3 Ways to Use Voice Control in Your Smart Home

Amazon’s voice control devices the Echo, Dot and Tap are dominating the voice control market space according to an article on Fortune.com. Amazon has reported they have sold more than 10 million Alexa-powered devices since its inception in 2015. However, adding the Echo to your home doesn’t automatically turn it into a smart home. You need a full smart home installation and Alexa to make true automation possible. Our partner Control4 was one of the first to integrate Alexa in smart homes.  In this blog, we'll show you how easy it is to enjoy integrated voice control with your smart home system in your Charlotte, NC property.

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Your Personal Voice Assistant

Wouldn’t it be great if you could simply tell your home to lock the doors or turn off the lights and it would do it? It’s exciting to think that we are entering a future that we dreamed about hundreds of years ago. Millions of people have already added Alexa to their homes, and rival companies are trying to compete. A recent article on Fortune confirmed voice control isn’t going away:

“In addition to the growing rivalry over voice-controlled speakers, companies are battling for users of their voice assistants. Use of virtual assistants will grow 23.1% this year, to the point that nearly one in five Americans will use one at least once a month this year, eMarketer said.”

In order to enjoy Alexa fully, we recommend you install a full smart home system like Control4. Your home will work seamlessly and you’ll also get to enjoy every perk, like lighting, security, audio, video, and shading. Here are some actions you can do with Alexa integration.

Alexa, Dim the Lights

If you have any Lutron lighting components, Alexa can communicate with them. However, you may only be able to control a lamp or two. By installing Control4 lighting throughout the house you can say “Alexa, dim the dining room lights.” And then the lights will dim down for a romantic dinner. Or, you can say, “Alexa turn off all the lights” and the entire house will go dark. It’s difficult to do these types of commands with a few stand-alone lighting products. You may get the feeling of voice control, but you won’t have full command of your entire domain.

Alexa, Turn on “Away”

Another unique benefit of integrating Alexa into a Control4 smart home is that you can access specific, custom settings by just saying one unique word that recalls all the actions. For example, Control4 lets you create “scenes” that include the settings for lighting, audio, video and more. Then you can label them for quick access. Say “Alexa, turn on Away” and the lights will turn off, the TVs will turn off too, and the security system will arm. With just one voice command you can quickly rush out the door to drop the kids off at school and go to work. Simply putting Alexa in your house will not give you this special feature.

Alexa, Learn Something New

While it's not as simple as just commanding it to do so, teaching Alexa new tricks is a pretty easy thing to do. By using the Alexa interface via the Control4 app, you can continue to add devices to your system as long as your network supports them. For example, purchase a Sonos soundbar for a bedroom and your Echo or Dot can connect to it. After that, you can take full advantage with the power of your own voice.

Are you ready to take advantage of Alexa voice control in your new or existing Control4 smart home automation system? Contact The Integrated Home today for more information!