It is now March 2018; what is the most simple way to use an Amazon Echo speaker from SmartThings? I would like to use it to announce things I have in webCoRE or some other way to interface. I would like to limit the number of apps and hopefully hardware needed to us the Alexa speaker as a notification device.
I have an Echo Dot v2 if that matters but I hope the solution will work for all of the Echo devices.
Thanks in advance
Short answer is you canâtâŚnot yetâŚThe Echo continues to be a ârequest onlyâ deviceâŚyou must initiate conversation (except when it laughs on its own). However, there have been rumors for over a year that they would implement some sort of notification systems, and some apps (like their own package delivery system) do that.
My guessâŚit will still happenâŚbut for whenâŚyou could place money on any day and you have certain odds of winning (low, but not 0%).
Thanks for the reply.
I have seen BigTalker, LANnouncer, Echosistant, and other solutions but not a direct way to use the speaker as you say. I would prefer not to use an android device (tablet) or Windows box, but if there was only one app it would I think be the easiest way to do it. I would just prefer not to have 2+ apps to get something this simple to work. I have seen suggestions over the years but nothing current which was why I decided to post this question.
I agree. Again I think this will happen. I wrote Ask Alexa and have already implemented a way of outputting to things like sonos speakers and will be able to push to Echos when that feature is available.
No changes to this? Still not possible to add the Echo Dot in Smartthings like a speaker?
SortaâŚ
Alexa App now allows provoked notifications from actions triggered in SmartThings. Currently, switches, motion and contact sensors are supported.
There are some âfunkyâ work arounds, mostly with Raspberry Pis and undocumented API calls. However, for standard types of alerts (i.e. a door is open) I use my Alexa Virtual Device Creator app along with a routine to trigger voice output. It is âclunkyâ, but it works. Dynamic output is still the holy grail.
Did you figure this out? I added the motion sensors and made routines but they never trigger
Just talked with AmazonâŚThey said the API is not opened up yet and is still being worked on.
Well i got it working with motion sensors through smartthings⌠Speakers now speak when there is motion and turn on lightsâŚAfter adding motion sensor to Alexa via smartthings then creating my routine. I had to the tell alexa to start discovery. After that it now works. Tried a few more and everything is working after you discovery (After routine is created)
I noticed thereâs no way to pick multiple echoâs for it to announce on in a single routine. I.e. if you want it to announce in 3 different rooms when a door is open you have to make 3 separate routines in the alexa app, kind of clunky. Also noticed like our iphones as presence sensors in ST do not show up in alexa app as a device.
Iâve been constantly annoyed with my music not resuming on my sonos systems every time there is a notification, so trying to move the notifications over to the echoâs, but nothing seems like an ideal solution.
Go back and edit your routine for the door open, make sure you choose âMessagingâ instead of âAlexa saysâ, then choose Send Announcement and enter in your custom message announcement. After clicking Next button, you can select âAll devicesâ or whatever combination of echoâs you want to announce to.
Ahh, thanks. Yea that is better, just adds a little tone before the message is all. I still miss some of the functionality of doing within smart things like only announcing in certain modes (i.e. not when no one is home, or not in the bedroom when my wife is sleeping etc) but that is an improvement. Another option without goofing up my sonos all the time is lannouncer to my 3 wall mounted fire tablets, but i donât have those as many places and the volume seems a little low.
On the off-chance someone finds this thread and wonders if this has a solution âŚ
I am using this and it is doing what I expect.
https://community.smartthings.com/t/release-echo-speaks/
** I recommend reading the full instructions. There is a lot but it is good to get a full understanding.
I think the easiest way to install it is following these parts of the installation instructions, as of today.
1_ Use this installer
âThis is the simplest way to get Echo Speak Installed as well as other community apps
Please visit here for instructions: SmartThings Community Installerâ
2_ Finish setup with this section and below
â3. Scroll to the bottom of the screen again and tap on âMy Appsââ
Echo speaks is fine if you need all of its functionality, but as of the fall of 2018 Amazon has added more functionality to their app which now makes this much easier to do and you often donât need any custom code at all depending on exactly what you are trying to accomplish. It has to do with Amazon routines ( which are different than SmartThings routines.)
There is a community FAQ that explains how to do this. Itâs become a very popular feature, and again is much easier to set up and use than the echo speaks smartapp.
As far as being able to restrict the times when it happens or fold in other more complex logic, you could also do that with this method. You set up a virtual device which is the one that will trigger the Amazon routine. Then use all of your smartthings logic to decide when to activate that virtual device.
Choice is good. 
( This is a clickable link)
So am I correct that we still do not have a method (either in ST or Webcore) to determine which echo device was spoken to?
Can you give an example of what youâre wanting to do?
Example : I have an Alexa routine/webcore piston that turns up the volume of my ceiling speakers when I say âAlexa, speaker volume upâ. Unfortunately, it does so for every active ceiling speaker in the house. I do not have smart speakers. I would like to be able to query which Alexa was spoken to and act on items in that location only. And I donât want to use Echo Speaks.
hmmm, ok. That is able to be done.
Why do you not want to use Echo Speaks?
