So at a high level I have a few ways to tell the house when the babysitter (we have a few) arrives. One of the envisioned ways is to simply tell "Alexa, the babysitter is here"
This is what I had to do.
Created a Virtual Presence Sensor - Babysitter.
Created a Virtual Switch - Babysitter Button (because Alexa cannot accept the Babysitter presence sensor as a switch).
Create custom commands in RM for departed() and arrived() so I can trigger departed and arrived in RM.
Created rules in RM so that when Babysitter button = on then arrived() and vice versa.
Added the Babysitter Button to Alexa.
Tested the Babysitter Button in Alexa. When I turn the babysitter button on the babysitter is marked as arrived() and when I turn off the babysitter button in Alexa the babysitter is departed(). NB! - when I turn on the babysitter button the level sets to 100% (even though it is not dimmer).
Created a routine "Alexa, the babysitter left" this turns off the babysitter button <-- this works just fine.
Created a routine "Alexa, the babysitter is here" this does not work, but I expect the babysitter button to turn on. NB!- when I create the routine, the Alexa app defaults the dimmer level to 50%. I left it as such without success, increased it to 100% without success and decreased it to 1 without success.
I also re-created the routine thinking this was an Alexa thing, without success.
It seems like the Alexa routines treat everything from Hubitat like dimmers, so turning on switches doesn't work. I got around it by putting anything that is a switch that I want to turn on via a routine, into its own group. Then have Alexa turn on the group. It's annoying but works .
This is what you have to do and it works. However, this got me thinking of an even nicer scenario then using Alexa to announce the babysitter presence. Assuming that every kid today of babysitting age has a phone, you could trigger the event based on their phone MAC address in range of your WiFi.
I have not done it so I don't have the details, but there are implementations on the ST forum and I've seen discussions of it here as well. I do recall also seeing a Node.js setup to do it.
Set up the Deco M5 and it was challenging in a more complex network where you need and want multiple devices to have resevered addresses. It only supports up to 16! Cannot change the IP range it assigns either, so that was fun have to reconfigure everything!
So far performance is good though, and the IFTTT and Alexa integration work well. Have setup some arrival rules that work in conjunction with Homebridge to unlock the door. Working well to prevent the door from opening before I want or in unexpected scenarios.
Specifically to answer your question, the TP-Link IFTTT channel triggers the Hubitat IFTTT channel within 9 seconds of the previously connected device rejoining the network. That's good enough for my uses.
Thank you for the info! That's pretty close to what the Iris Key Fob does...for now I'm going to set up a button on the fob to do a mode change, we would like for the front door to be unlocked before we get to it . Good to know all the options.
Same here. Before, I was using iOS location services to auto unlock, since my August lock app would only occasionally auto-unlock the door. Problem with location services alone is, if I happened to enter the defined location just after my wife or daughter had just locked the door to go somewhere, but I was just passing by my street, our door would unlock without either of us noticing. Due to the layout of our neighborhood and the nearby shops, this happened more times than it might usually in most cases.
Now what happens is, when one of us enters the defined geolocation, a virtual switch specific to each of us is activated. Then when we come in range of our WiFi and our phones reconnect, and a second virtual switch specific to each of us is activated. When those two match, a rule triggers the door lock and both switches then turn off in preparation for the next time.
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