Question

Hey guys, not having much luck with my searches. I have SmartThings, Alexa and SmartThings multi-purpose sensors on doors and windows. I have Ask Alexa, BigTalker2 and EchoSpeaks installed (though haven't been able to get them to do much yet). I can say "Alexa, is the back door open" or "Alexa, is the back door closed" and she will correctly report the state and say "Back door is open" which is a start. But how can i get the state of multiple doors and windows with the one command? Like "Alexa, are the doors closed? " Any pointers? Thanks! :)

Answer 1

I like to use the Virtual Switches smart app. Create a Virtual Switch called exterior door open or something like that and a rule that enables if any door is open or disables of all doors closed. Can also take it a step further using IDE to create a Virtual Door Sensor then WebCore to open when any door open and close when all doors closed.  

Comments

Thanks Mitch, i have the multi-purpose sensor on many doors and windows both up stairs and down stairs. If i understand the virtual switch right, this would just tell me if something is open and i would have to go hunting to find out what's open rather then Alexa announcing the state of each sensor?  

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Kinda convoluted but I recently created a Virtual Door Sensor in IDE called Pool Doors (because Alexa will trigger from sensors but not switches). I then created a WebCore routine that opened that virtual sensor if any of the doors to the pool were left open for 5 minutes or closes the virtual sensor if all pool doors have been closed for 1 minute. I then have an Alexa routine that tells me the AC setpoint is being raised until the doors are closed and raises the setpoint and another that tells me it's been restored and restores the normal temperature. I think I'll move the thermostat controls to the WebCore routine so the Alexa routine is just to announce.  

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Yes, that would be a limitation with my example.  

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@secondbest Yes it's amazing what can be done with this stuff. My dilemma i'm not trying to control anything though, just ask the state of multiple sensors (all doors and windows) and have Alexa reply with the state of each.  

Answer 2

There is a smart app called “chimes and notifications”. You can set it to notify you if any of a list of items are opened. And in the notify section you can have it tell you by device name. “Front door open”

Comments

Thanks Scott, i've taken a look at this and while it looks like a great SmartApp i dont think it does what i want. I dont need to be notified when a door or window opens, i just need Alexa to tell me the state of the sensors when i ask her. For example when going to bed i ask if the doors are shut.  

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Troy, I wonder if you could set a simulated switch up, then on voice ask, turn that switch on, which may be able to trigger the app to fire? Just a thought.  

Answer 3

I use a webcore piston for this, which I tend to run every night before sleep. It tells me which doors and windows are open, and also if anything is on which should be off and vice versa

Comments

Hi @rena43. Yes! This is exactly what I'm trying to do. Any tips on how i can achieve this? I dont have webcore.  

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@eucharist my only suggestion would be to get webcore. If you do so, you can import the piston below which should give you a good starting point.  

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@rena43 Thanks i really appreciate it, i managed to get Webcore installed and was able to recreate your piston. But there's a lot of things in there regarding phones being on charge etc that are not related to asking and getting the status of the doors. So this one is a bit beyond me unfortunately.  

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@eucharist yeah, each section is within its own if statement, so you should just be able to dump those bits, or just use mine for inspiration and build up your own one piece at a time so your know exactly what it does. (There's two phone bits that I implemented differently. One checks a global variable that's populated from another piston, and the other checks life360. Not much use for most people)

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@rena43 Thanks, yes i tried deleting some of the unrelated code blocks but i was unable to get it working. Likewise with all the smart apps i installed (AskAlexa, BigTalker2, EchoSpeaks, EchoSistant, WebCore) i couldnt get any of them to do it either despite throwing everything but the kitchen sink at it. So i'll put this one in the too hard basket and uninstall some smart apps lol.  

Answer 4

I believe this can only be accomplished with webcore. My preference is ActionTiles. One tap on my phone and I can see everything’s status.  

Answer 5

In total agreement with @vouchsafe12715. I use webcore for warnings like "the garage door has been open longer than two minutes. " but I use ActionTiles for my overview of the status of all things monitored.  

Answer 6

Alexa doesn't have the capability to aggregate status. For a report like this, and I'm not privy to their roadmap. But we'd all ne naive to believe its not planned. So this is a temporary condition. You cam tackle the issue two ways. Notify. Use WebCoRE to build up the triggers and notofy wirh voice through Echo Speaks when things are left open. Or Report Install AskAlexa and build the report you want. Then 'AskAlexa' for the report. (Mime is: Alexa, Ask SmartThings about my doors)

Comments

Thanks Nathan, i have AskAlexa installed and added the sensors to a report called "Door Status" but no matter what i say to Alexa she doesnt respond.  

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@eucharist There's literally a hundred ways AskAlexa can go wrong unfortunately. The basics, did the tests work when you were installing it. Also - what's your Utterance (what did you call AskAlexa) Finally- did you update the JSON once you aded the reports and things? Fair warning, Mine's been up and running for quite a while (read my AskAlexa-Troubleshooting -Fu is way rusty) - if your issue gets complicated - I'll send you to the community thread for help. ;)

Answer 7

You can use a smart app, Alexa helper, and a virtual switch to solve what you ask.  

Answer 8

Never new I could ask Alexa if a door is open. You can ask about multiple does being open. Say "Alexa, is the back door closed and is the inside garage door closed? " She responded with answers to both.