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Amazon Echo

Howard Cameron shared this idea 8 years ago
Completed

I would really like an interface to be built for Amazon's Echo (Alexa). This would allow you to control items with your voice.

Replies (134)

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It is already on our road map and it will be implemented this year.

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Any news on the status?

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This year ;)

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that is kinda hard to believe?

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yes this would be nice. Or at least a full tasker integration would be nice, this way we can utilise autovoice. Actually if you can integrate echo, then at least you will have the Insteon products available in a round about way.

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yes this would be nice. Or at least a full tasker integration would be nice, this way we can utilise autovoice. Actually if you can integrate echo, then at least you will have the Insteon products available in a round about way.

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https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit


All possible now. And should have to wait to long either. The best and easiest way to get Voice activation for the Zipabox

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nice. Now all I need is for the echo's to be available in the UK

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At least you will get it before us here in Australia. We may not see it for another year or more. In fact i'm betting the Google Brillio will have the voice capabilities and be shipped here first. Or Apples Siri via the Apple TV. Meanwhile i am working on an Orange PI with android on it to get Tasker and Autovoice working well. With a good quality microphone this should only cost about $100-150AUD. One for every room and I have the Echo for about 1/4 its cost.

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If you like the Amazon echo. You may well also be interested in Mycroft. this is an Open Source A.I.


https://mycroft.ai/


It is still in Kickstarter at the moment and they ship worldwide straight away. One definitely to watch me thinks... What is the chances of the Zipato supporting this one as well?

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There is your answer. This should be added into each Zipatile. I'd pay $100 more per tablet for this feature.

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Could we get an update on this please. Are you close to integrating with Amazon Echo


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now that the zipatile has launched, has the Echo been integrated into zipato yet?

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maybe they are waiting for the goggle home buddy to be released. This will work directly with android so may be easier to include on the Zipatile. Anyway have you tried using the Echo with IFTTT and a the maker channel and a virtual metre?

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Seems Google home will be released outside of US, so a better platform than Echo i.m.o.....

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any news about amazon echo?

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any news? Echo is coming next week :-P

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@Darkwing: I know, but without an open API;-)

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echo will be implemented, when could be anyones guess. But again, using the IFTTT and Maker channel isn't really that hard, and works well. It will alleviate some of your problems for the moment.

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Hi Adrian,

can you provide any examples done with IFTTT and the Maker channel? For instance to run a certain scene?


Thanks,

Thorsten

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Hi Thorsten, give me a day or 2 and I'll post a video example of seeing it up. I will presume you already have the ifttt and echo set up though.

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hi Adrian, any luck with this video? My Echo got delivered today so would like to see it if you don't mind :-)


Thanks

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never mind, I just notice this on the IFTTT site:


Note: IFTTT is currently only supported on US Alexa devices.

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wow thats strange. I dont see why. Can you register with a US amazon account instead?

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hey dark, find me on google+ and email me, i'll send you any info you need. or hangouts

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I guess I could, but then my prime sunscription won't be on there, so will loose music, free shipping etc....


I am not sure if it is my accent, but she says: Sorry, I can't find the answer to the question I heard a lot...


I asked where my nearest Italian restaurant was, and same reply...... it feels like the UK version is a watered down version compared to the US one? I bet if I ask Google it would know most answers.......


Feel like returning it and wait for the Google home device, especially now IFTTT is not supported (yet).

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IFTTT has now been released for UK..... :-P

But I am struggling to get it to work properly... :-( Somehow it is mixed up??

When I say trigger light on, value1 of the meter gets changed to 1, and trigger light off sets it to 0. But below rules I had to swap around as when saying light off, they actually were switched on, and when light off was used they switched on....???

7130ca41df71613b0d484ec6532178ac

98a42e3a580c42e1bbaf1f78f8e0552f

So with above the light should come on when 1 and off when 0.....

But with below rules the lights come on with 0 and off with 1??

9970f87c08f0ee92e5b62d1d7dc5ef9d

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You need the operator " = "

" ! = " means "is not equal"


regards Maik

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hmm.............. I tried that at first, but the rules wouldn't synchronize. Will try it again later.


I might even use 2 virtual meters instead of one, one to switch on and one to switch off. Guess will have to play around with it a bit more.... :) Though I noticed sometimes a lot of delay, so hope Zipato's implementation will speed things up so IFTTT is no longer needed. Happy days!

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@Hanspeter Sieber

I think there is already an API and I´m prone to buy one echo. Hopefully the integration comes quickly. So please, dear Zipato team, integrate echo as soon as possible ;-)


https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/content/smart-home

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for everyone who hope to get alexa intergation sooner than end of year, send emails, lots of them, to yonomi app developers. I have talked to them and they say if there is enough inquires they will look at integrating it into their app. I am currently using thier app for sonos control via alexa, and it works great. As their is no IFTTT or straight up Alexa intergation for sonos I tried Yonomi, and it works pretty damn well.

Yonomi adds to alexa as a smart home device, so any products or "routines" began a device.


Head here and email you support for Zipato integration https://www.yonomi.co/support/

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Thanks for pointing this out! I wrote them an email.

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Email sent. Thanks! :)

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Hey, there are new Zipato API-Strings for the Echo/Alexa implementation. Works someone at a skill?

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Sweet, saw it also! Is there already a timeline for a working version? Any update appreciated.


Thanks,

Thorsten

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they are working on it, I would say by end of year as they are busy testing and fixing the Cluster feature and now the SIP feature. Fingers crossed anyway, everyone else has an account for this now.

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hi, really this year? :-)

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not sure, that's what they said last year......... as his comment is dated 25-12-2015 :P

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We are working on it. There were many projects in the meanwhile, but it's gonna be available this year:-)

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You've written "this year:" and then you've typed -) instead of writing what year the feature will be available :) So could you please be more specific? :)

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Yes, Sebastian could you tell us when it should be approximately? :-)

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Yes, Sebastian could you please tell us when it should be approximately? :-)

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guess within the next 4 days :-P

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OK Sebastian, so i orderd Echo dot and its now upp and runing, great litle gadget, but how


long do we have to wait for support?

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OK Sebastian, so i orderd Echo dot and its now upp and runing, great litle gadget, but how


long do we have to wait for support?

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Fibaro just announced that they are also close to rolling out this feature. Should be an interesting battle for customers :-D

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Where did you find this information? Because on Facebook there is no official announcement.

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ive already seen working version of this with Fibaro months ago. Surprised it has not been officially released yet. I am sure Echo will be released before the CES2017.


The Google Home and Asistant intergation will also follow very soon. This I think will be far superior.

Check this out from google on building custom actions from the api https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SUAuy9OJg4

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I got it from the Fibaro Support. They answered "Let Santa surprise you, it's coming very soon ;-)"

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they announce it at CES like everyone else. The Google Home"assistant" though, when applied directly to the Zipatile will be awesome.

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This would be really nice!

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One day left...


Claas

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I use maker in iftt.com, in Sweden.

To use voice command create virtual sensor in zipabox, use the http request in ifttt.com, add iftt in echo then you can have command like "Alexa trigger kitchen lamp on"

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IFTTT isn't available in Germany...


Best

Claas

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Why? Here in Switzerland IFTTT works without any restrictions.

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Es steht zwar da "Amazon Alexa (US,UK only) aber es funktioniert auch in Deutschland.


Gruß Maik

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But I am now have 50 circuits

In Germany

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patience guys................ it should be released today :-D

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I hope IFTTT with the Echo works more reliably than it does with the Tado and Nest. I had some rules but they failed more often than they worked so I abandoned IFTTT altogether.

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How does Siri and "those other voice command things" compare? Apart from the obvious that Siri is Apple only ;) And in relation to Home Automation.

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Do not believe it has been released yet, I have been waiting patiently

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no release yet. Maybe they are holding off so CES2017. Not sure. But I too am eagerly awaiting and ready to test this feature.


And it should be directly integrated into the Echo not via IFTTT, so it should work faster and more reliably.

I'm also waiting for the Google assistant to be integrated. Using the Assistant on IFTTT allows so many options. Got a Google Home to test with also. This should be exciting to test them both out.

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I have both echo and Google home. I think echo is mutch better today because it has mutch more microphones, 7 or 8, Google home has only 2 microphones and not so responsive, has to be very close to get response from the unit. I use echo in the center of my house to control my light and Google home for showoff for my friends to ask command to cromecast, start Netflix, Spotify, YouTube on my TV. I can control both echo and Google home with ifttt/lights. Little sad that Google home has less microphones. The speaker is mutch better on Google home than echo, almost as good as bose mini.

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I must admit I havent found any difference in eihter picking up my voice over music or distance yet. Both very similar, even considering the microphone array. What I like about the Google assistant way is that I can program up to 3 different ways to say the same command. And yes the chromecast/grouping ability is awesome, something the echos should have accomplished months ago. I agree while the Google speaker is better than the Echo, and a Sonos Play 1, I would still like to see a Echo Dot version that can be hidden or mounted away more easily and connected to a better speaker.

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Google Home is not understanding my requests such as control philips hue and others. Wake word 'OK Google' is only working. I searched my request history and playbacked transcripts. There are a lot of white noise and I cannot hear my voice reqeust. I did Factory reset but didn't solve the problem. Talk to Google and they confirmed my problem and where going to send me an new one until they understand that I lived outside US (no warrenty). They told me to contact the reseller. Thanks Adrian for your info about the difference between echo and home.

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Unfortunately a common issue according to the forums for the Google Home. Guess thats why we need to wait for ver 2. Hopefully it will have more microphones too. While I havent had any major issues with voice pickup, the Echo is slightly better at this. But I can set the Google to my location unlike the Echo and get local weather and traffic info.


I think what we need is a microphone port on the Zipatile, with Google assistant installed on it and then we can install our own high quality ceiling microphone. Maybe I could do this with a bluetooth mic................

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Not that I'm impatient or anything but Santa has been and gone, CES is over, and I still can't talk to my Zipabox.


Any news?

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well you can talk to it, it just won't do anything!


Seriously though - I am also keen to see this happen. but not as keen as I am for the basic Nest integration to actually work properly!

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Amazon Echo integration has been done weeks ago. Just like many other companies, we are waiting for Amazon to publish our skill set so our users can use it.

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Superb - hopefully not too much longer then!

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Ok that's good to know.

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Eny idea how long process that is for Amazon? Weeks or months?


Thanks Sebastian for the information.

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also, will we have to add 'zipato' in to every command?


Ie, with

the Logitech Harmony remote integration you have to say "Alexa, tell

Harmony to turn on Watch TV" - where Watch TV is the Harmony activity.


But the Yonomi integration, which supports Harmony, all you have to say is "Alexa, turn on Watch TV"


I hope the Zipato integration will work the same as yonomi

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Sweet! Which languages are supported? English only or German as well?

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how is it going

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Interested to see what will be controllable and how. Switches? Thermostats? Virtual alarms?


Sebastian, can you give us a sneak preview?

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Any news, Amazon says you should have feedback within 1 week whether it is accepted and ready for testing or need changing. After that you can log on to your account and see the status updates of the skill. They even can give you an estimate date of publishing.


So have zipato tested this skill, is it working? any news on release date?

I am tired of having to write IFTTT commands for clients for every device. And would officially like to publicise this

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That's not true. We are now waiting with our last submission since January 17th.


Before that, we were waiting from January 5th, and our application wasn't certified due to an issue with the description (although the description was the same like for the one existing app).

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thanks for the update sebastian. really looking forward to this.

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Something new

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Sebastian, is there any chance of an indication to what we will be able to do through Amazon Echo.

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I have Amazon Echo Dots up and running. Already integrated with Philips Hue; works absolutely great.

"Alexa, turn off the lights" etc. It'll be great to be able to control Zipatile/Zipabox devices and scenes!

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ITS HERE....


Is what i would be saying if they guys at amazon got there crap together.. How much longer do we have to wait?

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They probably have a whole list of useless skills they need to verify.

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I am zipato user for 1,5 years and have 45 Actors ... helped translating in german with many commands (for free!) but the service is getting so poor: Virtual Wetterstation no more working, no help on my question about Schwager Sensor and still no amazon Echo support.


Thinking about to leave ZIPATO and use a different Z-Wave Product (HC?) ....


Sebsatian: Please give us the truth: IS ZIPATO GOING TO DIE ????

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Did you open a ticket on zipato support about your Schwager Sensor or your problem with your weather station?

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Did i miss something?


I posted my problems here in the community as the members of zipato also read here and give support !


Here are my posts with no response :


https://community.zipato.com/topic/schwaiger-zhs05-on-zipabox-manufacturer_specific_report-not-received


No Response and also a Point with the Backup-Module here:

https://community.zipato.com/topic/backup-module-3g-with-ethernet-cabel-connected


And the weather station problem was reported here from other people - i have the sam problem:


https://community.zipato.com/topic/virtual-weather-station-not-updating


And the ECHO Topic here ....


I could open 3 Tickets, but will they really help.


Honestly i feel more and more lonely with my zipato as i think this is so a high potential product. But the support is getting really bad... and that makes me sad

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I am really sorry about your frustration but I entirely disagree with the alleged lack of support.


Of course Zipato has issues but this is common to all Zwave controllers. All issues I am having are being addressed through the ticketing system.

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@Viriato Issues common for all z-wave controllers are of different type that Zipato has. Devices dissapearing, frequent restarts (even with "keep offline" turned on) with no init procedure (you find that somehow all virtual devices states and variables are reset), problems with sync. Maybe you have only few devices in your installation and use Zipato for remote control. I use it for automation and I have over 100 devices connected. Those problems are severe and it's much more serious than "I have a device that is not supported" - which is common to all z-wave controllers. In my case waiting for support was very long and I had to frequently ask them for progress. So I understand Michael's frustration - not in Echo case, as he can integrate with Alexa easily via IFTTT and virtual devices, but generally I understand his point :)

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Fair comment. Thanks Tomasz.

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@Micheal & @Tomasz Yes, if you have issues with your controller, the ONLY way to get them resolved is by opening a ticket. They need your email address to verify your controller. These forum are for discussions and self problem solving by the community. I have installed many controllers that have numerous devices, I myself have over 120 devices, from 4 different protocols. I do have issues at times, if its device related or controller I open a ticket. If its a recommendation or help I need, i'll raise a topic in the community and hope for support.


And in term of support, I find Zipato as fast to act, if not faster, than Fibaro or Vera support. And they have a greater range of products/protocols to support. Also neither of these have direct official Echo support. If you want perfection, buy a Crestron or Control4 system and have it installed by a professional integrator, and the integrator will be responsible for fixing any issues.

But I do whole heartily agree with your Backup 3g issues, this should be resolved asap. Why can the Zipatile have this function but not the Zipabox?

Now lets be patient, I know I cant be, I now want Google Home support. Hurry the F up Amazon. And Zipato, start on Google Home, it is soooo much better.

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Support is usually fast, but in some cases verrrrrrrrry slow. I have an open ticket since 3 February 2016. It recently turned 1 year, so I threw a party.

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Hi. I am new here and I own both Vera and Fibaro HC2 in different locations. I am using Vera mostly now because although it only has Amazon Echo support in Beta and not fully release it is a public beta and it works awesome. The are on the 2nd beta release and it is improved even more. I was using the ha-bridge previously but the native support is so much easier since you don't have to run the bridge. Once you have had the luxury of using the echo voice assistant to turn on and off all your z-wave devices you can not go back. It is so handy and works so well. I am about to purchase a Zipato box to try as well (probably the zipabox) but I'm not going to until there is Amazon Echo support as it is very important to me.


Hoping both Zipato and Fibaro can get Amazon Echo and Google Home support sooner then later. The longer the wait the more some customers will switch to other platforms that have Echo support. Like Vera and Smartthings.

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Dear Zipato,


Can you at least give us a teaser of how would your platform integrate with Amazon Echo? A short article in the blog of what you are trying to achieve would be great.


Thanks!

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Hm,


when i have a look at the API: https://my.zipato.com/zipato-web/api/#!/alexa/discovery


I have a clue of what is possible. But what i see is that Dimming ist missing, so control of shutters/dimming

is not possible, only on/off, or the API is not ready at the Moment.

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Many thanks Robert.


Even the on/off option sounds very appealing to me. It would be much more convenient than grabbing your phone or tablet, open the app (no the fastest in town), and click to switch on/off whatever light.

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Many thanks Lars. Great contribution. I checked a tutorial to install ha-bridge in my Synology which I will implement tonight.


Can you please provide an example of how to integrate a light within the Zipato environment into Alexa through ha-bridge?

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Hi Lars,


do you make API Calls or realize it with some virtuell Devices and Rules?


regards Helle

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Hi,


i'am on it.....


regards Helle

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Meanwhile, I can only say that we are still only waiting. No word from Amazon yet...

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thanks for the update Sebastian, it is appreciated.

Have you looked into Google Home integration yet?

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Did you ask Amzon for the reason of this long waiting time?

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Hello how is the status of the implementation

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Looking at the API there are only on/off and Thermostates supported,

no Dimming for Levels (Hue/Shutters/LED/Virtual) nor Scenes (Hue).

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Hi there,


for all you Guys waiting for a Alexa Skill.....here is a DIY HowTo:


http://zipabox.de/amazon-echo-mit-der-zipato-api/


Regards Helle

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Something new

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Alexa skill is available and seems to be working well.

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In the Alexa AppStore I find nothing

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I have an alexa account registered in the US. The Zipato skill is available when you log into your Alexa account. When it is enabled it will scan for devices on your network. I can turn on / off light switches. Early days but so far so good.

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It's not available if you have registred your device in the UK, at least I can't find it

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I enabled zipato skill in Alexa app and authorized my account, but no devices were detected. I tried several times with no results.

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Not in Germany. So looks like US only

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And can you register the echo on US site?

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I am in Australia so no Amazon Alexa officially. I have set up a dummy US account so my Echo Dot thinks i am living in Guam. Alexa has a US accent and when i ask for the weather i get the local weather in Barrigada so i have to be specific and ask for weather in Sydney Australia, but works really well.


When i installed the Zipato skill it then asked me to allow Alexa to connect to my Zipato account (username and pwd) then identified my zipatile serial number and i had to select. Next step it took me to the discover devices section and found all my scenes and active devices (switches/http/thermostat/relay).

I did find that some of the names i had used were clumsy and hard for Alexa to understand, so i have simplified a couple i.e. 'hall light' (was the default Zipato name) my command is 'Alexa hall light on' ...

it did get confused when i had turned the hall light off in the web ui and then Alexa had to turn it off before it would turn it back on.

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hey bob, you can set up local time now. But you are right about the location service. Damn you Australia Amazon, get your sh*^ together.


Glad to hear its working for you. We will be testing this over the next week in full too.

ps how is it in Guam these days? ;-)

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Hi Adrian, Guam is very wet this time of year - just like Sydney :) . I have set it up to local time but i think i may have registered my Dot in Guam as i thought it was closest to home albeit 5000km due north. I am experimenting with Alexa and to possibilities are enormous. The Zipato team have done a great job just i am disappointed that we only discover these things by stealth. What about the command set ... where is the user guide ?. The forum is great and i visit several times a day but we are all scratching around for information to share.

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indeed. I agree. Best to link up to their twitter account and youtube channel. This is where they post the latest updates. For some reason they dont post much about new features here.


I must say though, you are one great sleuth, as you discovered the Alexa Smart Home integration only hours after its release. Beside Support, you were probably the first downloader.

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Hi Adrian,

I managed to get a NodeMCU running ESPBasic to accept alexa commands via the Zipato skill. The NodeMCU cost about $5. Just for fun i have an RGB LED hooked up to 3 of the 15 GPI and it works really well. I was using GET http://.... a few weeks ago and a recent code update has stoped GET from working. After some trial and error i am using a http request rule using POST or PUT with great success. I am happy to post more details if this is of interest to anyone. youtube video https://youtu.be/iZRnI4fw13s

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Why is the Ziparo Skill not available in Germany?

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I would also like to know why not in Germany...

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And the UK ?

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Indeed! Please Zipato, push to make it happen in the UK.

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why only the US? Feeling "slightly" annoyed after waiting for a while, and then to find out it is US only......... WTF?

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Hi everyone,

Zipato SmartHome skill for Alexa is available for US, soon it will be available for UK, and Germany.


Regards

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Seems we have US and Norway? Why does it take longer for the UK?

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@Darkwing,

Amazon Alexa and Echo is only "officially" released in a limited number of countries. Although

I purchased Echo Dot devices while in New York, and connected them in Norway.

The devices think they're in the USA, on a US Zip-Code, and won't be "moving" to Norway any time soon.

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I enabled the Skill and logged in using the oauth page. The skill is now listed under SmartHome skills. But it does not find any devices. I've tried to "discover" several times, but still nothing. Does it not work with the Zipabox?

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Amazon Alexa / Echo Dots + Zipatile/Zipabox works great in Oslo, Norway!


Make sure you rename the scenes and devices you wish to control in your Device Browser , to "sensible" names which can easily be pronounced in English - and even more important - distinguished from one another.

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I have renamed to stuff like "kitchen light". Can you see your devices under the SmartHome tab in the Alexa app? I cant see any devices and if I ask Alexa to "turn on kitchen light" I get the response "there is no device or scene called kitchen light on the account myemail@domain.com". So Alexa understood just fine. But for some reason my devices are not found .

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@Pål, my suggestion for renaming devices was related to operation, not discovery.

I suggest you delete the Zipato skill, make sure that your Echo Dot is on the same Lan as the zipato device, then add the skill again (use PC browser). You will get a pop up asking for login to Zipato. Once done, click "discover" and it should all be there. Working with the devices / settings is imo easier in a browser than in the Alexa app.

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@Sebastian, could you please provide a list of commands/functions in the Alexa Skill?

As far as I can understand, Alexa now recognizes the Device Name, as well as commands SET device ON, OFF, to n Percent. Are there other commands/key words which are also sent to the ZipatoSkill if keyword/device is recognized? -is it, for instance, possible to interrogate values ("Alexa, what is the temperature in the Bathroom?")

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what can be used is listed under the zipato home skill in description. Not much else yet like what you suggest. Though this would be very nice, and hopefully added in future updates.

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@Sebastian, could you also tell us, which keywords are being used and in which languages they are available? If we have to use englisch commands there is no big benefit in an dedicated skill because that´s already possible via IFTTT.


I would appreciate free definable phrases if possible.

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@Klaus G, the laguage is dependent on Alexa/Echo, and not related to the Zipato Skill.


Zipato has built its Skill on Amazon Echo / Alexa API, which is generic and not relying on any particular language. When Google decide to support Arabic or Urdu, one would be able to switch light in those languages automatically...

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a few things i've discovered so far. I can not get the skill to work with Zipaboxes, only Zipatile. Once associated with an account and then a controller, there is no way to remove that controller and associated a different one. You can change accounts by disabling the skill and reenabling it, but not change the controller. Frustrating.

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Thanks for the heads up, my echo dot arrives next week and I was planning to use it with my zipabox.

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not to say this may be same for you. Just wondering if anyone else has this issue with Zipabox's?

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I experienced that when I first enabled the Zipato Skill and logged in (for the first time), I was presented with a list of all Zipato controllers attached to my account. Whenever I later have deleted the skill and reenabled it, I have no longer been presented with the list.

Based on this, I would expect that the Skill works on both Zipabox and Zipatile, but that there is a buffer-related bug somewhere in the value chain. Until this is fixed, and if you have more than one controller in your account, choose wisely :-)

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Well so far I manage everything from my Zipabox, Zipatile battery life seems to short to me in case of power failure, I wish Zipabox would have Zipatile processor speed and power. I will not enable cluster or secondary controller until backup is fully functional, not willing to invest that much time again to add devices, rules and settings in case something goes wrong. I will keep using my HTTP interlocks from my Zipatile and using it as control (dumb) interface for Zipabox. Thanks for the advice Adrian and Robert, users like you make this system easier to learn.

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I have not been able to get it to work with my Zipabox either. I enable the skill, but no controllers or devices ever show on the Alexa page after enabling the skill. Scanning for them does not help either.

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Pal, once you connect your skill, you should be taken to another page where you login and give alexa permission to access you zipato account/controller. This will then bring up a list of controllers associated to that account. Select your main controller, close the window and then select search for devices. Make sure you are running latest 1.38 firmware on your controller also.

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I got redirected to the OAUTH logon page and I login just fine. Get redirected back to Amazon with the token and get a message saying success and that I can now close the windows. Back at the Alexa page I see the Zipato Skill has been enabled and I get asked to scan for devices. I do that, but no devices are found.


Also the latest firmware for my Zipabox seems to be 1.2.15 (latest beta).

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I also got to the oauth page after which the zipato skill is linked to the alexa account. However discovery fails and the reason given is that my echo dot would be offline, which it isn't.

Anyone has had similar issues xperience and was able to resolve it ?

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Ok, so in the end the alexa app now reports my echo dot as online, so I now could finally have the zipato skill look for my devices. They were all identified and added. Also I am very impressed by both the quality of speech recognition and the time needed between my reqeust and the light actually turning on and off. It is almost instantly. And I left my device names as they were, so long Dutch namings. To my surprise Alexa recognizes them all and it works >90 of the times first time around. I am happy with this Echo Dot Zipato integration. Nice job!

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Roland, zipatile or zipabox?

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Zipatile

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Did anyone in Germany already got the alexa skill? I tried amazon UK, USA and Germany to no avail ;-( Shame on Amazon to let us wait so long ;-(

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I am in NL, no avail of it either here, but this is what I did and it does work:

- create a US based Apple appstore accounts (used the adress of my company in ny)

- go to the US appstore and download the Alexa app

- connect my amazon echo dot to my account via the Alexa app

- goto skills on the app and get the Zipato skill

- run discovery after which your dimmable and switch on / switch off will be available for voice control


Obviously you need to direct Alexa in English as it does not support Dutch (yet)


Hope this helps.

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Meh.......

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I am not sure why it gets released US first.......

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Anyone got this to work with a Zipabox and not only Zipatile?

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so far zipatile only, but as i can not remove my account association with the first controller i associate the skill with, I can not test it with other zipaboxes or zipatiles. So far 2 accounts, one zipatile works, one zipabox does not.

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YEAH, zipato skill is available in germany! I will test it this evening

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@Rico, Does Alexa/Echo work with German language and with German post-code in the address?

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I can register but he does not find any devices. There is also no query for the controller...

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Should I use a seperate account for Alexa Skill ? And if the answer is yes, has it to be a Supervisor?

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All in all it works great! Alexa answers with a short "OK" instead of the "Wird an IFTTT gesendet" while using IFTTT.

I only have one problem:

I want to use a Scene to distinguish between "Home" and "Away" Therefore I would like to set Elderly Care Mode and Alarm accordingly. The problem is: Elderly Care Mode can be set to all three choices, Alarm not.

And regardless of "Save" all the changes in Elderly Care Mode are lost after I switch to another menu and back to the scene. So after "Save" all alarms are again disabled.


Does anyone else exprience the same problem?

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Just activated the zipato skill, but no devices detected. I have a Zipabox.

Is there anyone who is using the skill sucessfully with Zipabox? Or does it only work with Zipatile?

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Hi Oliver,


my friend just installed the Skill today and he uses it with his Zipabox.


regards Helle

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Strange. I have at least 30 Z-Wave devices but not a single one is detected ....

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here too :(

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All my devices (virtual switches, wall sockets, scenes exept for the dimmable white lightbulb) are detected. Switching on and off works like a charm, haven´t tried the dimmer. I use them with the Zipabox. Only problem is arming / disarming alarms in scenes.

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Hi,

I also have a zipabox and installed this skill this morning. It is working great! I've configured a scene called "kino". Now if I say "alexa, kino einschalten", alexa triggers the following:

- shutdown roller shutter at the window and door (zipabox, zwave)

- start two philips hue (zipabox)

- start tv, receiver and logitech soundsystem (zipabox => virtual switch, rule => ifttt => logitech hub)


Also manipulating the roller shutter position is working great: in german "alexa, setze Wohnzimmer Tür auf 70%". ét voila...


NICE

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OK, One idea and question: Is PRO licence required for the skill to work with Zipabox?

@Rico: What kind of ruller shutter do you have?

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I have the fibaro roller shutter and a pro licence (with the hope to save my configurations in a snapshot - but at the time it is not working...). And zipabox firmware 1.1.38

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Hi,


do you have more Controllers?

Did you click on "Approve" when you typed in your credentials?

Did you try to deactivate and activate the Zipato Skill with another Browser?


regards Helle

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I have only one Zipbox. Yes, I triggered "approve". Will try the browser idea, but belive it is the PRO licence I do not have. Nevertheless I want to be sure it will work with the PRO licence before spending the money.

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I have the same issue. No devices detected other than the 4 hue lights -which were previously detected by Alexa through the Hue Philips integration.


I disabled and re-enabled the skill, trying with different browsers... nothing. No devices found...


Zipato, any ideas?

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Do you have PRO licence?

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I do. Thanks

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PRO license is required for Alexa integration, if you don't have PRO it won't work.

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Hi,


my buddy don't have Pro and it works like charm.


regards Helle

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...more than strange.

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I have opened a ticket. i will post the result once I get it.

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Hi everybody . finally it works ... but now i have to improve the names of the devices :) !!


Good work zipato - i am a fan back again!

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Could you please tell us what you have changed to get it work?

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Of you Mean me: just activated the skill (Germany) and it worked... GTX

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Hi Lars, no I didn't. But I also do not realy know how to check it. Could you help?

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I have the same problem, no devices will be found. Let's start at the beginnen:


1. i opend the Alexa App and activated the skill

2. Log in and checkd "approve ..."

3. An error message

4. Tried again, login worked, no more check for approvement

5. Searching for devices, nothing found


I also tried to deactivate the skill, restart the Zipabox and so on. Both devices are in the same network/subnet and also on the same switching device.


Do you have any ideas?

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No error Message...

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Don't know the error, because i tried again... In my opinion, the password was incorrect...

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My Echo Dot only finds my 4 Philips Hue lights but not the rest of my devices (Plugins, scenes, virtuals, etc).


It would be very helpful if Zipato publishes a Youtube video, with a step by step set up process for this.

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Have had the same problem in the beginning, but....


First try was with a seperate account for Alexa. It was a normal account, not admin.

Skill aktivated and logged in, but I couldn´t select the Zipatile by serial number. I only have one Zipatile.

I deleted the Skill and tried again with the same account and with the same result.


After that, I deleted Skill again and used the main account, the one I registered Zipatile.

Now I was able to select Zipatile by serial number and Alexa searched and found my devices and rules.


Hope that helps some of you.

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Hi Guenter,

what do you mean with normal account and main account?

I have one account for my Zipabox and of course a different one for Alexa.


Still no devices available :-(.


Oliver

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I mean the accounts under Users in Zipato Web, not the Amazon account.

You can create account with different rights on Zipatile.

I thought it was a good idea to use a account without admin rights for Alexa, but that seems not to work.

Also my wife has a normal user account for switching devices by app on iphone. She cannot add / delete or change anything.

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Thanks for your reply, Guenter. I only have one account. So no solution for my problem - unfortunately!

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what about creating a second accout and use it?

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Hmm, that at least worth testing it .....

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One more hint: 2 week ago Zipato had a problem with login in Zipato app on Zipatile, apps on iphone and android were ok.

Support has reseted my password and everything was ok.

Try to change your password. I think they use it in several databases.

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Alright, I'm testing Alexa now, is it me or running Zipato scenes trough alexa is incredible slow? If I create groups on Alexa commands work lightning fast...

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Second user was not succesfull. Will try PW change .....

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I have tried everthing, changed PW, Beta Firmware, installed the echo new, but still no devices found :-(


Makus

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Alexa is working 😀😀😀 now. Thanks thru the Zipato Support.

Markus

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I dont now what they excactly have done. Yestetday i opend a Ticket, gave my Serialnumber and today it is working....

Markus

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Newst feedback from Zipato is: No PRO licence needed to use Alexa.


I will update a soon as I get new information.

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I tried it also with a new Zipato Account. Login OK and again the Approve Screen. The DropDown-Box was empty, i wasn't able to select anything. I think, this is the problem. I checked aprove and the following Message ist

"Bei der Verknüpfung mit Zipato SmartHome ist ein Fehler aufgetreten. Versuchen Sie es später erneut".


Second try (again i wasn't able to choose anything in the DropDown-Box) and the Skill Activation says:

"Alexa wurde erfolgreich mit Zipato SmartHome verknüpft."


I search for new devices and...

...again nothing.


Next step was to try the beta firmware. All test were done with version 1.1.38, the following with 1.2.15. But also with the new fw, there was no device found. I tried different things like activating cloud mode and so on, but nothing happend.


I also tried to make updates of my router (DD-WRT Router), but still no positive effect.

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Hi Olaf.

You are right, only after choosing the Zipatile or Zipabox by serial number in connect process, I was able to search for devices. Have you tried to use a different browser. Maybe some security settings of the browser are the problem.

Have you opened a ticket?

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Markus,

Glad to see that Alexa is now working for you.

Could you please explain what they did?

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Hi,


next update. Just for "fun" I searched for devices again and like a miracle all my devices appeared. So far I got no new status from Zipato technical team, so it might due to the fact they did something to get it work withmy ZipaBox or they updated the Echo software or connection.

Think it is worth for everyone to serach again for devices.


Best regards,

Oliver

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One question to the Ziapto team or whom it can answer:

Is the Connection from ZipaBox/Zipatile to Amazon Echo a one to one connection or is it possible to connect more than one Echo to only one controller?

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Another question:

Echo can trigger the ZipaBox/Zipatile. Is it also possible to trigger Echo from ZipaBox/Zipatile - like a specific phrase when something has happend?

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I could think of the following senario(did not test it yet):

- record the phrase or use a text-to-mp3 tool

- store the mp3 on your nas

- on the trigger play the mp3 using for example a sonos speaker

- echo picks this up and does her thing


Out of curiosity: what specific thing are you thinking off?


My2c

Roland

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Thats easy to answer: The echo skill of your amazon account is connected to zipato and every echo in your account works with the box.


I have three Echo dots (two in my mothers flat, one in my house) and all are registered to my amazon account. The Zipabox is in my mothers flat and I can switch lights from every of those three echo dots, even from the one in my house, miles away from my mothers flat.

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Just want to say Thanks to Zipato for new devices available by Alexa.

Now I can manage single channels from RGBW controller and virtual level control.

So its possible to set volume of my Pioneer AV Receiver by voice. ☺

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+1 for the great work of zipato.


Guenter, can you please show us an example of howto set the volume of your A/V device?


Many thanks!

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Yes, I can. :-)


First your AV Receiver must accept Web request.


Create an "virtual level control" device.

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The device "Boxen" (Speakers) is visible in Alexa.

So you can say: "Alexa, set Boxen to 50%"


Then create a rule:


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One IF for each level you will configure with a http request:

884f938654b09c3d3843e91073690a66


and this is the request for Pioneer AV for volume:


http://PioneerAV/EventHandler.asp?WebToHostItem=001VL


Aks Google for a list of all request for Pioneer AV. (or me)


Have fun.

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Wow! This is so clever! Good job and many thanks for sharing. I will give it a try.


Best regards

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With virtual switches you can select input of AV and so on ...


This allows with Echo Dot:

Alexa, switch AV-Bluetooth on

Alexa, connect speakers (First connect in Alexa App)

Alexa, play song from ....

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Hi,


thanks to Zipato for this great feature. Telling Alexa switch light on/off works like a charm.

Now I´d like to open/close shutters but when I say: "Alex, setze Essplatzrolladen auf 0%" i get the answer no device with this name found. Already renamed the device at Zipabox but no success.


Could someone please be so kind and list some working german commands. How to set blinds to specific percentage or just open/close. Set color on Philips hue light. Etc. Additionally how the naming at Zipabox should look like.


Thanks in advance

Christian

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Hi Christian, it works but in german (i am german too) you need to use easy words. I named the "Rolladen" in the rooms of my kids with the kids names like "Niko" and if i tell "Alexa schalte Niko auf 10%" the Shutter sets to 10 % .. in the living room i named the shutters (4 at all) like "Links" "Mitte" etc....


so you need to use easy words ... maybe Alexa will learn difficult german names?!

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For my mother I use the following words with switches:


Küche ("Alexa, Küche an" oder "Alexa, schalte Küche an" oder "Alexa, Küche einschalten" oder "Alexa, schalte Küche ein" Use whatever you want, it works well)


The Words: "Flur", "Fernsehen", "Wohnzimmer" work alike


Problem was "Abwesenheit" which Alexa hardly recognized. Instead I now use "Anwesenheit" but that only works with "Alexa, Anwesenheit einschalten" or "Alexa, schalte Anwesenheit ein" and the same with "aus" The short form "Anwesenheit ein" or "Anwesenheit aus" hardly works, I haven´t got a clue why. Sometimes you need the full sentence, somtimes the short form is enough. And chances are better if you use short words.

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Another hint:

Have you tried to use : "Alexa, setze Rollade Essplatz auf 0%"

My shutters are named "Rollade links" and "Rollade rechts" in livingroom and Alexa is able to find them.

Had the same problem with light over eating table.

"Esstischbeleutung" didn´t work , but "Licht Esstisch".

In english things are named with seperated words.

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You can create groups in the alexa app using simple and short names. Saves you changing device names at the zipato side.

Roland

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HI,

I am able to switch ON/OFF light swiches, how do you make ECHO handle dimmers as now it is ignoring the command.

Thanx,

D

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Firmware update?

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Done, but still strugling with commands. Here what is found out:

- Switch On/Off: Alexa set "device name" On.

- Dimmer: Alexa, set "device name" brightness to xx%


But how do you handle:

- Scene - what do you say to execute it ?

- Virtual switches - also how to you switch them on/off?

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I hope it is right in english:

Dimmer / Shutter /etc : "Alexa, set "device name" to xx%" (no brightness)

Scene: "Alexa, switch "scene name" on

Virtual switches are treated like physical switches.

Virtuel level control like shutter / Dimmer


You have to see all your devices and scenes in Alexa app.

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My Amazon Echo Dot (Alexa) don't discover devices. I added the Zipato plugin to my Alexa but the devices don't appear. Any one know how to make it works?

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Good job Zipato! with the new devices offered from Zipato to Alexa, RGBW bulbs and strips, also noticed on phillips hue the new update made scenes and color/temperature changes work, now it is time to set everything up.


I also think there is still room for improvement, like adding door locks, virtual alarm and the ability to send ON/OFF commands to RGBW devices and OPEN/CLOSE to shutter controllers, that would make alexa/zipato integration about perfect.

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actually door locks can only be locked and alarm systems only armed. This is a security protocol implemented by Amazon to stop foolish companies from allowing users (or visitors outside your door) to yell alexa disarm alarm, alexa open door. I would recommend using a virtual switch and naming it something vague that "visitors" would not guess.

I think the on off/open close command for a 0 and 100 percent setting of lights and blinds should be ok to do. And i agree a necessity.

So can you ask for colours now?

The one thing I would like is to "query" alexa, I know some companies already do this, and it would be nice to ask alexa if my garage door is open or front is unlock and get a response.

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Yes, with Hue lights you can ask now for specific scenes, specific colors and even shades of white (cold white, warm white, white, daylight).


Hmm... my alexa does not see my Yale door locks, do you have any door lock discovered by alexa?? I agree only lock and arm should be allowed.


Query sounds like an awesome feature I hope they implement it soon.

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Aspettiamo alexa Skill per Italia

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Ho provato cambiando la localizzazione negli stati uniti e con la skill Usa funziona perfettamente...peccato che così si perdono tutte le skill italiane

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ma riesci a dettare i comandi in inglese? a me non li riconosce

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i comandi li prende perfettamente in italiano

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Grazie Daniele. Hai cambiato la localizzazione dell'intero dispositivo o si può limitare all'app di Alexa (utilizzandola da smartphone android)?

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no se cambi localizzazione la cambi su tutti i tuoi dispositivi.

quello che non capisco è il perchè la skill è funzionante ma non presente sullo skill store italiano

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Grazie mille.

Ho provato a cambiare la localizzazione su tutti i dispositivi impostando Stati Uniti ma continua a propormi le skill in italiano...chissà dove sbaglio.

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la localizzazione si riferisce al kindle store usa...non al tuo indirizzo. dopo averlo cambiato con quello USA devi rispristinare ai dati di fabbrica il dipsositivo alexa dot o spot...e rifare la configuraizone. dopo di che attivi la skill zipato.

Funziona bene...peccato perdere però tutto il resto

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Così non va, Zipato deve stare al passo e vista l'uscita di Echo in Italia, rilasciare la skill nello store italiano. Ma basta anche una Zipabox anche un po' datata secondo voi, vero? Io posseggo credo il primissimo esemplare di Zipabox e non ho Zipatile.

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Va benissimo zipabox...

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Thanks Daniele, so let's hope that an Alexa Skill is soon available on Amazon.it.


Zipato, any news about that?

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Sorry I replied In Italian just for this post.

I can confirm that the USA skill work perfectly on zipabox, I opened a new account in amazon.com localized in the usa and then changed the language on the echo in italian. Work perfectly. Routine work very well to. When the skil will be avaible in italian sttore should be perfect for a full use of alexa.

Thanks to zipato for the work...and wait for the skill

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Ciao Daniele,

io non ho capito molto bene, come faccio a scaricare la skill di amazon alexa su zipatile ed averla in italiano?

mi confermate che al momento non è ancora possibile farlo?


grazie,

Andrea.

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Ciao Andrea, la skill la devi installare da amazon sul tuo dispositivo alexa, ma solo dopo aver localizzato il kindle store in USA

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ok, quindi in questo momento su zipatile non è possibile averla in italiano, ma solo in inglese

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ancora nulla?

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