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    Announcements Through Alexa

    I would like to make announcement through Alexa devices. Supposedly this should be possible if a company applies for it. I know there is a workaround via nodered but isn't there a way to do this directly through HS? It is too complicated to do this through all my Chromecast devices (delay from the amp, volume control, enable/disable announcement, etc).

    #2
    And if you also would like to have Alexa announcements directly through the event engine then submit a feature request at https://dev.homeseer.com/servicedesk/customer/portals or send an email to support@homeseer.com and mention you support feature request HSCS-13137

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      #3
      Already exists and free from jon00 .

      https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/3r...r-3-homeseer-4

      Comment


        #4
        I need to look into this but if there is a solution then why does HS not implement this?? I suspect at least 1/4 of people using HS have Alexa devices and another 1/4 have Google devices (and 50% of people have to catch up). So HS really should provide official integration with Alexa... That's one of the things that really should be integrated into HS.

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          #5
          They have already supplied free inbound Alexa voice integration for triggering events and controlling devices via an Alexa command. As to the other way, Jon has already supplied a solution and it's free. Is Jon's free more expensive then HST's free????

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            #6
            I think that because there are implementations of this, HS isn't going to reinvent the wheel. I use node-red on the same pc that I run HS on, and it works very well. I have no programming experience, but I've found the assistance from the forum very helpful in getting node-red to work.
            Last edited by Kevb; April 13, 2022, 10:23 PM. Reason: grammar

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              #7
              That is exactly the point in my original post. Why do I have to use node-red to make announcements through Alex??? This is something so basic that should be implemented in HS through events. Why do I have to install node-red, create a connection to HS from node-red, create workflows in node-red, deal with updating certificates from node-red to amazon, make sure node-red is started when I reboot my computer, etc. Node-red is cool but there has to be a solution to make announcements without having to jump through all those hoops. There has to be an event action that allows me to make announcement through Alexa. HS is optimizing their software for mobile users so everything is super easy to be set up but I have to go through all those steps for making an announcement through Alexa???

              rjh

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                #8
                Originally posted by Kevb View Post
                I think that because there are implementations of this, HS isn't going to reinvent the wheel. I use node-red on the same pc that I run HS on, and it works very well. I have no programming experience, but I've found the assistance from the forum very helpful in getting node-red to work.
                Same here. I also have no programming experience and found the process with Node Red fairly straight forward, and also had great help from the forum. No need to waste scarce resources to reinvent the wheel. Let HS focus on improving HS4, makes much more sense.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by mulu View Post
                  That is exactly the point in my original post. Why do I have to use node-red to make announcements through Alex??? This is something so basic that should be implemented in HS through events. Why do I have to install node-red, create a connection to HS from node-red, create workflows in node-red, deal with updating certificates from node-red to amazon, make sure node-red is started when I reboot my computer, etc. Node-red is cool but there has to be a solution to make announcements without having to jump through all those hoops. There has to be an event action that allows me to make announcement through Alexa. HS is optimizing their software for mobile users so everything is super easy to be set up but I have to go through all those steps for making an announcement through Alexa???

                  rjh
                  Why do you think that announcements via Alexa is so basic? There is no official API to allow this to happen which is why so many of the Alexa TTS implementations in Home Automation have had to reverse engineer a solution. This in turn has needed the use of Amazon cookies to keep the connections alive. The node-red TTS solution is one example of this. Whilst this has been working for several years (and I hope it continues), there is nothing to stop Amazon changing things which could break these reverse engineered methods. I can't speak for HST but I could never endorse an official HS4 Alexa TTS solution using reverse engineered techniques. Support for this would be a nightmare if Amazon broke this.

                  When Amazon purchased Ring, they created a new API for video door bells. One of the features of that was to allow communication between the doorbell and Alexa Devices which included TTS when linked to Alexa Routines. The Voice Monkey team discovered this and wrote a skill to emulate a virtual doorbell. This solution needed back-end servers and trusted links with Amazon. I'm not sure Amazon were very pleased with this but it was not breaking any TOC using the skill that way. At one point they did pull the VM skill.

                  So many times you have been told about my Voice Monkey implementation ( here , here , here) but you seem totally unwilling to try it out (and I'm not sure why?). It gives you exactly what you have asked for (i.e. sending TTS via events) and is no different to sending TTS to local speaker clients. I don't charge and try to provide good support. Rich is even providing a change for me to make things even easier.

                  You may well ask why can't HST replicate Voice Monkey's solution. Well they could but this would take months of work including software development, Amazon approvals, cost, additional servers etc. Why reinvent the wheel when there are already solutions available? Voice Monkey is now used with other HA packages so this is not specific to Homeseer.
                  Jon

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                    #10
                    * I didn't say it is basic/trivial to implement it. Instead it is a basic functionality to have announcements through devices that millions of people have in their homes.

                    * I am aware of voice monkey and node red. While I got node red to work it is not exactly trivial to implement (fortunately, there is a good and very long thread in these forums to implement it but that shouldn't be necessary)

                    * I get it that there is no official API for Alexa but maybe, and just maybe, if enough companies like HS etc complain to Amazon (I know, I know, Amazon probably doesn't care) they will finally open up the API. But if we as users don't care or don't say anything then for sure nothing will happen.

                    * VoiceMonkey is selling their service without an official API so maybe HS can partner up with them or do the same if they think that is more beneficial for their bottom line. https://voicemonkey.io/

                    * HS has spent a lot of time on making the UI bad for desktop users so why not spend some time for Alexa/google announcements. And yes, I know they will and have been improving the experience for us desktop users. A big thank you to rjh and the rest of the team.

                    * Node red thread for announcements: https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/ho...E2%80%9D-guide

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by mulu View Post
                      * I didn't say it is basic/trivial to implement it. Instead it is a basic functionality to have announcements through devices that millions of people have in their homes.

                      * I am aware of voice monkey and node red. While I got node red to work it is not exactly trivial to implement (fortunately, there is a good and very long thread in these forums to implement it but that shouldn't be necessary)

                      * I get it that there is no official API for Alexa but maybe, and just maybe, if enough companies like HS etc complain to Amazon (I know, I know, Amazon probably doesn't care) they will finally open up the API. But if we as users don't care or don't say anything then for sure nothing will happen.

                      * HS has spent a lot of time on making the UI bad for desktop users so why not spend some time for Alexa/google announcements. And yes, I know they will and have been improving the experience for us desktop users. A big thank you to rjh and the rest of the team.

                      * https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/ho...E2%80%9D-guide
                      So why won't you try Voice Monkey?
                      Jon

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by mulu View Post

                        * VoiceMonkey is selling their service without an official API so maybe HS can partner up with them or do the same if they think that is more beneficial for their bottom line. https://voicemonkey.io/
                        I see you added this entry to your post. Why do you say its without an official API? It uses an Amazon Official API. Do you think $6 a year is unreasonable when they have to provide back-end servers to process the commands?
                        Jon

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by jon00 View Post

                          I see you added this entry to your post. Why do you say its without an official API? It uses an Amazon Official API. Do you think $6 a year is unreasonable when they have to provide back-end servers to process the commands?
                          I must be misunderstanding something. In the quote above you say "It uses an Amazon Official API" but then in post Albums you say "<snip>There is no official API<snip>". I don't really want to "fight" about this. My only point is that Alexa/Google announcements should be integrated into HS without having to resort to NodeRed or VoiceMonkey.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by mulu View Post

                            I must be misunderstanding something. In the quote above you say "It uses an Amazon Official API" but then in post Albums you say "<snip>There is no official API<snip>". I don't really want to "fight" about this. My only point is that Alexa/Google announcements should be integrated into HS without having to resort to NodeRed or VoiceMonkey.
                            I understand what you want but as I said, there is no Amazon API to directly communicate with Alexa for TTS so is not possible without reverse engineering etc. Read my post 9 above again especially paragraphs 2 and 4. The official Amazon API I'm talking about is their 'doorbell API' which is what Voice Monkey has used to provide TTS.

                            Jon

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                              #15
                              I read your post more than once but the "Doorbell API' comment in the post above catches my interest. I have a SkyBell and I always wanted to do announcement through Alexa when someone presses the button on our SkyBell doorbell (so far it has been pretty complicated and unreliable creating an Arduino-based device, buying and configuring an Arduino plugin, dealing with node-red, etc). Are you saying this is OFFICIALLY possible now (I thought Amazon is blocking out other companies after they acquired Ring)?

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