How best to integrate audio announcements from Josh.ai/Control4 in Theater and other rooms?

[jevansoh]

I am in the process of integrating Josh.ai into my system.  In fact, I just unboxed my first Micro POE and got it set up last night for the first time.

I'm just trying it in my home theater right now, but if I like it, I plan to deploy it throughout the house.

The first thing I tried after setting it up was asking it what time it was, and as soon as I heard the answer, I knew there was a big issue.

I have the volume up as loud as it will go, and have the Micro sitting only two feet away in my home theater, but the responses just aren't loud enough and really don't sound that good.  I'm used to the quality and loudness of the Amazon Echo Show that sits right next to the Josh Micro, which is what I'm currently using, but hope to transition to Josh.ai ASAP.

I want to have both the Josh.ai feedback and Control4 announcements come from my main theater speakers, at least the two main stereo speakers if not through all channels.  I'd like some kind of audio ducking if it isn't too hard and doesn't add too much cost to whatever solution I end up needing/using so I can hear announcements and ask it to do things when a movie or music is playing.

I'll also need a similar solution for the great room and master bedroom once we deploy Josh throughout the rest of the house.

I see there is something called VoiceCast that works with Sonos, but I don't have any Sonos products.  It's not clear to me if it works with anything other than Sonos products.

I use a dedicated Control4 EA5 in the home theater, a dedicated Control4 EA1 in the master bedroom, and another dedicated Control4 EA1 in the great room right now.

My pre-pro in the theater is a StormAudio ISP Elite MKII 24 channel model, but I'm using all 24 channels and really don't want to use a separate speaker anyway.

What would be the best (and most cost effective) way of having both Josh and Control4 feedback/announcements integrate with my StormAudio pre-pro and existing speakers so I can be watching a movie or listening to music, but if someone comes to the door, for instance, my Control4 Chime can make an audio announcement and either overlay it on whatever is playing (at a reduced volume level for the currently playing content) or pause whatever is playing and then make the announcement?

I don't know for certain, but I don't think an HDMI matrix would be the way to go because of the time it would take for the input switching, especially when doing something simple like asking Josh what time it is or what the weather is and expecting an instant answer.

Other than that, I really have no clue what to do or where to start.

Any help and suggestions as to what my options are, how this would work, and what I would need to buy would be much appreciated.

If you're a dealer for any solution that comes to mind, please feel free to contact me directly at "jevansoh at gmail" or reply to this topic.

Thanks,

--Jason

[pkkaiser]

You need a josh core unit to be hooked up to your theater AVR (or audio matrix) to output the josh voice through your theater speakers (or any speaker you choose). Alternatively a sonos speaker can also be used. Pm me for more details (I am a josh dealer)