For my less geeky friends will this work?

[TimCA]

Hi,  I have spent the last few days getting this all together and with your help it works Thank you for that.   With that said some of my friends who would like this level of home automation with there lights via the ECHO are not going to spend hours looking around here and other forums trying to figure it out and will give up witch is a problem for the HA industry.   I wanted to put together a quick, current (10/2016) down an dirty list of steps I can pass of to even the most non-geeky friends to hopefully get this integration to work. in 11 steps or less.  It shouldn't be as hard as it was for me a normal person with no programming background and an interest in keeping up with the times.  If you could look at this and give feed back that would help. I.E in step #5 do you have to click "download" or will the refresh work?   If it looks correct feel free to pass it out to anyone.

 

Thanks

Tim

 

 

 

Connecting ISY (with Insteon devices) to your ECHO.

 

Assumptions: You have an ECHO, an  ISY running, the ISY desktop console and have  Insteon (or other) switches, key links and or outlets in the console.  Also you have purchased the module from UDI.

 

 

1)Make device, scene and program changes in the ISY console (on desktop) and test them both from the console and the switches.

 

2)Log into the ISY Portal.

 

3)At the end of the UUID / Green dot / alias / firmware line click on Tool then connectivity then  Amazon Echo.

 

4)Add devices, scenes and programs (That you want the Echo to know) one at a time, fill in spoken words for Echo here.

 

5) After everything is there click on the Refresh icon.  (Or download???)

 

6)Open up your Amazon Alexa account and sign in.

 

7)Click on Skills and search” ISY” and Enable skill.

 

8)Go back to amazon alexa and now click on Smart home. (instead of Skills)

 

9)Now click on “discover devices” and all the devices, scenes and programs should show up here after about 20 seconds. You can also do groups here by clicking on "create groups" under the Your Groups heading. (Like scenes in your ISY console) This is also where you might attach your nest thermostat.

 

10) Test the Echo.  “Alexa turn on “spoken word”.  ,  “Alexa dim “spoken word to 50%”  (You would need that light on a dimmer switch.

 

11) Have a beer while you brain storm the new possibilities!!!!!

 

[larryllix]

Big task to take on.

 

What is an ISY Portal?

 

What is an Amazon Alexa account? I use the supplied app as the only way I know to make adjustments to the Alexa setup. The acount allows me to download the app if I am located in the right goegraphic location.

 

Not to be be nasty but people familiar with a process usually have a hard time explaining things to newbies, that seem so obvious to them, once they have done them.

 

Big job.

Edited October 31, 2016 by larryllix

[TimCA]

I believe it is where the console now connects to the outside world. I log in there and it is where I add my scenes and devises so they can be discovered by the ECHO.  The old add the spoken name under the Note tab in the ISY console did not work for me.  The ECHO would not discover it until I add them to the isy portal. my.isy.io.

 

Tim 

[larryllix]

I beleieve I followed the process laid out in the ISY wiki and it wasn't too bad excpet for the "what account are they referring to' in many places. When multiple accounts and places are involved every mention of an account has to be specified in complete detail. Yeah, typists lament.

[stusviews]

What you propose, an ISY with the portal plus Insteon devices is somewhat complex. The simplest integration of Insteon with the Echo is an Insteon Hub. It's also much less costly.

 

If you friends decide that they need more complexity, the only loss is the cost of the Hub. They'll also have learned a bit about creating scenes and schedules.

[TimCA]

Interesting,  when I got the ISY a few years back the Hub reviews were questionable and the produce was new.  The ISY seamed more stable and had the ability at that time to do more as I expanded I.E. home security, thermostat, cameras and so on...  Has the ISY become obsolete, are most people buying the Hub instead?

 

Tim

[stusviews]

 Has the ISY become obsolete, are most people buying the Hub instead?

 

There's no comparison. It's like asking if trucks are obsolete because more people are buying cars

 

The Hub, which has improved vastly, is an entry level device. The Hub is very easy to set up and create scenes and schedules. Alerts, too. Amazon Echo integration is built-in.

 

The Hub has no ability to run conditionals, but most casual users don't need that. Control is via a smartphone (and/or manually). A computer is not used at all. There is a Windows app, but that's even more limited than the smartphone apps.