Hello,
I have a new setup with Konnected alarm system and Hubitat. My question is, is it possible to setup the Amazon Echo as an output device in Hubitat? My old alarm system siren doesn't seem to work with Konnected so instead of purchasing a new one, I thought it would be a cool work around to play some siren sound via the 3 echos in the house. I've seen some things around echo speaks but not a clear how to.
A new siren is like $20-$40 so no big deal if this isn't possible but it would be cool.
It is certainly possible for TTS announcements to be made using an Amazon Echo using Echo Speaks or Alexa TTS.
However, I think a locally controlled siren whose operation will not be disrupted during interruption of internet connectivity is more appropriate for use with a security system.
With the Alexa option, if an intruder disrupts your internet connection, no alarm/TTS would be played.
If making an alarm sound on your Echo devices is all you want to do outputting to them, then you can have a virtual switch that triggers an Alexa routine to make a noise, or announce on all devices. This might be cleaner than having to install custom code on the Hubitat side.
That said, I agree with aaiyar that you should have a noisemaker under local control. And since your Konnected board has a convenient output for an alarm, I'd just do that with a cheap noisemaker.
You would actually want a Virtual Contact Sensor OR a Virtual Motion Sensor to be exposed to an Amazon Echo device using the "Amazon Echo Skill". 'Alexa Routines' can only be triggered via a motion or contact sensor from Hubitat. Thus the recommendation to use one of these two virtual devices.
Sorry to bring up an old topic, but I was playing around with this and was able to get this to work.
Need a virtual Multi Sensor for Amazon to use as a trigger
I used a virtual Switch as my trigger, but you can definitely use whatever you have available. I only mention this as that's what I'm going to explain in my steps
I then created a rule that whenever the switch is turned on, it will open the virtual sensor (and turn off the virtual switch. I also had another rule that whenever the virtual sensor was opened it would then close it. I did this to only act as a trigger, and allow me to press the button again without having to turn it off first).
In Alexa, I had it set that whenever the virtual contact would open, say something. In my test, I had it say a joke, but you could make it say whatever you want.
Overall it is possible, just need to use the virtual devices to help get around Alexa restrictions
I set this up this evening without "Virtual" switches. I guess there has been an upgrade to Hubitat since this topic was discussed. Thanks for the advice here, although technically inaccurate, I would have struggled more without this information.
The user was asking specifically about using a virtual device to trigger an Alexa Routine. I was merely pointing out that the a switch (virtual or physical) cannot be used to trigger an Alexa Routine. One must use a contact sensor or motion sensor (virtual or physical.)
Hi, I found this thread while trying to set up something similar. "door open" after a sensor activation, count X, then check it is still open.....Trigger announcement on Echodot's "door open"
Once I laid down the Skill and alexa app part, it was a simple routine in Hubitat rules.
Once again, thank you to everyone who supports and contributes to this community. I have been on courses on siemens / Allen bradley industrial automation, but Hubitat did have a steep learning curve. I would have gave up without community support.
