Location - Specific Control of Connected Home Devices

[madcodger]

Hi Everyone,

 

I have mentioned in some other threads that I thought it would be helpful if Amazon would enable Connected Home devices to know the specific Echo device from which a command was being issued.  Some have noted that the use of sub-accounts is a workaround for this, but I find that to be an unsatisfactory solution that does not allow for full integration of the Echo/Dot into a truly "Connected Home".  So, I wrote to Amazon today to make my case for this.  Here is the text of my note to them:

 

It would be very helpful if, when using Connected Home, each Echo device was able to tell Connected Home device(s) its identity when mutliple Echos exist in the home.  My use case is that I want to be able to control Sonos devices using the Echo.  I know you don't connect direclty to Sonos, but dI don't need a Sonos interface to do this, as I have an ISY device and Homeseer, either of which could accomplish this.  But commands such as "Play ____ on Sonos", or even using a skill command such as "Tell Izzy to play ____ on Sonos" can't work UNLESS the specific device ID is passed through to the Connected Home device, because the Connected Home device has no way to know which Echo the speaker is using at the moment.  Please understand, we love our Echos (I have four, already).  But the sound quality is nowhere near that of a Sonos device...  However, you could easily make Sonos control (or almost ANY location-specific control within the home) very possible for those of us with home automation systems, IF you would just pass the ID of the specific Echo (Kitchen, Living Room, etc.) through to the Connected Home device so that we didn't have to make our voice commands overly long, by having to state the location we are trying to control via the voice command.  There are many other applications besides the one I reference here, that would allow for control of, say, the lights in a specific room by just saying "turn on the lights".  The Connected Home device would know the location of the speaker, and turn on the main lighting for that room.  

So, if you want to sell even more Echo (or Dot) devices, I suggest this be adopted soon.  It would encourage customers to purchase and place multiple Echos / Dots throughout a home, and help to take your fantastic technology from a novelty to an integral part of the modern "smarthome".  Please feel free to contact me if you need someone to help beta test this, as I can do so across two different automation platforms that work with Connected Home, plus Sonos, if desired.

 

If others also desire this, I encourage you to use the Alexa app to provide your feedback.  The "General Feedback" link is found at the lower part of the left-column menu.

 

If we had this capability, it would allow for much easier integration of the Echo/Dot into our systems, as commands such as those I note above could be more easily accomplished.  Just thought I'd post here, in case others are interested.

Edited March 12, 2016 by madcodger