I have relays which control curtain motors.  Currently issue command 'Alexa turn on yard' and the curtains open.  Is there a way to setup the portal or Polisy to get Alexa to recognize the command open vs on?

 

easiest way is to simply create a routine in Alexa with the trigger being voice "open living room blinds" which then turns the isy device on. 

Edited November 16, 20231 yr by dbwarner5

Guess I should have been more specific, the on/off alexa command runs a scene which turns on/off a keypadlinc dimmer 5 button.  A program monitors the status of the button on or off and then sets relay 1 on for open or relay 2 on for close.

Im thinking i made this too difficult and should just create separate scenes for on and off and then associate open and close to each in the portal.

Thanks for helping me think this through.

there is a temptation to use programs when simpler methods are available

here is my scene

insteon keypad button and a z-wave blinds motor

the portal scene was added as a scene - note the 'alexa catagory' (screenshot above)

that is it

not sure what you are doing with relays and all that stuff - sounds a little rube goldberg - but the words 'on/off' or 'open/close' are determined by the alexa catagory in the portal

in any event, the way i did it would get you to 'open/close' to control the keypad button - from there, you can build your mouse trap

(might want to check for z-wave window treatment devices - larger selection and it might get the job done with fewer points of failure - and less complexity)