When is IFTTT coming to Radio RA2?

[DDBear]

I don't understand why the "cheap" Lutron products get cloud integration with IFTTT etc. but the premium Radio RA2 is still waiting.

RA2 has Connect Bridge now, so why is it not here?

[Mike S.]

Thank you for letting us know about your interest in having the Connect Bridge work with IFTTT. We are always working to improve our products and add to the features. I have forwarded your interest to our Application Development Team so they can look into adding this in a future release of the Connect App. Please let us know if there are any other features you would like to see in the future.

[SDR-Mike]

Mike S.- I hear this quite a bit. Caseta can do it, why can't RA2? With the delays in HomeKit and no IFTTT, there's a bit of grumbling at RA2 being stagnant or out-dated.

[sfblackl]

I would +1 SanDiegoRep's comment and extend. Every time I see a new announcement from Amazon or Apple about their capabilities being a voice control hub for home automation - and every time I get more disturbed that RadioRA2 is being left behind.
Even if Lutron can't talk about future plans, at a minimum I know there are people on the forums that have figured out things that would be good to get in front and document the ways it can work (whether it is special software running on a mac, alarm.com integration, etc).

[freeoscar]

The one I care about most is Amazon Echo integration. With today's announcement of the new echo dot's with the ESP function and aggressive pricing they are increasing their dominance of the voice-controlled home - and the ESP function (assuming it works) makes control of lighting much more natural. Combined with the upcoming Echo/Sonos integration and the RR2/Sonos integration it would be a great setup. Voice control of lights is one of the more natural home automation integrations (think about how many times you either get up to turn on/off/adjust a light, or ask someone else to do it).

[freeoscar]

Yes!! So excited by today's news.

[DavidJ]

+1 on IFTTT integration and we'd like to see integration with SmartThings as well. Above & beyond the consumerization of IT, we obviously see the consumerization of home automation systems... if RA2 just sticks with the old guard (i.e. Crestron, Control4, etc.), Lutron's days of relevancy are numbered. As great of a reputation as RA2 has for reliability, customers are demanding integration & capabilities offered by the likes of Philips Hue. Please adapt to where the market already went.

[wkearney99]

+1 on IFTTT integration and we'd like to see integration with SmartThings as well. Above & beyond the consumerization of IT, we obviously see the consumerization of home automation systems... if RA2 just sticks with the old guard (i.e. Crestron, Control4, etc.), Lutron's days of relevancy are numbered. As great of a reputation as RA2 has for reliability, customers are demanding integration & capabilities offered by the likes of Philips Hue. Please adapt to where the market already went.

SERIOUSLY! What is going on at Lutron? What's with all the foot-dragging?

[freeoscar]

SERIOUSLY! What is going on at Lutron? What's with all the foot-dragging?

Is it foot dragging? I seriously doubt they have any real interest in integrating RR2 with these types of systems. RR2 is really sold as a whole-home, professionally installed system (with a correspondingly high price - I'd guess the typical install is near $10k) - I would love more insight into this, but I would guess that 95+% of the installations are done by professionals where the homeowner has no real working knowledge of the system. Imagine when someone with one of these systems sets up an IFTTT recipe, or SmartThings scene incorrectly and it results in funky light behavior. They call the guy who installed RR2, he has to spend time to just isolate that it isn't an RR2 issue - big bill, annoyed customer. And then who is responsible for fixing the bad code?
They do offer solutions which integrate with home automation solutions like Omnipro or Control4 which are also, not surprisingly, professionally installed systems. And for DIY can't you use CQC or Homeseer or other hobbyist platforms?

[dtupperjr]

My recollection is that RA2 was not originally intended as a whole home solution, Lutron had other systems for that. So there is an installed base that purchased rooms or portions of their homes with RA2. It certainly developed into a candidate for entire home solutions along the way. What is happening now is that there is a tidal wave moving faster than legacy custom installer systems can keep pace with. Connected appliances were never conceived. So a homeowner has a perfectly functioning RA2 system and purchases a GE Geospring Water heater that is a heat pump/hybrid unit. Simple IFTTT integration would allow for motion in portions of the home to set the hotwater tank to "Demand" which kicks in the heat pump plus the electric elements. The homeowner has a realistic expectation that this should be possible because IFTTT integration exists for the "lower" end Lutron option. None of this is a reflection on the custom installer, nor expected to integrate a hot water tank a few years ago.
But here we are, RA2 the more premium option, but fails a customer in this example. Yes you could blame GE for a poor integration guide, but all of this is possible with caseta - thus negatively reflecting on RA2