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Thread: How to tell Alexa to "turn on all lights" or "turn off all lights"

  1. #1
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    How to tell Alexa to "turn on all lights" or "turn off all lights"

    Had a strange problem at a customer's house. The customer complained that when he said "Alexa, turn off all lights", a few zones remained on.

    After looking at the app and the Alexa/Google home setup, I could not find any trigger word for "all lights" nor any corresponding scene. He had some "All Off" scenes but I could not think of anything logical to name it since I can't have the words "On" or "Off" in the trigger word. I came to the conclusion that that particular scene was being controlled by the Alexa app itself. Sure enough, I checked his Alexa app and went to lights and saw it had an "All lights on" and "all lights off" button which also left out the 9 zones.

    Just then, he got a call from someone in another house in a different state saying "Hey, all our lights keep going on and off!" so it was obvious that Alexa was also tied up to his 2nd house!

    I decided that until I figure out how to program Alexa, it would be easier to just create a "House" with Room Toggle logic and put all the lights in the house in there. That way he can say "Alexa, turn house on" or "Alexa, turn house off". That worked and he was happy.

    I do want to know however, how I can go to the Alexa app and edit the "all lights on". Or if that's even possible? Why would Alexa leave some lights out? Did it do this automatically or was it programmed in manually by someone? Is there a way to do this through the Lutron app?

  2. #2
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    I don't do much Alexa but I'm pretty sure you can build scenes in Alexa. The advantage is that you can control multiple systems via Alexa. For example the Alexa night scene could turn lights off, turn TVs off, set the thermostat to 55 degrees, etc.

    That scene sounds like something Alexa created. You should be able to edit it. My guess is you have to do it through a computer, not an app.
    Convergence Technologies Raleigh, North Carolina
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  3. #3
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    Yes you should use Routines within the Alexa app. You can choose your own invocation phrasing, response, and pick any smart home device or lighting load to control.

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    Problem is that I don't use Amazon Echo myself so it's kind of awkward to grab a homeowner's phone and try to see what the last guy who tried to help them did 3 years ago. With the Lutron stuff, I can give myself temporary access and do it on my own phone but the cloud integration stuff seems a lot more upclose and personal with a customer!

    I guess I could bite the bullet and buy one of my own amazon spy devices.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by SparkyCoog View Post
    Problem is that I don't use Amazon Echo myself so it's kind of awkward to grab a homeowner's phone and try to see what the last guy who tried to help them did 3 years ago. With the Lutron stuff, I can give myself temporary access and do it on my own phone but the cloud integration stuff seems a lot more upclose and personal with a customer!

    I guess I could bite the bullet and buy one of my own amazon spy devices.
    This is one of those times where you have to just have the customer give you their device with the app. Or if they trust you enough they'll give you their Amazon credentials. I do this all the time and as the expert they want me to just make it work- they dont care if I'm in their device.

    As far as a "Spy Device"... I never understood that line of thinking. You are probably within range of at least a handful of "spy devices" at any given moment. Your cell phone/laptop is one of many if you think that way. I could care less what my devices hear, and convenience is much more important. In a business application I certainly understand but in a resi application who cares? Most people are glued to their phones anyway and don't really care about privacy.

  6. #6
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    The spy device comment was tongue and cheek but it is weird that I get ads for a product that I mentioned.

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  8. #7
    That's a way of thinking that I've just never grasped. There are likely several "spy devices" within listening distance of you at any given time. In such case, your mobile device or computer is just one of many. It's as though Alexa wrote that scene. It ought to be modifiable by you. I'm guessing a PC is required rather than a mobile app. the backrooms

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