CEDIA 2016

In a classic, “And just one more thing…” moment to begin the finale of its press conference today, Control4 announced that they have launched Amazon Alexa skill for voice-enabled whole-home automation control. Integration with Amazon Alexa –enabled devices including Echo, Dot, Amazon Tap, and Amazon Fire TV will enable a new Control4 Smart Home Skill allowing homeowners simple and intuitive voice control over their home systems.

"On average, our customers have over 40 connected devices in their homes that are orchestrated by Control4 and now, voice interaction with Amazon Alexa offers another convenient way to control all of them,” said Martin Plaehn, Control4 CEO. “This integration combines Control4’s automation power and extensive support for connected devices with the intuitive voice control from Amazon Alexa, reinforcing our shared vision to make life in a connected home ever-more personalized, comfortable, and hassle-free.”

After the Control4 Smart Home Skill has been enabled inside the Alexa app, the system connects with the customer’s Control4 system and then automatically discovers any lighting devices, lighting scenes and thermostats. Customers can also log in to their my.control4.com account and personalize the name of rooms to make work better for them, say changing, “Daughter’s Room Can Lights” to “Lauryn Lights.”

Alexa responds to simple commands such as, “Turn on bedroom lights,” or, “Set kitchen lights to 50%.”

Setting up simple scenes like House On or House Off can perform multiple functions such as turning off all the lights, turning off music and TV in any rooms, lowering window shades, locking doors, and setting a security system. A “Dinner Time” scene can adjust lighting and start a Pandora station playing.

Additional custom voice activities can be created with virtually endless possibilities. I added a “Movie Time” scene which kills all lights – with a long, slow delay in my family room to give time to get seated – drops all the shades, turns on my projector, turns on my Kaleidescape, and sets my Marantz pre-amp to the correct input.

Alexa integration is available now and is included for as part of Control4’s OS 2.9 update. A subscription to 4Sight ($99/year) is required for use. In addition to Alexa integration, 4Sight allows homeowner’s to check in and control their home from an iOS or Android device from anywhere in the world.