We have multiple Echos connected to our ST hub and they are working well. Right now, we have unique names for all the lights and scenes which makes things difficult to remember.
I’d like to be able to walk into a room with an Echo and say, “Alexa, turn on the lights” then have that particular Echo turn on the lights that I have associated with that room. Then I can walk into another room with a different Echo and say “Alexa, turn on the lights” and the Echo will again turn on the lights associated with that other echo.
Is this possible and if so, will you please give me a pointer on how to accomplish this?
I’m a software guy, so if I have to crack open Groovy, I will, but obviously, it would be nice if I did not need to.
This actually just was announced as part of the enhanced Smart Home Skills API. Should be coming soon (maybe 10/31 when new Echoes arrive) From Amazon:
With the improvements to Groups, customers no longer need to remember the specific name of a smart device or group of smart devices to control them. Now a customer can place their Echo devices into smart home groups, enabling Alexa to act more intelligently on requests. For example, when a customer walks into the kitchen, they can say, “Alexa, turn on the lights” rather than “Alexa, turn on the kitchen overhead lamp.”
Funny you ask about this today. Amazon announced this afternoon that you’ll soon be about to designate “spaces,” which does exactly what you’re looking for. Essentially, groups will be able to be assigned to spaces.
As an aside, I have a work around where every Echo in my house has a unique Amazon account. The bad thing about that is I can’t use groovy new features like, “Alexa, call the living room” because my Echoes don’t know the others exist.
Good Catch, I did not see this in the announcements, but its great news!
Together with new capabilities to query device state this is making the interface with Alexa much better!
Wow. Thank you for the help. That is probably one of the most exact answers to a question I’ve seen. I can’t believe they even used the same example of turning on the lights. Funny.