Alexa and Virtual Garage Door Device

[Tomgru]

Any help here appreciated.

Trying to open/close my garage door with Alexa skill.

I've created a garage door device with open/close status (see pic). I then have two events... one for open and one for close.

I then have an open event, and close event, that are triggered if the device becomes open/closed.

This works fine from the device manager. but... two issues when trying with alexa.

1. "open" doesn't work... I have to say "Turn on small garage door". I thought this worked now?

2. Closing via alexa doesn't work at all. even if I use the "off" instead.

Any ideas?

[Dan-O]

Alexa has routines now.
Create a routine that controls the virtual device.
You can enter whatever text you want that Alexa recognizes to control the device.

I lock my front door with a routine. I made it fire on "Alexa, lock the front door please"
Alexa turns a virtual device on.
I have an event to lock my Z-Wave deadbolt that executes when the above mentioned device turns on. The same event turns the device off after the door locks which is essential a reset.
For security reasons, I don't have verbal control of the unlocking ability.

You could create a companion event that closes the door after firing a second routine through Alexa and a HS event.

[JMarias]

Alexa->IFTTT->Event->MyQ plugin

I might have overcomplicated my setup as I am still learning the ins and outs of HS3 devices and plugins. And Alexa Routines might simplify this. But this is what I did for my Liftmaster (MyQ) doors....

1. Created open and close events for each door in HS3

2. Created quick and easy applets in IFTTT...
IF Alexa hears the phrase "open jims door", THEN Run Homeseer event "Open Jim's Garage Door"
Did the same thing for the Close event and for my wife's door.

3. Now all I have to do is say "Alexa, Trigger Open Jim's Door".

Jim

[Tomgru]

Alexa has routines now.
Create a routine that controls the virtual device.
You can enter whatever text you want that Alexa recognizes to control the device.

I lock my front door with a routine. I made it fire on "Alexa, lock the front door please"
Alexa turns a virtual device on.
I have an event to lock my Z-Wave deadbolt that executes when the above mentioned device turns on. The same event turns the device off after the door locks which is essential a reset.
For security reasons, I don't have verbal control of the unlocking ability.

You could create a companion event that closes the door after firing a second routine through Alexa and a HS event.

Interesting that I have two virtual devices created for each of my garage doors, but alexa doesn't see them for some reason. They are in the category of "garage door"... maybe that's why. I can work them fine through the HS
Alexa skill - e.g. "Alexa, tell homeseer to open the small garage door" works great.

can you check and see what category you have your virtual devices setup as?

[Ricky]

Alexa has routines now.
Create a routine that controls the virtual device.
You can enter whatever text you want that Alexa recognizes to control the device.

I lock my front door with a routine. I made it fire on "Alexa, lock the front door please"
Alexa turns a virtual device on.
I have an event to lock my Z-Wave deadbolt that executes when the above mentioned device turns on. The same event turns the device off after the door locks which is essential a reset.
For security reasons, I don't have verbal control of the unlocking ability.

You could create a companion event that closes the door after firing a second routine through Alexa and a HS event.

Just so I understand better. You could use the "tell homeseer" skill and say "tell homeseer to run event lock deadbolt" Right? The advantage of using the virtual device is to avoid the "tell homeseer" and "event" language. Is that it?

Also, could you not turn on and off the virtual device directly from the homeseer skill, without a routine?

[Ricky]

Any help here appreciated.

Trying to open/close my garage door with Alexa skill.

I've created a garage door device with open/close status (see pic). I then have two events... one for open and one for close.

I then have an open event, and close event, that are triggered if the device becomes open/closed.

This works fine from the device manager. but... two issues when trying with alexa.

1. "open" doesn't work... I have to say "Turn on small garage door". I thought this worked now?

2. Closing via alexa doesn't work at all. even if I use the "off" instead.

Any ideas?

I am able to use Alexa to access my MyQ garage door devices directly through the "tell Homeseer" skill. There are two homeseer skills, right? And both skills can be installed in Alexa and used.

Am I missing something in what you want?

[regm]

There are two homeseer skills, right? And both skills can be installed in Alexa and used.

From https://forums.homeseer.com/showpost...17&postcount=2

There are two skills..., one which uses an API, and one which is more generic.

The API one is the 'HomeSeer' skill, located in the 'Smart Home' group of the Alexa app.

The generic one is the 'HomeSeer Home Automation' skill.


Each skill has pros and cons for HS3 users.

The skills can be enabled and used by themselves, or both can be enabled simultaneously.

The API skill does a discovery of devices in your HS3 system, while the generic one looks for the device after the command is processed.

The API allows on/off/dim/set commands for devices if they have the status pair control use set properly.

The generic skill allows for any command word available on the device.

Both skills require the device to be controlled to have the 'voice command' option enabled (in the configuration area of the device)

The API uses the context of 'Alexa, [command]', whereas the generic skill uses 'Alexa, tell HomeSeer to [command]'.

The generic skill allows for control of events by name or phrase, and can set timed commands.