Max number of entries and wording commands

[Kevin Connolly]

I'm relatively new to using the Portal and Alexa for voice commands (admittedly still weeding my way through making commands unique). That said, a lot of my spokens start with the word "the" only because it feels more natural when speaking the command. is that ok? or am I stressing Alexa out by doing that?  (Also I tried to correct as many nonunique commands as possible, but it's difficult because, since Alexa now has the ability to control my TV via a Global Cache, a lot of commands also start with the word "channel".) I ask, which brings me to a second question, because I now have roughly 45 devices controlled by Alexa and I noticed when the number of devices was low Alexa performed 100% of the time, but now (or at least yesterday) it's seems as if she's getting confused between devices "You have several devices with that name..." or she says "ok" but nothing happens  So is there a limiting number of devices that Alexa can control from a performance aspect before she times out on the request ( not sure I asked that correctly)? And lastly, is there a list of keywords to stay away from when creating a spoken? I can say with certainty that using the command "Alexa, turn C B S on." goes to tuneln versus channel 2 on my TV. I haven't really tested trying the TV volume controls, but I'm assuming there might be a conflict if I name that spoken volume up or volume down.

[accd]

I don't have direct answers, however the "native" commands Echo uses should be avoided when using the Portal or other linked devices.  I believe there is a list on this forum. I don't use "the" in the naming convention, however like yourself use it when speaking to Echo without issue.    For TV I use commands like, Local NBC or Local News using a prefix that separates the command from tune-in etc instead of channel.   I have 85 device commands linked with virtually no lag and no problems as of now, so I'm not sure what the limit is or would be.  I have found that some commands can be used to toggle things like turn on TV, I then have the option to remove the corresponding command and just use the toggle feature.   I'm taking advantage of Echo Groups for great functionality.   I use a combination of ISY Scenes and created groups in Echo.  As an example I have all of my family room lights in the system and created a "downstairs" Echo group.  I can ask Echo to turn these on 25, 30 or 50% etc...  I also have ISY scenes that give me a similar but more rigid preset result.  So I'm using a combination of both ISY functions and Echo for great control.

 

Probably not a complete answer, but I hope it gives you some ideas.

[Kevin Connolly]

That's interesting about the word "the". I had thought, when setting up the Echo that the command structure was literal so I added the word "the" so I and my family didn't feel like Neanderthals when issuing a commands. I'll have to give that a try. I'm sure, if the Echo does ignore the word "the", that it'll improve the performance and accuracy of a match word search by the Echo by not having to go to the second word.

[stusviews]

A goal is to minimize what you enter as the spoken. You can use conversationally coherent statements when speaking, such as, "the ceiling light," but enter only "ceiling light" as the spoken. Here's a list of known acceptable spokens, but you're not limited to that list.

Edited February 29, 2016 by stusviews

[Kevin Connolly]

Nice list Stu. 

On a side note, since I'm now controlling my TV from the Echo, has anyone come up with another term other than "mute" which is a Echo term? I've been toying with the word "audio"

[stusviews]

I didn't create the list, Benoit did.

 

Try deaden, lull, hush, muffle, quiet, silence.

[mapeter]

Would "Turn sound off" work to fire a mute command?  (I am at work or I would test it myself)

[stusviews]

Sounds good

[Tim McDermott]

_Kevin,

 

_{You might want to look in the Echo App. to make sure thee aren't duplicate items. There was a recent glitch where items ended up being duplicated. The happened to me and resulted in the same type error responses form Alexa. Simply deleting all devices and rediscovering will resolve.}