As smart as Amazon’s Alexa may be, the digital assistant is not capable of making simple work out of coordinating a dozen or more disparate smart home devices — that’s where Control4 comes in. With Control4 acting as the conductor of our smart home symphony, a simple voice command to Alexa through an Echo device is transformed into specific instructions to multiple devices, all executed in concert. If you could see inside the Control4 center’s brain, it would look like a frenzy of arm waving, lever pulling and button pressing. Yet, thanks to tight integration with Alexa, voice commands just work — and simply at that.
In this fourth video of our Connect my Crib series, you’ll see this integration at work. By speaking the words, “Alexa, turn on home,” a series of lights turn on, the thermostat automatically adjusts, and quiet music begins playing from a previously specified Spotify playlist. Conversely, “
The Alexa control extends to every room in the house through carefully hidden Echo Dot speakers, so that
Alexa also makes easy work out of controlling our impressive home theater, switching on our projector, A/V receiver, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player, cable box, Apple TV, and any other needed device for a seamless entertainment experience.
In the end, the result was well worth the effort and the time invested. We now have a great test bed for new smart home devices and a chance to work with Alexa’s growing list of skills. You’ll be seeing our new smart home featured in many articles and videos to come.
Some components of this installation were provided and installed courtesy of Control4, Sony, Audio Control, and Sunbrite TV.
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