Virtual switch and Alexa...Having issues!

Devices & Integrations
1

I have Ring cameras, alarm, Smartthings (v2 and station), and Echo devices.

I’m trying to automatically arm and disarm the Ring alarm based on geofencing.

The Ring alarm does not natively support this so I was thinking I can create a virtual switch in Smartthings and use it’s geofencing feature to have it turn on or off based on if I’m home or not.

I was able to create the virtual switch, and create 2 routines (one for leaving and one for arriving home).

Then I went to Alexa custom routines but here’s where I ran into issues. The newly created virtual switch does not show up as one of the available device in under the routine’s Event section even though it shows up as one of the devices in the overall devices list.

Then I read somewhere that Alex routine does not work with a “switch”. So I changed the virtual device type to Presence Sensor. Unfortunately this didn’t work either.

So, what am I doing wrong? Any guidance would be really appreciated.

2

This is always true. There are only some specific device classes which can be used as Alexa routine triggers at the current time. You got started in the right direction, you just need to use a different kind of virtual device.

Please see the community FAQ on this use case, it will show you what you need to do.

Note that the instructions are different if you do have a SmartThings/Aeotec hub or if you don’t, but the basic idea is the same.

FAQ: Can I trigger an Echo Action without Speaking to It?

3

Thank you JD! Your post and the link made it all so clear. You are awesome!

1 Like