Multiple ISYs not working

[starmanj]

I used to be able to use commands across two ISYs without having to manually switch ISYs in the portal.  It no longer works...on V2 nor V3.  Is there a way to do this?  I have all unique voice commands between the two ISYs, why do I have to switch ISYs in the portal?  Takes away the utility of having the portal to me.

 

spearse

[bmercier]

Is it that you would like to use a single echo with multiple ISYs?

 

If so, this is not a supported configuration. An echo skill can only use one ISY. If you switch your preferred ISY, the devices for the new echo will be discovered, but the other ones will be marked offline. 

 

Offline devices used to work anyway. If this does not work anymore, it must be that Amazon no longer sends requests for offline devices. 

 

For ISY Portal, offline or not, it does not matter. If a request comes in, the device has a unique ID, and will be found if the record in ISY portal has not been deleted. There's no such thing as an offline device in ISY Portal. The preferred ISY setting is used only to know for which ISY to do a discovery.

 

Benoit

[starmanj]

Trying to understand this-- you mean a spoken command to an Alexa sends the command to the Portal API, right?  And the Portal then sends the command to an ISY?  Then why can't the Portal send that command to both ISYs?

 

Or does Alexa send the command directly to an individual ISY?

 

Not sure what you mean by a single Echo to two ISYs...I have 15 Echos between two different homes.  I have a single Amazon Echo account.  Pretty normal except for lots of echos.

[bmercier]

Trying to understand this-- you mean a spoken command to an Alexa sends the command to the Portal API, right?  And the Portal then sends the command to an ISY?  Then why can't the Portal send that command to both ISYs?

 

 

A spoken command to Alexa will send the request to an ISY Portal API, which then sends the request to an ISY. A command is related to a device which belongs to a specific ISY of the linked account. The request can't go to another ISY, it goes to the ISY where the device exists.

 

 

Or does Alexa send the command directly to an individual ISY?

 

 

 

No. It is sent to ISY Portal. But it's for a specific device which belongs to a specific ISY. That's how ISY Portal knows where to send the request.

 

 

Not sure what you mean by a single Echo to two ISYs...I have 15 Echos between two different homes.  I have a single Amazon Echo account.  Pretty normal except for lots of echos.

 

Does any of your echo need to be aware of devices on 2 different ISYs?

 

If yes, that's not supported.

 

If no, you can link your echos to a different ISY Portal user profile. You could have a user profile for ISY A, and a user profile for ISY B.

You could, if you wish, have 15 different sub-accounts with each their ISY Portal user profile and their own set of spokens.

 

The restriction is that an echo can only see one ISY.

 

Benoit

[starmanj]

Does any of your echo need to be aware of devices on 2 different ISYs?

 

  -- Still confused.  I have 4 echos in one home, 10 in another.  One amazon account for all of them.  I want to turn on lights using 4 echos in one ISY in one home.  Turn on lights using 10 echos in the other ISY in the other home.  So all my echos need to be aware of all my devices depending on which home I am standing in..."Alexa turn on Florida Kitchen Lights" vs "Alexa turn on Colorado Kitchen Lights".  See?  I can't assign my 4 echos to only one ISY, unless I am missing something...do you mean create two amazon accounts, one for each home?  I don't want several Amazon accounts to satisfy Portal issues...  And why can't the portal support an echo to be aware of devices on 2 different ISYs and just send the right command to the right ISY?

 

If yes, that's not supported.

 

If no, you can link your echos to a different ISY Portal user profile. You could have a user profile for ISY A, and a user profile for ISY B.

You could, if you wish, have 15 different sub-accounts with each their ISY Portal user profile and their own set of spokens.

 

  --How do I link an individual echo to a specific ISY portal profile?  I only have one amazon account.  I know about sub-accounts but as I understand it, they each have to have their own amazon account?  Which is not how normal users would ever want it in my opinion...

 

The restriction is that an echo can only see one ISY.

  --Why is this restriction there?  And what is "an echo"?  Do you mean "an amazon account which is assigned to specific echos"?

 

Benoit

[bmercier]

 

Does any of your echo need to be aware of devices on 2 different ISYs?

 

  -- Still confused.  I have 4 echos in one home, 10 in another.  One amazon account for all of them.  I want to turn on lights using 4 echos in one ISY in one home.  Turn on lights using 10 echos in the other ISY in the other home.  So all my echos need to be aware of all my devices depending on which home I am standing in..."Alexa turn on Florida Kitchen Lights" vs "Alexa turn on Colorado Kitchen Lights".  See?  I can't assign my 4 echos to only one ISY, unless I am missing something...do you mean create two amazon accounts, one for each home?  I don't want several Amazon accounts to satisfy Portal issues...  And why can't the portal support an echo to be aware of devices on 2 different ISYs and just send the right command to the right ISY?

 

If yes, that's not supported.

 

If no, you can link your echos to a different ISY Portal user profile. You could have a user profile for ISY A, and a user profile for ISY B.

You could, if you wish, have 15 different sub-accounts with each their ISY Portal user profile and their own set of spokens.

 

  --How do I link an individual echo to a specific ISY portal profile?  I only have one amazon account.  I know about sub-accounts but as I understand it, they each have to have their own amazon account?  Which is not how normal users would ever want it in my opinion...

 

The restriction is that an echo can only see one ISY.

  --Why is this restriction there?  And what is "an echo"?  Do you mean "an amazon account which is assigned to specific echos"?

 

Benoit

 

 

> And why can't the portal support an echo to be aware of devices on 2 different ISYs and just send the right command to the right ISY?

 

This is a feature we could add. Today it is simply not implemented.

 

> The restriction is that an echo can only see one ISY.

>  --Why is this restriction there?  And what is "an echo"?  Do you mean "an amazon account which is assigned to specific echos"?

 

 

An echo is an echo. The amazon account used is irrelevant.

 

During account linking, you link with an ISY Portal user profile. That user profile has a preferred ISY, and that's the one used to discover devices.

 

Benoit

[starmanj]

An echo is linked to one specific Amazon account.  During account linking, you link to a specific Amazon account to the Portal, right?  So your workaround is to assign an Echo to a specific Amazon account which is then linked to a Portal sub-account, right? 

 

I'm just trying to understand what you are suggesting as a workaround to using two ISYs without having to keep specifying my "preferred ISY" every time I use a different ISY.

 

So, I'd love to know if anybody finds the Portal useful for more than one ISY.  If you don't support the feature "support an echo to be aware of devices on 2 different ISYs and just send the right command to the right ISY" then I for one am wasting my money using the Portal, because it's simply a pain to keep switching "preferred ISY" to make it work.  I think this is quite fundamental, and am puzzled why the Portal even bothers with multiple ISYs at all.

[bmercier]

An echo is linked to one specific Amazon account.  During account linking, you link to a specific Amazon account to the Portal, right?  So your workaround is to assign an Echo to a specific Amazon account which is then linked to a Portal sub-account, right? 

 

I'm just trying to understand what you are suggesting as a workaround to using two ISYs without having to keep specifying my "preferred ISY" every time I use a different ISY.

 

So, I'd love to know if anybody finds the Portal useful for more than one ISY.  If you don't support the feature "support an echo to be aware of devices on 2 different ISYs and just send the right command to the right ISY" then I for one am wasting my money using the Portal, because it's simply a pain to keep switching "preferred ISY" to make it work.  I think this is quite fundamental, and am puzzled why the Portal even bothers with multiple ISYs at all.

 

You are correct.

 

I'll talk with Michel. We may add support for multiple ISYs.

 

Benoit

[starmanj]

Very much appreciated, thank you Benoit.