Alexa quirks and fun

[bwbeisne]

Hi guys! Long time. Happy New Year!! I just finished bringing my ISY up to current with ISYportal and Alexa. Still using Mobi on the tablet as home base.

 

I currently have Izzy/Alexa controlling devices, programs, variables and scenes. All works well except scenes. See below. In general here are a few things I've noted as odd, some ongoing questions and a general curiosity in others experiences with Alexa and Izzy.

 

-Is it just me or is Alexa extra picky w/ scene spokens? 

Works well:

entertainment, all lights, tv time

Doesn't Work at all:

entertain, everything, every thing, dusk

 

-Why does alexa/izzy recognize a scene name enough to turn it on... And seconds later can't find the device to turn off?

 

-Are there any fun spokens you guys are using that work well?

None of these work well here. It was fun trying though.

I wanna party, I want to party, Let's party all a no go with alexa. Runners up, turn on happy hour and we have guests. Pffft. no go.

 

-Groups? Lighting scene and music macro? Has anyone had luck with an Alexa group or any other method of creating an Alexa macro? Set scene, play music

 

-Setpoint control? Why can't I set my dimmable devices to an absolute setpoint? Set lamp to 75%...  I can however dim or brighten all of my non relay devices?

 

-Alexa looses her shit on a daily basis. Usually around dinnertime. Is this due to the 'primetime' load on the Amazon voice/cmd engine? It doesn't really seem to be the ambient noise level in the house.

strange sounds, popping, screech, in responses and music

basically not recognizing commands well during this time

clears up after dinner. like clockwork.

 

 

Even with the quirks Alexa/Izzy up and running is the coolest thing ever!!! Go UDI!!

 

 

 

[LFMc]

-Is it just me or is Alexa extra picky w/ scene spokens? 

Works well:

entertainment, all lights, tv time

Doesn't Work at all:

entertain, everything, every thing, dusk

 

 

I have recently run into this issue with a different Alexa skill called "Wireless Tags" which some of us ISSY users like to use also. The company, CAO, released a notice/read me on their skill set that had some interesting information in it, including a list of "spokens" that should be used if you want better success at Alexa responding correctly. They go so far as to state that if you need to use the same "spoken" more than once to add a number behind the recognized word(s). Here is a link to the release and the word set is near the end on the 2nd hyperlink labeled "here". It is worth the read to see that Alexa skills seem to have a favored spoken list. It did clear up some word recognition problems I was having with the Wireless Tags. 

 

The CAO doc also has a link to a 5 page document of all the variations of commands that are valid with Alexa. 

 

https://store.wirelesstag.net/blogs/news/wireless-tag-informational-amazon-echo-alexa-skill-is-now-live

 

I mention this to see if anyone knows if UDI has released a similar Alexa "read me" about their skill set to get better recognition of "spokens" and lists of valid command statements.  Does anyone have a link to something similar for the Issy skill set? 

 

--Leon

[bwbeisne]

Nice. I'll take a look at that. I saw a .pdf for all possible alexa/isyportal spoken commands. But no guidance for creating good spoken names

 

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[stusviews]

-Groups? Lighting scene and music macro? Has anyone had luck with an Alexa group or any other method of creating an Alexa macro? Set scene, play music

 

Yes, I have a group the turns on the music and adjusts the lighting. The music is controlled by a Harmony Hub.

 

-Setpoint control? Why can't I set my dimmable devices to an absolute setpoint? Set lamp to 75%...  I can however dim or brighten all of my non relay devices?

 

Add both the scene and the device to a group. Then you can ask Alexa to set the group_name to any level. You don't even need to say "percent." just the number