I understand that the Echo will only control Insteon through the Insteon hub, yet I have ISY994i already in place. Does anyone know if having both devices will cause issues?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's not true. The ISY can control Insteon devices, scenes and ISY programs through the portal. Having both devices can cause issues, but if you know what you're doing (i.e., what scenes do, how they work), then you can use both.

This may offer you some insight about the question at hand: http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/17271-hub-ii-isy-echo-integration/page-1

I am using the ISY 994i with all Insteon devices, at 2 houses, with no issues. Pretty easy to setup as well.

In the Wiki you will find instructions on how to fully integrate your ISY with the Amazon Echo. It works great and it is awesome - good luck

 

Here is the link: http://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY_Portal_Amazon_Echo_Integration

 

Cheers,

Alex

WE are using Echo more and more with ISY994 and alone, just web support.

 

But we have found Alexa is almost completely useless in a crowded room with background noise and talking.

 

You have to stand right in front of Alexa and speak loudly to get it to respond even about 50% of the time. The wall switches are just as easy then and always reliable.

Hand held voice remotes (mics) are linked to a couple of our Echos.

Hand held voice remotes (mics) are linked to a couple of our Echos.

That sounds a little counterproductive for the Echo though. In my situation I have a wall switch that can do almost all of it when coming in/out of the room or walking by in/out of kitchen.

 

Of course the switch walk is avoided when home with just us, and for the shopping list we are finding invaluable to eliminate that notepad stuck to the fridge, with the lost pencil and not with us when we happen to be in the shopping zone, 20 highway minutes from home.

The voice remote fits easily in a pocket and is handy when it's noisy, such as during a party or in the situation you mentioned, that is, in a crowded room with background noise and talking. It's not best for all around use.