Jordan O'BrienControl4 will be the first custom installed home automation system to launch an Alexa skill in the UK. The new skill is available immediately, and conveniently doesn’t require users to say ‘Alexa, ask Control4 to turn on the living room lights’.
When the Amazon Echo and Alexa landed in the UK, CE Pro Europe criticised the often clunky way of interacting with the voice assistant when compared to devices such as the Google Home. Since then few strides have been made to allay those fears, although Control4’s implementation of Alexa is definitely one that solves that issue.
Communicating with Control4 devices through Alexa can simply be achieved by telling the voice assistant exactly what needs to be done. If it’s a pendant light that needs to be turned off, then just say ‘Alexa, turn off the living room pendant’, and Alexa will comply. Control4 believes that individually controlling devices won’t be the predominant way of communicating with Alexa, however.
Instead, Control4 believes that Alexa will be primarily used for controlling pre-built scenes. The advantage of these scenes is that they don’t need to be programmed by an installer, leaving time for the integrator to get on with other big projects – rather than babysitting a client through the Alexa set-up process. Users will be able to program their voice commands themselves, and create scenes such as ‘cooking’, ‘romantic dining’, or ‘movie night’, selecting the exact devices they want to be activated within each set scene.
The Control4 Alexa skill will work with all devices that support the voice assistant, which includes the likes of the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, and even third-party devices such as LG’s Hub Robot. End-users will need to have a 4Sight subscription in order to use the Alexa functionality, which costs £79 per year. The subscription also gives users remote access and control of their home on an iOS or Android mobile device from anywhere in the world.
Control4’s implementation of Alexa is not without its drawbacks. Speaking to CE Pro Europe Brad Hintze, senior director, product marketing at Control4, admitted that by going down the smart home skill route there were limitations to the functionality. That’s because there’s a set vernacular for smart home skills, whereas full blown Alexa skills are capable of creating their own.
Some of Control4’s competitors have gone down a different route. Crestron for example uses the standard Alexa skill API, allowing it to have a bit more functionality than Control4’s equivalent. Despite that, users will have to say ‘Alexa, ask Crestron to set the bedroom temperature to 21.5°C’, which is in direct contrast to Control4’s implementation which simply allows users to say ‘Alexa, set the bedroom temperature to 21.5°C’.
Alexa functionality is only available for US and UK Control4 users at this moment in time. The company says that it is considering a German roll-out, but due to the complexity of the different language it’s currently exploring its options.