Volume control using Alexa/Echo/Amazon device

[TexasBill]

I have speakers throughout the house.

I have several Amazon Echo devices that I can use to turn on Pandora and play it through he house. For example: "Alexa, Turn on Speakers All" turns on 6 rooms speakers and plays my favorite "station" on Pandora.

My ask this time is this - I would like to be able to say "Alexa Turn Volume Down"  or "Alexa Turn volume up".  I cannot see any way to do this. The Speakers all command simply turns on the rooms specified and then plays them at a default volume. I could probably assign a specific volume to each rom for low volume and then assign specific volume for high/loud volume and medium and then have separate commands for high medium or low volume. BUT - I am enamored with the idea that I can have "flexible" volume - i.e. more or less volume on command.

The command "Alexa turn on speakers all" executes he following command in Composer.

<item><Proxy>pandora</Proxy><Type>Command</Type><DeviceID>1171</DeviceID><Description>#!&quot;Play Pandora station: Bill&apos;s Radio Station in room(s): {Room(s)}&quot;;Room(s)=&quot;DEV:460,229,538,255,455,456,379,341,33&quot;</Description><XmlData><devicecommand owneridtype="" owneriditem="-1"><command>PlayStation</command><params><param><name>Room(s)</name><value type="STRING"><static>460,229,538,255,455,456,379,341,33</static></value></param><param><name>Station</name><value type="STRING"><static>94359757190703841</static></value></param></params></devicecommand></XmlData></item>

Any chance someone ahs done this and could tell me how you did it?

Thanks,

Bill

 

[jporter]

Hi Bill,

I have HC-800 connected to an Echo Dot and an Integra DHC-80.3 using the Control4 driver. I preset the Integra's volume for the Echo source (based on the Echo being at about 50% volume) when assigning the preset so it sets the volume to that when I tell Alexa it to turn on the Echo (which then activates the Echo On C4 command). I can then tell Alexa to raise/lower the Echo's volume accordingly with no additional programming required.

Hope this helps,

[TexasBill]

21 hours ago, jporter said:

Hi Bill,

I have HC-800 connected to an Echo Dot and an Integra DHC-80.3 using the Control4 driver. I preset the Integra's volume for the Echo source (based on the Echo being at about 50% volume) when assigning the preset so it sets the volume to that when I tell Alexa it to turn on the Echo (which then activates the Echo On C4 command). I can then tell Alexa to raise/lower the Echo's volume accordingly with no additional programming required.

Hope this helps,

Thank you for your message -

I have two "functions" that I am calling - Speakers and Speakers All - Speakers turns on three rooms and plays Pandora in all three rooms at the default levels.

Speakers all turns on all house speakers and plays my default pandora station at default levels as well.

I have an event called Volume which gives me ON and OFF and SET (and up and down)

I need to know what to change to lower the three rooms (if they are on) or all speakers if they are on to 10 percent less or ten percent more  or any preset volume.  I don't think that I can link ALEXA's volume to what plays through the EA-3

[TexasBill]

Here was a thought -

Add a new Echo key word in Control 4 called "House Volume"

This gives me new programming capabilities for "Alexa turn House Volume Down/Up/On/Off"

Now for House Volume Down I would put:

If Room Kitchen Selected Audio Device is Pandora

       Kitchen > Current_Volume = Kitchen > Current_Volume - 10

However even after discovery no matter what I do it says that the item is not responding or I need to check its power supply.

 

I really would like some way to turn up or down volume remotely without having to resort to my phone or an iPAD or screen

[South Africa C4 user]

Hi Bill,

Not sure which Alexa driver you are using but there was a recent update to Alexa which broke the up, down and set commands on the Epic driver.  It may well have done the same to the native C4 integration (I’m not sure). Epic released a new version of their driver in the last 24 hours which apparently fixes the problem.

[jfh]

As of today Alexa was not passing Brightness levels to my dummy C4 defined Philips Hue device that I was using as a work around when the ES driver was t working properly.  

 

Since I'm now back to using the updated ES driver I haven't spent much time figuring out why the C4 device isn't working.

 

if you have t already tried this, disable the Amazon C4 Skill in Amazon Alexa ap and then re-enable it.

[eddy.trochez]

On 7/31/2018 at 4:41 AM, TexasBill said:

I have speakers throughout the house.

I have several Amazon Echo devices that I can use to turn on Pandora and play it through he house. For example: "Alexa, Turn on Speakers All" turns on 6 rooms speakers and plays my favorite "station" on Pandora.

My ask this time is this - I would like to be able to say "Alexa Turn Volume Down"  or "Alexa Turn volume up".  I cannot see any way to do this. The Speakers all command simply turns on the rooms specified and then plays them at a default volume. I could probably assign a specific volume to each rom for low volume and then assign specific volume for high/loud volume and medium and then have separate commands for high medium or low volume. BUT - I am enamored with the idea that I can have "flexible" volume - i.e. more or less volume on command.

The command "Alexa turn on speakers all" executes he following command in Composer.

<item><Proxy>pandora</Proxy><Type>Command</Type><DeviceID>1171</DeviceID><Description>#!&quot;Play Pandora station: Bill&apos;s Radio Station in room(s): {Room(s)}&quot;;Room(s)=&quot;DEV:460,229,538,255,455,456,379,341,33&quot;</Description><XmlData><devicecommand owneridtype="" owneriditem="-1"><command>PlayStation</command><params><param><name>Room(s)</name><value type="STRING"><static>460,229,538,255,455,456,379,341,33</static></value></param><param><name>Station</name><value type="STRING"><static>94359757190703841</static></value></param></params></devicecommand></XmlData></item>

Any chance someone ahs done this and could tell me how you did it?

Thanks,

Bill

 

The new Control4 skill has native volume control, no programming required. You have to specify the name of the room. This is what has been working for me with no issues:

Alexa, set the volume to 25 in the kitchen. 

Alexa, lower the volume in the kitchen. 

And so on... You get the idea. 

[Control-IT]

Really?  So I can delete all of my volume programming.  That is great.  

[eddy.trochez]

1 hour ago, Control-IT said:

Really?  So I can delete all of my volume programming.  That is great.  

Yes, and you should delete it all to avoid getting Alexa confused. Make sure you delete all those voice commands you created. 

[rea]

4 hours ago, eddy.trochez said:

Yes, and you should delete it all to avoid getting Alexa confused. Make sure you delete all those voice commands you created. 

Good to know. I knew all the devices got added, but I haven't tried to use Alexa for room control features like Turn Off and volume yet. Have you had any issue in Alexa getting confused if your Echo shares the same/similar name as your room in C4? 

[TexasBill]

On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 8:03 AM, eddy.trochez said:

The new Control4 skill has native volume control, no programming required. You have to specify the name of the room. This is what has been working for me with no issues:

Alexa, set the volume to 25 in the kitchen. 

Alexa, lower the volume in the kitchen. 

And so on... You get the idea. 

Thank you for this - I have yet to play with it - but - can you tell me - can you add a room to a group that is playing verbally or remove one?

For example: Alexa Turn off Kitchen.

Alexa Turn on Kitchen (and have it play the station currently playing on Pandora in the other rooms?

 

[TexasBill]

1 hour ago, TexasBill said:

Thank you for this - I have yet to play with it - but - can you tell me - can you add a room to a group that is playing verbally or remove one?

For example: Alexa Turn off Kitchen.

Alexa Turn on Kitchen (and have it play the station currently playing on Pandora in the other rooms?

 

I tried this and no matter what I say Alexa responds with "Kitchen doesn't support that."

I am on the very latest version of Control 4 and Alexa/Echo software as well.

Any ideas what is different in our situations? Again - I use an Alexa command to execute a "Play Pandora command"

I simply want to be able to turn up or down the volume of what is playing through the HOUSE SPEAKERS.

 

 

[Control-IT]

I have a room (kitchen) that is missing from the list of room on Control4 portal?  Why would that be?  

[rea]

2 hours ago, TexasBill said:

Thank you for this - I have yet to play with it - but - can you tell me - can you add a room to a group that is playing verbally or remove one?

For example: Alexa Turn off Kitchen.

Alexa Turn on Kitchen (and have it play the station currently playing on Pandora in the other rooms?

 

You can do this, but I don't think you can get it to work with the native skills--pretty sure you'll need to use the voice scene driver for this.

For instance, I have a great room and kitchen zone that are all part of one open main floor. I made a voice scene called "Add kitchen." If my TV (and speakers) are on in the great room and I then go to the kitchen and want to turn on my in-ceiling speakers to play the TV audio, I just say, "Alexa, turn on add kitchen." I just have that scene programmed for the kitchen to play the current selected device of the great room. Obviously, you can then say, "Alexa, turn off add kitchen" to remove it from the group if you want too. 

[TexasBill]

8 hours ago, rea said:

You can do this, but I don't think you can get it to work with the native skills--pretty sure you'll need to use the voice scene driver for this.

For instance, I have a great room and kitchen zone that are all part of one open main floor. I made a voice scene called "Add kitchen." If my TV (and speakers) are on in the great room and I then go to the kitchen and want to turn on my in-ceiling speakers to play the TV audio, I just say, "Alexa, turn on add kitchen." I just have that scene programmed for the kitchen to play the current selected device of the great room. Obviously, you can then say, "Alexa, turn off add kitchen" to remove it from the group if you want too. 

Thanks. I will try that. Not familiar with the driver that you mention however. 

 

 

[rea]

48 minutes ago, TexasBill said:

Thanks. I will try that. Not familiar with the driver that you mention however. 

 

 

The voice scene driver is a free C4 driver. Have your dealer/one of the fine remote dealers on here add it to your project. Very easy to program once you have it. If you are using Alexa, you'll want it. 

[thegreatheed]

47 minutes ago, rea said:

The voice scene driver is a free C4 driver. Have your dealer/one of the fine remote dealers on here add it to your project. Very easy to program once you have it. If you are using Alexa, you'll want it. 

Update to the new Alexa skill. The voice scene driver is auto-added with the new skill.

[TexasBill]

17 hours ago, thegreatheed said:

Update to the new Alexa skill. The voice scene driver is auto-added with the new skill.

OK - My iPhone has the latest updates for Alexa on it.

WHERE/HOW do I "update to the latest Alexa skill?"

Sorry to plead stupid but in this case it is true.

Bill

[jfh]

8 minutes ago, TexasBill said:

OK - My iPhone has the latest updates for Alexa on it.

WHERE/HOW do I "update to the latest Alexa skill?"

Sorry to plead stupid but in this case it is true.

Bill

You will need to open the Amazon Alexa ap and go to My Skills.  Deactivate the Control4 skill and then reactivate it.  This will require you to log in to your Control4 account to give Amazon permission.

[ReKeRudy]

Hi Bill 

Alexa can only turn on and turn off scenes. So what I would is two commands; 1) turn on vlume up and 2) turn off volume down, then in programming whenever you say either commands have move up or down as much you would like when the command is excuted.

Next time go with Google. 

[jfh]

17 minutes ago, ReKeRudy said:

Hi Bill 

Alexa can only turn on and turn off scenes. So what I would is two commands; 1) turn on vlume up and 2) turn off volume down, then in programming whenever you say either commands have move up or down as much you would like when the command is excuted.

Next time go with Google. 

 

Think outside the box.  Use an Alexa routine to trigger a given scene/device and then you can use any phrase you want - not limited to <something> on or <something> off.  (That ends up being more flexible than anything Google.  Can also use IFTTT and the trigger keyword, but I prefer the Alexa routine approach for more natural sounding speech)

[TexasBill]

On ‎8‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 11:39 PM, jfh said:

 

Think outside the box.  Use an Alexa routine to trigger a given scene/device and then you can use any phrase you want - not limited to <something> on or <something> off.  (That ends up being more flexible than anything Google.  Can also use IFTTT and the trigger keyword, but I prefer the Alexa routine approach for more natural sounding speech)

I would love an example of thinking outside the box - can you give me one, Please?