Considering going all-in with the Amazon Echo Dot. Will it work with the ISY994i?

[mvgossman]

I'm considering getting a bunch of Amazon Echo Dot devices to distribute in the home. [i thought Siri would be nice in order to have one platform but I've come to realize that the Echo might be better for home use than even an Apple Watch on your wrist, and of course the ISY994i isn't compatible anyway]

 

So will this scenario work once programmed? An Echo Dot in 5 rooms. You say at any location, "Echo turn on kitchen light", and light goes on? It'd be a pleasant surprise if I could say "Echo turn on the light" and it knows which room I am in and turns on the corresponding light, but not expecting that.

 

Note that the Echo Dot is available for preorder at Amazon and if you use a coupon code you can get 6 for the price of 5 or 12 for the price of 10. (DOT6PACK, DOT12PACK). I'd hate to get them and find out it won't do what I want.

 

Mitch

[fennertron]

I'm considering getting a bunch of Amazon Echo Dot devices to distribute in the home. [i thought Siri would be nice in order to have one platform but I've come to realize that the Echo might be better for home use than even an Apple Watch on your wrist, and of course the ISY994i isn't compatible anyway]

 

So will this scenario work once programmed? An Echo Dot in 5 rooms. You say at any location, "Echo turn on kitchen light", and light goes on? It'd be a pleasant surprise if I could say "Echo turn on the light" and it knows which room I am in and turns on the corresponding light, but not expecting that.

 

Note that the Echo Dot is available for preorder at Amazon and if you use a coupon code you can get 6 for the price of 5 or 12 for the price of 10. (DOT6PACK, DOT12PACK). I'd hate to get them and find out it won't do what I want.

 

Mitch

 

Through the my.isy.io portal, you can configure the Alexa integration; there you specify the name of the device as Alexa knows it, and what device, scene or program it corresponds to on your isy994i.  My family has gotten quite used to this, from just scenes to "Alexa, turn on movie" turns the TV on, dims the lights in the living room, turns out the lights in the surrounding rooms, etc. via a program.

 

It's got its limitations; Alexa sometimes gets confused because there is a Nest thermostat named "Living Room" and it can't tell whether I mean the living room lights or thermostat (but that's an Alexa problem, not an isy problem).  I have some variables that I'd love to have Alexa set directly, but that's not supported.

 

So, if you're happy:

a) controlling lights, scenes and programs with "Alexa, turn ___ (on/off/brighter/dimmer)"

explicitly linking each light/scene/program with a word for Alexa to use

I bet you'll be pleased.  I ordered the dot 6 pack myself.

 

  Bill

[Steven M Castano]

I haven't personally figured out how to say "Alexa, turn on the lights" and have it know which Echo picked it up so it only turns on the lights in that room yet, but I'm working on it.

 

As for it being compatible. Yes, there are a few Alexa skills that will link you to the UDI/ISY portal, one that can be used with the smartphone all MobiLinc and my preference which is to run an Philips Hue emulator called ha-bridge and let the Echo detect all the lights.

 

The big difference between them is the "skill" way of doing things you need an activation word, for instance I was using the MobiLinc skill, so I could have to say "Alexa, tell MobiLinc to turn on the kitchen lights" and now with the emulator, I can just say "Alexa, turn on the kitchen lights." It even supports brightness control so I can say "Alexa, turn on the bedroom lights to 25%" and sure enough, it turns them on exactly how I said.

 

Take a look at the documentation on how to set up the emulated devices, how to use the UDI API and how to use brightness control, but it does work and with it you can basically control anything.

[mvgossman]

Sounds difficult, but it will be fun. I hope.

 

Bill, do you have some Dots now and just now ordered some more or are you just starting out?

 

I have 12 on pre-order.

 

I'm wondering because I'm not even sure how long the product has been out. It's described on Amazon as "All New" and is on pre-order. But there are some posters here who seem to know about it already.

 

Mitch

[stusviews]

The Dot has been around for a while. I have three Dots and three Echos. The "new" indicates that it's the 2^nd generation. What is new is the ability of the only nearest Dot to respond. Currently, I have to give each Echo and/or Dot controlling the same devices within earshot a different wake name. That will end with the new software. The new software will be automatically downloaded to all existing Dots.

 

The Dot is unaware of which room it's in. I use four portal sub-accounts to differentiate rooms so that I can use the same command in each room (e.g., turn on the light). Otherwise, you need to specify the room name.

[mvgossman]

Interesting, so you are saying that if you have dots in an open design home where three of them can hear your voice only the nearest one, I assume the one where your keyword is heard the loudest, will respond?

[fennertron]

Bill, do you have some Dots now and just now ordered some more or are you just starting out?

 

I have the Echo - more expensive, and has a nicer speaker. The 2nd gen Echo Dot is just as capable and has a small speaker good for voice feedback but less good for playing music.

 

I'm wondering because I'm not even sure how long the product has been out. It's described on Amazon as "All New" and is on pre-order. But there are some posters here who seem to know about it already.

The Echo family has been around for a little over a year -- that's why there can be an All New version 2 of the Echo Dot, because there was a version 1 before

 

 

Interesting, so you are saying that if you have dots in an open design home where three of them can hear your voice only the nearest one, I assume the one where your keyword is heard the loudest, will respond?

Check out the Amazon page you probably used to pre-order the Dots:

 

If you have more than one Echo or Echo Dot, Alexa responds intelligently from the Echo you're closest to with ESP (Echo Spatial Perception). ESP will be available via a free over-the-air software update, coming soon.

[stusviews]

It's possible to use three different "wake" words for the Echos (the Dot is an Echo Dot). If two Echos are within earshot and both use the same wake word, then both respond (with a small delay, like an echo). The 2^nd generation of Echos avoids that problem. Once one Echo hears a command, any other Echo that has the same wake word ignores that command--as it should.

 

Although the nearest Echo is most likely to respond, it's actually the one that first receives the sound wave which can vary depending on the location of the Echo and the physical structure of the area where the Echo is located.

[Larry C]

The Dot has been around for a while. I have three Dots and three Echos. The "new" indicates that it's the 2^nd generation. What is new is the ability of the only nearest Dot to respond. Currently, I have to give each Echo and/or Dot controlling the same devices within earshot a different wake name. That will end with the new software. The new software will be automatically downloaded to all existing Dots.

 

The Dot is unaware of which room it's in. I use four portal sub-accounts to differentiate rooms so that I can use the same command in each room (e.g., turn on the light). Otherwise, you need to specify the room name.

Could you go into more detail about the 4 sub accounts,  I have dots in other rooms and was just having a conversation the other day on how great that would be to just be able to say Alexa turn on the light and not have to specify the room.

[zerop]

 

Take a look at the documentation on how to set up the emulated devices, how to use the UDI API and how to use brightness control, but it does work and with it you can basically control anything.

 

What is this emulator you speak of?  I would like to be able to use Alexa and the Anymote skills to control my TV without having to say, "Alexa, tell Anymote to....{specific command}" for every command.  I'd like to just be able to say, "Alexa.....{specific command}"

[stusviews]

https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY_Portal_Amazon_Echo_Integration

[larryllix]

What is this emulator you speak of?  I would like to be able to use Alexa and the Anymote skills to control my TV without having to say, "Alexa, tell Anymote to....{specific command}" for every command.  I'd like to just be able to say, "Alexa.....{specific command}"

Then don't use another skill.

 

Just use the ISY skill to command your TV via ISY programs.

 

"Alexa. Turn on news channel"

 

You would have to name a few programs to convenient functions and channels though.

[zerop]

But I can't control my TV via the ISY.  Power on, volume up/down, etc. unless you can tell me how to do this with an LG smart TV?  I use Anymote to control my TV and Sonos sound bar

[larryllix]

Can't help you there. I use an iR remote that has all the functions, so far.

 

I do have an Insteon to iR converter on order, so I may find out how to get my wife back.

Edited September 23, 2016 by larryllix

[stusviews]

Insteon IRLinc transmitters work. However, volume is a reserved word so you can't use it.

[Steven M Castano]

What is this emulator you speak of?  I would like to be able to use Alexa and the Anymote skills to control my TV without having to say, "Alexa, tell Anymote to....{specific command}" for every command.  I'd like to just be able to say, "Alexa.....{specific command}"

 

It's called ha-bridge. It basically emulates a Philips Hue bridge and lets you name the "bulbs" anything you want then let's you run whatever commands or make whatever web calls you'd like when that light is trigger and it does accept "turn up, turn down, lock, unlock..." etc... as commands also.

 

Check it out: https://github.com/bwssytems/ha-bridge