want to be with the ISY and the Echo (I think, but I always end up changing things.

 

I have my own skill named Sarah that I am not using very much. It is just a foundation for later work if and when I want to play with skill development.

 

I am using the ISY Connected Home (ISY-CH) to handle all of my ISY needs at this time. It is working as well if not better than the HUE emulator solution with one caveat. The amount of time it takes the ISY to actually respond (take the appropriate action, e.g. turn a light on or off) is significantly longer with the ISY-CH than it was with the HUE emulator. With the HUE emulator the action was just about instantaneous with the completion of what I spoke.  With the ISY-CH it takes 1-3 seconds before the action takes place. Also the time it takes for the Echo to reply with "Okay" also seems quite a bit longer. I hope that this is just a reflection of the development state of the ISY-CH.

 

I am using the HUE Emulator and a small proxy program to handle all non ISY controlled things in my home.  At the current time I am only dealing with non-ISY controlled things that are of an on-off nature, mostly associated with my pool system.

 

On the plus side the Discovery process with the ISY-CH and a single instance of the HUE emulator has yet to fail. All my "devices" are discovered in a single pass.

 

The one feature request I have is non-echo related, but rather ISY related.  I would like to be able to send a scene a brightness value such that the various dimmer switches that are respondents in the scene are set to that brightness. I understand that this would only be operational through the RESTful interface, but I could use it in several instances.  I believe if implemented it would also allow the Echo to dynamically set a "Scene Brightness".

[GBC]

If anyone sees this white screen when linking with his Amazon account, please PM me the URL of that page, and which browser was used.

 

I personally have not seen this error occur.

 

Thanks,

 

Benoit

 

I was using Internet Explorer 11 to set up the portal, but today I tried using Chrome and it worked. Now I have access to the Echo, but ISY doesn't show up in the android app for Echo and it can't find any of my device. At least I have made some progress toward that end.

[Xathros]

I was using Internet Explorer 11 to set up the portal, but today I tried using Chrome and it worked. Now I have access to the Echo, but ISY doesn't show up in the android app for Echo and it can't find any of my device. At least I have made some progress toward that end.

I found I needed to first Dissociate the portal from my Amazon account via the portal (I had previously linked them before the connected home aspect was released), then Follow the link at the top of this thread to connect my Amazon account to the portal, then return to the portal and relink the portal to my Amazon account before the ISY showed up under connected home in my iOS Alexa app.  Basically, just dissociate all of the accounts then reconnect them again.

 

Then after the ISY was listed, before it would discover any devices, I also had to "Alexa, tell Izzy to select ISY" and select my "Home" ISY even though my home ISY was listed as my preferred ISY on the portal. She wouldn't discover devices from either of my ISY's prior to that.  I'm not sure the preferred selection on the portal has anything to do with the Alexa/Amazon interface.

 

Hope that helps.

 

-Xathros

[SetMonkey13]

I think I got everything set up.  I'm super excited to try this when I get home.  I was about to set up an emulator, timing is great.

[Jashanahan]

Moving from Mobilinc connect control of the ISY to UDI portal control (for both Mobilinc and Amazon ECHO control)...

Can someone provide a step by step approach (or YouTube video).  I have NOT used or attempted the skills approach prior to Connected Home release...

 

Thanks,

James

[rhodges]

I go it all linked up last night and tried a few things when I got home. They all worked great. Then I tried some of same things today and Alexa would say OK, but nothing happened. I would repeat the command, she says OK and nothing.

 

I had the same thing crop up once or twice when I was using the emulator. I'm not sure if it is a connected issue or the ISY itself.

 

A couple of questions.

 

1) How does the run a program work? On = Then, Off = Else of the same program? In the emulator, you were not tied to the same program. Maybe others would find that flexibility useful?

 

2) Is there a guide, other than the video, the details everything that can be done, including the Skill?

 

3) How does it integrate with a FanLinc? Can I say "Alexa, set the fan to medium" or something like that? #2 would help with this question.

 

Thanks!

 

Edit: My ISY Firmware is 4.4.1

Edited January 15, 2016 by rhodges

[MikeB]

 

 

 1) How does the run a program work? On = Then, Off = Else of the same program? In the emulator, you were not tied to the same program. Maybe others would find that flexibility useful?

 

I agree that it would be useful to specify different ON/OFF commands like you can with the emulator.