Can ISY send a play request to Alexa?

[ScottAvery]

Is there a way to use network resources to send a request to Alexa/Amazon devices?  Ideally to have a specific song play on one or more Echos devices, or a video play on a Fire device?

[MWareman]

ISY can send most network requests (only exception is some authentication methods, like digest and oAuth).

 

The main question is - do you have an example network call that achieves what you desire that we can use to build the ISY network resource? Once there is an example we will be able to help ‘translate’ to a format for ISY (assuming it does not need one of the authentication methods not supported).

[Goose66]

Is there a way to use network resources to send a request to Alexa/Amazon devices?  Ideally to have a specific song play on one or more Echos devices, or a video play on a Fire device?

 

As far as the Alexa service (Echo devices), I am not aware of any API that would allow you to send requests to the Echo to play music. Neither the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) API or the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) API provides functionality to control playback on an Echo device by anything other than local voice control.

 

You could put an RPi with a speaker next to the Echo and send it a network request that uses text-to-speech to request the music from the Echo. Or, you could control a third-party music player than plays music through your Echo device's Bluetooth connection.

[ScottAvery]

As far as the Alexa service (Echo devices), I am not aware of any API that would allow you to send requests to the Echo to play music. Neither the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) API or the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) API provides functionality to control playback on an Echo device by anything other than local voice control.

 

You could put an RPi with a speaker next to the Echo and send it a network request that uses text-to-speech to request the music from the Echo. Or, you could control a third-party music player than plays music through your Echo device's Bluetooth connection.

Thanks, that is the information I was looking for, but not the answer I wanted to hear.  I was trying to figure out if there was an option to use Echos as the primary whole house speakers rather than investing in another platform.  Might have to look into the Sonos device with Alexa built in.  I am pretty sure there is an Apple/iTunes way to do it if I have a listener running on the iTunes server, so that may be a good use for old apple gadgets.

 

The text to speech idea is an awesome Rube Goldberg solution, though.  Maybe when they implement announcements I can have one Echo ask another to play!

[captndelta]

As far as the Alexa service (Echo devices), I am not aware of any API that would allow you to send requests to the Echo to play music. Neither the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) API or the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) API provides functionality to control playback on an Echo device by anything other than local voice control.

 

You could put an RPi with a speaker next to the Echo and send it a network request that uses text-to-speech to request the music from the Echo. Or, you could control a third-party music player than plays music through your Echo device's Bluetooth connection.

 

And then there is this:

https://github.com/thorsten-gehrig/alexa-remote-control

based on:

https://www.gehrig.info/alexa/Alexa.html

 

Someone is working on a openhab binding for this: 

https://community.openhab.org/t/beta-tester-required-openhab2-amazonechocontrol-binding-controling-alexa-from-openhab2/37844

maybe it can be used to get the ISY network module to work too.

 

Cheers,

-Th 

[ScottAvery]

And then there is this:

https://github.com/thorsten-gehrig/alexa-remote-control

based on:

https://www.gehrig.info/alexa/Alexa.html

 

Someone is working on a openhab binding for this: 

https://community.openhab.org/t/beta-tester-required-openhab2-amazonechocontrol-binding-controling-alexa-from-openhab2/37844

maybe it can be used to get the ISY network module to work too.

 

Cheers,

-Th 

 

Interesting for a goof, but I wouldn't build my system around it unless Amazon is on board.  A hack could suffer the same fate as the Proxy we had back at the start of this platform.