Alexa to ask question and trigger a response on hubitat

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I have a simple virtual switch set up with a simple app to turn on three security lights in the back yard. It can be triggered via a button or by saying the wake word then "turn on security lights". When the switch is activated, I want Alexa to say, "I noticed you turned on the security lights, how long should I leave them on for?" I would like for the lights to shut off after that time has elapsed.

Is that possible? I do have echo speaks installed.

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I don't think this is possible without writing your own Alexa skill.

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Kind of, you could have Alexa ask you the question when the lights come on via Alexa Speaks, and then you could have Alexa routines for various times. 60 minutes, 15 minutes 5 minutes, etc. Each routine would set a virtual switch that could be used to determine how long to leave the lights on.

So you say Alexa, turn on the lights, then Alexa would ask the question.

Then you would say Alexa, turn off lights in 60 minutes. You would have to have an Alexa routine for each amount of time you wanted. I don't know of any way to pass a variable amount of time through an Alexa routine.

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Probably overkill, but back in my SmartThings days, I was an early adopter of Ask Alexa. However, I think that project has gone stale.

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I appreciate the responses, I read quite a bit on the EchoSpeaks Documentation and admittedly it was confusing but there was one reference to these actions:

  • Speak Tiered | Create a response that plays out in phases with unique delays between each response
  • Announcements/Broadcasts | Create a response that plays out in phases with unique delays between each response
  • SSML support for all Speak and Announcements
  • Custom Sequences

It seems to suggest something similar to my plan but I am not sure. I was curious as to what you thought.

In the interim, I have created an announcement that says the switch needs to be turned off if you want the lights to turn off, no interaction involved.

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I read somewhere that this idea could be implemented using Node Red, but I don't know exactly how, once you must use the awake word to provoke Echo device answer.

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you could also just implment rules to remind via alexa you after so long if the switch has been left on a certain amount of time.

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Sort of. Voice monkey voicemonkey.io can be used to ask yes/no questions. I use it to ask me if I want to open my bedroom blinds in the morning when motion is detected. I also have it ask me if i want to change the mode to theater when my TV is powered on. Its pretty cool.

You can either trigger the questions via the alexa app or by making a get request.

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