Thx, got a refurbished Echo for $119 during the prime event, now Dot is out of stock…
I’ve heard rumors that the Dot was a one-time production run and it’s now gone…
hmmmm…I got two of them and they work well…connected to real speakers that is 
Also, could you please answer my question about the “syntax” above?
Thx my friend sorry to be so needy 
I got one, was going to get another one later this year but I guess that’s not happening. I’m hoping that Google Home will be able to integrate to ST whenever it comes out later this year.
Wouldn’t count on it…I heard it will be a closed environment. I hope not, but we will see…
I really don’t have a full syntax list…You can start with Ask or Tell SmartThings, or even end with it (Alexa, turn on Living Room using SmartThings).
I did put some examples out there : http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=Ask_Alexa#Ask_Alexa_Usage
Nice, perfect. I did not see that section.
Amazzzzing!
All,
As mentioned in a few posts, I am adding a ‘personality’ feature to Ask Alexa. This will not only allow users to have an ‘out of box’ experience that will give some personality to Alexa, but it will also allow advanced users to customize their outputs or even create their own.
For ALL users of Ask Alexa, please fill out this survey. Quite honestly, I have NO idea how many people are using Ask Alexa, so even if you don’t care about this feature I would love you to weigh in just to gauge how many folks are using this app overall (I wish SmartThings had a way to track this…or if they do, allow developers to get access to this number).
Please share this in other threads here, but I ask that you fill out the survey just once…
Thanks!
SURVEY CLOSED 8/3/16
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Well if that’s the case then I guess I’ll eventually spring for the full size Echo, or hope that a Dot successor comes out in the mean time. With a stereo system in both rooms I want to use Echo in, there’s no reason for me to have the full sized one other than it’s the only one available.
Amazon fire TV and Fire stick also have Alexa. I don’t have Echo or Dot. I have a Fire stick with the voice remote and I’m able to control lights and Nest just the same.
Yeah it works fine on Fire TV, but no hands free operation that way.
I’m fine with that it’s a simple thing to push the button and tell her to adjust a device. I don’t need Alexa always listening. Never know what she might hear, might get jealous.
For hands-on operation, I prefer the Alexa Listens app on my cell phone. It’s always in my pocket vs having to go to the other room to get the Fire TV remote, and then get no feedback in cases when my TV and receiver happen to be turned off when I use it.
Nice thing about Alexa Listens is that I can unlock my phone hands free with “OK Google”, then say “open Alexa Listens”, then speak to Alexa hands-free. It’s cumbersome but in cases where I want hit buttons on my phone it’s better than nothing.
If my TV and receiver are off I can still use the fire stick’s voice remote and get the same result. I just push the home button and wait about a second or two to make sure the stick is not in sleep mode then push the voice button and give the commands. Fire stick might be different from Fire TV but the operation ends up the same. The Alexa Listens app might be helpful if giving a command that is not ST based. If I have my phone I’ll just open the ST app; therefore, the Listens app would just be redundancy for me. Good to know there options (fire tv, listens app) available to get Alexa to control devices other than just with Echo.
Holy awesomeness batman!!! Dude, this is crazy awesome, thank you! This has made my dreams come true! That said, I do have one request. The ability to require a password for voice macros. For example, I want it to require a password to execute ‘Good Night’ or ‘Good Morning’ voice macro’s because those Macro’s will arm/disarm my security system. I searched but this thread is huge, but I didn’t see this topic addressed yet.
Again, freaking awesome man! Thank you!
Also, my ‘good night’ voice macro also locks all my doors.
Passwords are only (optionally) used on doors and locks… are saying you want a password for all macros? Just top of mind, I assume this would be per macro…I wouldn’t imagine you would want ALL macros to have that added complexity. The way I have passwords/PINS implemented that would mean you couldn’t do a delayed macro as the ‘numeric’ function would conflict.
From just a practicality position, who does this actually protect from…from an outsider or someone internal to the house? If it is internal to the house it will just be a matter of time before someone hears the PIN and the security is lost. Externally, you do have security by obscurity…If I saw an open window and an Alexa I would have to know your key word, then what you named your devices and macros, then your PIN…And they would have to know that the Good Night macro actually disabled something.
Finally, I question the need to manually arm/disarm your system…with presence sensors and other sensor I rarely (if ever) have to manually change my mode or security settings…In fact, I disabled my Alexa completely from accessing my Smart Home Monitor as it has worked so well lately with my other automations controlling it.
It may seem like I am against this, but just pointing out questions from a logical perspective…this is certainly doable, but I really question why. I do agree that it may be a good idea for an option to optionally put a PIN on the SHM control, but if I start doing that then I should technically do that on the modes as those might change the SHM…and then routines because they can access the SHM…so unless you put a password on everything there are multiple ways to accomplish the same thing without a password.
Anyway, the first step is understanding exactly what you are looking for here with a password.
Glad you like this…I agree it is cool and kind of neat considering this wasn’t possible just a few years ago.
Hi MichaelS, thank you for taking the time to respond to me. So currently we aren’t using the automatic modes of presence sensors to arm or disarm the system. For example, my wife likes to arm the security system at night even though we may still be up and around and we have 3 small children, pretty large house where sensors may not know we’re still home, etc, and I work from home. So currently we manually arm/disarm the system. My suggestion just would be a password option on voice macro’s, the ability to turn on or off. Our kids hear us talking to Alexa and are trying to show off to their friends, etc, and it would be nice to have the extra security as the odds of them remembering the PIN with everything else is much lower. I could see perhaps the use of the option also being on the arm/disarm commands which would be great as well, but you could always point people in the direction of voice macros if you didn’t want to add the functionality there, etc.
As far as the delay part of it goes, my “I’m leaving” macro has a delay of 1 minute already built into it before it arms the system, locks the doors, etc.
Hope I made a somewhat coherent case
Thanks again!
Also, if you don’t mind my ignorance, I just tried adding the new 3rd voice macro of “im leaving” post my initial deployment. I updated the LIST_OF_MACROS custom slot with the new macro name of “im leaving” and updated, but when I do ‘Alexa tell smartthings im leaving’ she tells me she can’t find a macro called ‘im leaving.’ I’m pretty sure I missed a step somewhere What else would I need to update/change for the new macro to work with Alexa?