I’m somewhat new to SmartThings and have been setting it all up.
One of the biggest things I really would like to have to complete this is something that notifies me when an alarm is tripped. For example, if someone opens the back door, I would love an audio device that could say “Back Door Open”. If someone opens the bedroom window it says “Bedroom window open”.
Can this be done with Google Home? Or are there other good options for making this happen?
Thanks
Logan
Can’t with Google Home. You can with a Sonos, Bose or DLNA enabled wifi speaker.
CoRE + ST-compatible WiFi-enabled speaker = Joy.
I just picked up a Bose SoundTouch 10 yesterday and already have a few CoRE pistons doing exactly what you’re talking about. If anyone enters my front yard and is visible to my Ring Pro I get a, “Someone is in the front yard” notification from the speaker. If the charge levels in any of my battery operated devices fall below their configured thresholds I should get a “{device-name-here} battery level is below {threshold} percent” notification. Etc, etc.
Okay, I know this is going to sound stupid, but what is CoRE?
Considering how many times that’s been asked here I think the last thing I’d call it is a stupid question…
Another option is to go with LANnouncer on and Android 5.1 device (you can get a cheap $20 one from Walmart) along with a smart app called BigTalker or use CoRE. It will do exactly what you want and if you get tired of verbose notifications, it can also do a simple chime or even a warning siren sound.
There are many different ways of doing this. 
(Unfortunately at present Google home is not one of them.)
The first choice to make is whether you want to just use something that will play a pre-recorded sound file, in which case that sound could be a voice announcement or chime or a buzz or whatever you want, but you have to have one sound clip for each of the notifications that you want. There are devices as inexpensive as $49 that can play These kind of sound clips.
Or do you want to use a device that has “text to speech” (TTS) capabilities. Some of the fancy speakers like Sonos can do this, and there are also some less expensive devices. In those cases, the device will speak whatever text you have defined, which gives you a little more flexibility than the sound clip method.
Once you’ve decided which of those hardware options you want, then there are many different ways of setting up code in smartthings to play the alert.
There’s a how to article in the community – created wiki that goes over most of the options. Although the title has to do with setting up a chime, the principle is the same and the TTS options are also mentioned.
http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_Set_Up_a_Door_Open_Chime/Siren
Google home is actually possible but you have to run a node.js webserver on a raspberry pi or always-on PC to act as the middle man. I have this running locally in a raspberry pi and it works well.
I do these things with an android control tablet. Look up SmartTiles. I run that, and since the tablet is there I use its capabilities. I know you are a beginner, so let me take you through what I do.
SmartTiles is running on the $40 android tablet. SmartTiles is a web-based info/control screen for SmartThings. Great tool, worth the investment in learning. There’s a newer version out with a different name.
On that tablet I’m also running an app called Tasker. Tasker allows you to automate activities on your android phone or tablet. When X condition is met, Y action occurs.
There is a Tasker plugin that bridges between SmartThings and Tasker. It is called Sharptools. It allows SmartThings events to trigger things on the phone, and it allows things on the phone to trigger events in SmartThings.
So… one example I have is my washing machine. It’s power usage is monitored by a smart plug. When that plug falls to zero watts, it indicates that to sharptools. Sharptools then triggers the android tablet to a) turn up media volume, b) announce “laundry wash cycle is complete”, c) turn media volume back down.
Obviously, such things could be triggered by a door opening - so if the sensor on your back door goes to ‘open’ status, it would trigger your tablet to announce “back door is open”. It can get far more interesting and complex if you’d like; it could, for example, announce that ‘open’ status every five minutes until the door closes. There are other Tasker plugins that allow all manner of things to occur. The Joao AutoApps in particular are awesome.
Wow, these are some great suggestions. I’m going to talk to the wife and get going on this stuff. I’m excited.
I have two Samsung Multiroom Audio Speakers (M3 and M5), and SHM is configured to sound the alarm through them when it detects an intrusion. This works great. Now, I’d like to find a simple way to have ST cause these speakers to sound a chime when a door sensor opens. I read the wiki on how to setup a door open chime/siren, but it focuses on providing physical speaker/chime options for actually generating sound. I don’t need physical sound generation options because I already have two Samsung speakers that ST recognizes. I just want to be able to chime them when a door opens. Any suggestions?
A simple CoRE piston will do that easily. You can even have it give you a spoken notification via TTS.
Thanks. I’ll take a stab at it…
Hey,
Just bought a raspberry pi. Really I have no idea what I’m doing but I’m trying to set up a node.js on it to run announcements on my google home’s locally. Do you think you could spell it out for me or send me to the appropriate place to learn how to do this?
I am new to smartthings and totally agree that it should support and integrate with google home/mini
.
Requirement to issue a verbal warning if for example the multi sensor is triggered Open
Multi sensor fitted to Freezer door,
Freezer door is left open
after nn minutes Multi sensor is triggered and sends an alarm message to google home
Message is played on Google home (ie Warning Freezer Door is open)
Please consider this request for inclusion in a future update.
@cpp, do you have any type of connected speaker other than Google Home? If so, you can achieve this with webCoRE. I am new too and have just set up an alert like this. It plays every 2 minutes until the door is closed properly.
I think I have a resolution but I haven’t tried it yet, if you own a Samsung S8
Enter settings and select separate app sound
Scroll to the bottom and set the smarthings app and then set the audio device to bluetooth
Whilst the bluetooth device is available it should play the notification sound through it.
I really hope this works and I’ll be looking forward to trying it
Saxnix thanks for the update I only have google home and minis as connected
speakers… So will keep watching to see if smartthings incorporate support
Hi, I’m having an issue with sending the notifications to Lannouncer on my Fire HD10. I can open the “Thing” in my SmartThings app and send chimes to my device and it works. What I cannot do is say “When door opens send chime”. How do I do that part? I feel like I am missing something really simple… Any help would be greatly appreciated.