Tomo1971:
I have a piston set up in WebCoRE to send an SMS when an event happens but would also like to get one of my Echo’s to notify me that the event has occurred. (The Piston does work as intended so far).
I see that Alexa will natively tell me that one of my sensors is open/active but when I add a virtual switch or device, although Alexa detects it as a new device, I cant trigger a routine from it, only use it as an output.
I would like to end my Piston by turning on a virtual switch - Alexa detects that virtual switch has been turned on and then gives an announcement of my choice on my selected echo device.
Is this possible - if so, how?
There’s a simple way to do it, but there’s a trick to it. You need to create a virtual device which is both a Contact sensor and a switch. Then you can turn on the switch from smartthings, that makes the contact sensor look like it’s open, and you can trigger your Amazon routine (not a smartthings routine) from the contact sensor.
See the community FAQ: it’s pretty straightforward once you get the idea of it. You don’t need an Amazon developer account or anything.
Breaking News!!! As of August 2018, a SmartThings-connected Contact or Motion Sensor can now trigger an Amazon echo routine if you live in the US, Canada, or the UK !!!
Amazon has now added the ability for some sensors to trigger an Amazon echo routine (not a smartthings routine), which does let you trigger other smart home devices which are not connected to SmartThings without having to speak an echo command! Or you can set it up so that your echo devices will speak a customized phrase, play a doorbell chime, or various other sound effects.
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