Play MP3 or audio file to Echo Dot

Are there any guides or information on how to use the music player functionality on Hubitat? I'm trying to trigger an online audio file to play through a speaker, preferably an echo dot speaker. I can't figure out how to play an audio file.

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Hubitat definitely does not support this natively. Amazon doesn't really either--there is no way to play arbitrary audio, at least not without writing a skill dedicated to that purpose like a radio station might (you know, the bad ones that don't use iHeartRadio or something I can actually play on multiple devices...).

The closest I can think of is Echo Speaks. This is a community app that can help manipulate some things on Echo devices. This is not supported by Hubitat or Amazon. It could break at any time if Amazon changes their mind about anything. It can't play an MP3 file per se, but it can play music from any Alexa-supported service.

If you don't insist on the Echo, there are other options: VLCThing (community), LANnouncer (community--only used it for TTS and I don't think it does music), and the native Sonos integration, and others may have more ideas.

Thanks, this makes sense now. I think I will try the Sonos integration route then.

I use the EUFY Genie, echo knock off speaker for playing local audio files. It supports DLNA so you can find it with the media render app and set it as a music player. I hear the Fibaro speakers work just as well and for a tenth the price of Sonos they can't be beat for little noise makers. I have mine playing a jingly bell when the front door opens. The file is hosted on a local PC that stays on. You can also use them for TTS using the native capabilities of HE.

This post links to the media render app : DLNA Player and Media Render warning message - #12 by cybrmage

One of the biggest hurdles for me was figuring out the format to tell HE where the file is hosted.
This is the format :

http://[IP address of PC hosting files]/sounds/Chime.mp3

Seems obvious now, but when you're coming from a Windows world you have to know when to give up the \ and use the / and when to use PC name or drive letters vs http:// and IP addresses.

Update: Fabriq speakers also work great. I have three of the Chorus working as a group, one in the dinning room, one in the family room (kitchen is between) and one in the living room. I can play a sound to them just like the Eufy and it plays synced on all three. But honestly I use them more to play Spotify.
Hosting on a PC is no longer needed, as the local file feature of HE does the trick.
The new file location is now:

http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/local/file.mp3

One day I'll have a windfall and buy a real whole home audio system, but for now this is getting me by.

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