No TTS???

[Furious]

More like the push for HS4 has basically halted all other development.
Let's hope the skill is more reliable for discovery with the new version so we don't need to have ha bridge or node red to do the task....

[mik3]

You're really hobbling yourself tying down to one system, and what we've seen in the past from HS, is that you'll be waiting a LONG time for new features.... and then they may not be what you want.
Example - the homeseer skill. Works for most, but I've had so many issues with HS not presenting devices properly to amazon that I gave up and went first to the HA bridge app, then onto node-red. It also takes out the reliance on another cloud service (my HS) and increases reliability.

You want the best coverage and flexibility for HA as no system does everything well. HS has the best event engine. Others have better support for other services. HS has never covered all my needs, and I've gone way past the reinventing the wheel with scripting for trying to get control of devices.

If you want ease of backup and restoration or configuration, try docker. Spinning up containers of applications is easy, same with backing up configuration. If you have some spare memory on your server, you can run non-native apps and so straddle the platform divide - there are way more apps and scripts for linux, python, JS, etc than windows. If you're averse to doing that, WSL v2 should make it even better come the next big windows update.

Good points.

i keep hearing mention of node red all over. It seems like most systems support this.

Im going to dig more into this.

[Furious]

No I don’t see how. A unofficial app is available under Hubitat, but I don’t see how you could pass those values over to it.

i prefer one system myself. I have a means to keep backups and what not. Most my devices are all Lutron. I mean I do have zigbee and zwave stuff too.

You're really hobbling yourself tying down to one system, and what we've seen in the past from HS, is that you'll be waiting a LONG time for new features.... and then they may not be what you want.
Example - the homeseer skill. Works for most, but I've had so many issues with HS not presenting devices properly to amazon that I gave up and went first to the HA bridge app, then onto node-red. It also takes out the reliance on another cloud service (my HS) and increases reliability.

You want the best coverage and flexibility for HA as no system does everything well. HS has the best event engine. Others have better support for other services. HS has never covered all my needs, and I've gone way past the reinventing the wheel with scripting for trying to get control of devices.

If you want ease of backup and restoration or configuration, try docker. Spinning up containers of applications is easy, same with backing up configuration. If you have some spare memory on your server, you can run non-native apps and so straddle the platform divide - there are way more apps and scripts for linux, python, JS, etc than windows. If you're averse to doing that, WSL v2 should make it even better come the next big windows update.

[mik3]

Can you use this method to pass variable values from Homeseer to the Alexa routine? At least half of my TTS events speak a variable value of some sort.

I also used to want all of my rules in one place to manage everything easier. Experience has taught me distributing things across multiple systems is more resilient and failures are a lot softer if you don't have all your eggs in one basket.

No I don’t see how. A unofficial app is available under Hubitat, but I don’t see how you could pass those values over to it.

i prefer one system myself. I have a means to keep backups and what not. Most my devices are all Lutron. I mean I do have zigbee and zwave stuff too.

[simplextech]

Lol yes of course! That’s what I want.

why on earth haven’t they done this yet ?

I can't talk about it....under developer secrecy and this is a family friendly forum where that language is not appropriate

[upstatemike]

You could create two virtual devices under Hubitat. One a contact sensor and the other a switch.

expose the virtual switch to Homeseer and write your events when to turn it on.

on Hubitat create a rule when the switch turns on to open the contact sensor.

expose contact sensor to Alexa.

open Alexa and write a routine on contact sensor open to say what you want.

——

My personal aim is to have Homeseer do everything with absolutely no rules of any kind running off Hubitat. I just want to expose switches, contact sensors, and motion sensors which I can do.

the problem I run into is Alexa tts and routines and the Lutron hold down buttons. This basically keeps me from fully moving over to Homeseer.

i personally don’t want multiple devices running rules and events. I want to keep it under one unit.

so sadly I’m waiting and hoping this is addressed in the near future.

Can you use this method to pass variable values from Homeseer to the Alexa routine? At least half of my TTS events speak a variable value of some sort.

I also used to want all of my rules in one place to manage everything easier. Experience has taught me distributing things across multiple systems is more resilient and failures are a lot softer if you don't have all your eggs in one basket.

[mik3]

Or... HS could just support the stupid Sensor API?????

Lol yes of course! That’s what I want.

why on earth haven’t they done this yet ?

[simplextech]

Or... HS could just support the stupid Sensor API?????

[mik3]

You could create two virtual devices under Hubitat. One a contact sensor and the other a switch.

expose the virtual switch to Homeseer and write your events when to turn it on.

on Hubitat create a rule when the switch turns on to open the contact sensor.

expose contact sensor to Alexa.

open Alexa and write a routine on contact sensor open to say what you want.

——

My personal aim is to have Homeseer do everything with absolutely no rules of any kind running off Hubitat. I just want to expose switches, contact sensors, and motion sensors which I can do.

the problem I run into is Alexa tts and routines and the Lutron hold down buttons. This basically keeps me from fully moving over to Homeseer.

i personally don’t want multiple devices running rules and events. I want to keep it under one unit.

so sadly I’m waiting and hoping this is addressed in the near future.

[Pete]

Here took an Alexa dot and installed it next to the Russound in the basement and mix the audio from MS SAPI (Homeseer) with the TTS from the DOT (microphone is off).

HA and Homeseer are both doing MQTT. HA (Alexa) / HS (MS SAPI) is doing TTS based on the Omni Pro 2 panel hard wired sensors. I am doing HS and HA on the same test box now.

Testing the pure MQTT from the modded SonOff devices to TTS and this works really nice.

The TTS response times are very good from the Alexa.

The HS Touchscreen table tops also do SAPI TTS.

[upstatemike]

I will probably bring it up on Cocoontech as the most product neutral place for that discussion. First I need to inventory my Homeseer events involving CallerID, Sony TV and AV Receiver control, Brultech energy monitoring, etc. to see what gaps i can identify.

[simplextech]

I have a Hubitat but have not had a chance to play with it yet. I guess I was assuming it had some provision for virtual devices that could be linked to actual devices in Homeseer. I also have an ISY so could look at that path also.

As far as what Homeseer does, it is the coordinator that links and enhances various subsystems. I like the fact that my ISY will keep my lights working and Elk will keep processing various inputs even when I crash my Homeseer system while playing with a new plugin. (This usually happens in the middle of the night when I don't have time to undo what i just broke.) I can easily limp along for a day or two until I get the Homeseer system restored since the subsystems keep on working. I would be really surprised if Hubitat could do everything that Homeseer does to the point where you could seriously consider it as a potential replacement rather than just another Homeseer subsystem. Same goes for ISY/PolyGot.

Hubitat has a long way to go in regards to stability before I will consider it a "serious" offering. It is a great device controller for Zigbee and is very stable if you leave it alone and just run your devices on it.

I've seen your messages on the UD forum and issues here. Other than "local TTS" which only HS does because of the speaker client which who knows the future of what else can you NOT do with ISY/Polyglot? Maybe move that to a Private message so as not to "offend" anyone talking about competition.

[upstatemike]

I have a Hubitat but have not had a chance to play with it yet. I guess I was assuming it had some provision for virtual devices that could be linked to actual devices in Homeseer. I also have an ISY so could look at that path also.

As far as what Homeseer does, it is the coordinator that links and enhances various subsystems. I like the fact that my ISY will keep my lights working and Elk will keep processing various inputs even when I crash my Homeseer system while playing with a new plugin. (This usually happens in the middle of the night when I don't have time to undo what i just broke.) I can easily limp along for a day or two until I get the Homeseer system restored since the subsystems keep on working. I would be really surprised if Hubitat could do everything that Homeseer does to the point where you could seriously consider it as a potential replacement rather than just another Homeseer subsystem. Same goes for ISY/PolyGot.

[simplextech]

Does Hubitat support it? Could Homeseer get there through Hubitat? I see Hubitat as a likely Zigbee and multi-purpose interface into Homeseer so most folks would not be buying the Hubitat hub just to get Alexa TTS (assuming it can even do that). I agree that it would be ideal for HS4 to directly support Alexa sensors but until that happens other interfaces/plugins might provide a solution that is less of a hack than what folks are using today.

Hubitat does support the sensor API for Alexa. So does ISY and SmartThings. Unless your sensor is in Hubitat and you expose to Alexa through Hubitat there's isn't a way to do it cross-system though. Which if you're putting your sensors and devices into Hubitat... well what is HS doing?

[upstatemike]

Yeah there are hack arounds to make it work and there is a REAL and Official way that HomeSeer could be using. Just like every other platform. Actually thinking about it... I think HS is the only mainstream platform that doesn't support sensors with Alexa and even smaller open source projects support the sensor API.

Does Hubitat support it? Could Homeseer get there through Hubitat? I see Hubitat as a likely Zigbee and multi-purpose interface into Homeseer so most folks would not be buying the Hubitat hub just to get Alexa TTS (assuming it can even do that). I agree that it would be ideal for HS4 to directly support Alexa sensors but until that happens other interfaces/plugins might provide a solution that is less of a hack than what folks are using today.