Voxior - Control your Loxone Miniserver with Amazon Alexa

[Urban]

I am happy to announce that Loxone users can now connect their Loxone Miniserver with Amazon Alexa using Voxior.

Voxior is a cloud service that connects Amazon Alexa accounts with a Smart Home Gateway such as the Loxone Miniserver, Gira HomeServer or Gira X1. It uses the existing configuration on your gateway and automatically sets itself up.

Through Voxior you can also manage which devices can be controlled with your voice and set the phrases required to control a particular device or scene.

Voxior automatically sets itself up after a short two-step installation process:

- Step 1: establish a connection between Loxone Miniserver and Voxior through a simple web interface on www.voxior.com

- Step 2: install Voxior Alexa Home Skill on your Amazon Alexa account and start device discovery.

Voxior supports Gira HomeServer, Gira X1 and Loxone Miniserver Gateways with others in development.

On top of that we regularly run promotional campaigns therefore posting the price on the forum might become confusing in the long run. We expect the pricing page along with e-shop to be public in 1-2 weeks time. Until then we ask you if you can contact us directly at sup...@voxior.com for the price.

Start your free trial now on www.voxior.com and control your smart home with voice in 5 min.

If you need assistance, just let our support team at sup...@voxior.com know. Customer satisfaction is very important to us. We will be more than happy to answer your questions.

Urban

Product Development Assistant, Voxior Inc.

[Kevp]

Hi Urban,

What are the list of commands that can be used?

I guess there is on, off, set to xx percent, but is there up and down commands?

So can I ask Alexa to set the lounge blinds down?

Best regards.

[Urban]

What are the list of commands that can be used?

I guess there is on, off, set to xx percent, but is there up and down commands?

So can I ask Alexa to set the lounge blinds down?

Thank you for your question.

Currently Alexa does not support commands such as up and down.

As soon as Amazon starts to support these commands, we will integrate them to Voxior.

Please try to use this commands:

Alexa, turn on the lounge blinds (for up)

Alexa, turn off the lounge blinds (for down)

Examples of commands are available here:

https://www.voxior.com/faq-knx-amazon-alexa

If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to ask or send us an email (sup...@voxior.com)

 

[Seb]

Hi, you're website says that the mini server support is coming soon.... yet your post says it does it now. Do you have a beta release or something?

[Seb]

Actually ignore that, I have signed up and in your portal you can setup the loxone miniserver. Managed to:

1. Configure lights on/off
2. Set light dimming level
3. Customise the voice commands for each
4. Disabled devices from voice control (eg the thermostats)

Pretty cool!

[Rob Lynes]

Seems very cool, just intrigued now at the pricing????

[al...@elbonsolutions.com]

This seems very good, really straight forward and had the basics up and working in about 15 minutes flat.

I have sent about 4 days trying to get my head round the openHAB configuration to the point where I have around 80% of what I initially wanted from it so Voxior is definitely serious consideration.......depending on the price of course

Al

[Pawel Pieczul]

Could you share what are your most troublesome experiences with setting up openHAB?
This is a community tool so it can be fixed and improved quickly, feedback is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[al...@elbonsolutions.com]

Hi Pawel

Not sure why my last post was deleted!
The problems I encountered were more to do with my own lack of understanding and knowledge of the various scripts, configuration files, bindings etc rather than an issue with the system itself, hence why the Voxior system appealed initially – nothing to install, easy to understand, no scripts involved and completed in around 15 mins
Both systems will each have their own market, with Voxior aimed at simply voice control between Loxone and Echo’s Alexia and nothing else, while openHAB can help integrate almost any device using many different formats if you are prepared for some of the basic requirements (dedicated PC/Pi to run 24/7) as well a very very steep learning curve.
Given the quoted cost of Voxior and the limitations for what I would like my Automation system to do I think I’m going to re-visit my openHAB install and set aside a few nights intensive training

Cheers

Al

[Pawel Pieczul]

Thanks for the information. I am hoping openHAB can be made more user friendly. Requirement to dedicate a few nights on intensive training and to possess magical knowledge on scripts etc. is limiting its audience to practically technology geeks only. 

Cheers

Pawel

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[Robbie]

Whilst researching if it is worth buying an Echo Dot, I came across the Voxior skill for Alexa here, which also contains three short reviews.

The skill info includes a link to how to set it up.

I emailed Voxior to get some more information on Loxone control and received this reply:

Subject: Fwd: New message via your website

 

Dear Robbie

 

thank you very much for your email.

 

Regarding the Loxone Miniserver: Voxior does support Loxone Miniserver.
We would like to invite you to test Voxior for free. If you run out of time we will gladly extend the trial period.
 
On our website https://www.voxior.com/ under SHOP you will find all information about our licenses that we offer.
 
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
 
We wish you much fun with Voxior!
 
Best regards,
Urska and the Voxior team

It looks like pricing (after the free trial expires) varies from €149 for 1 year to €199 for 3 years.

I'm keen to see if anyone here can get this up and running. I eventually envisage an Echo Dot on the ceiling in every room.  :-)

Does any one know how Voxior compares to IFTTT I asked about on another thread?

[Alan]

Robbie, seems like confusing info being supplied by them. There was something on their website that did say Loxone support was coming soon but, and as pointed out by a previous post, once you signup for the trial then Loxone is shown as being supported.

I now have voice control for all my lights, including dimming in stages of 10% at a time, and for a UFH boost switch. All these were pretty much available when the basic configuration was done although I did have to rename a few of the lights for voice commands to make sense - this is done from the web portal of Voxior so no need to start mucking around with the loxone config.

Personally if I was ONLY wanting voice control then this would be a dead cert as it's so easy to set up.  Although their pricing is a little steep

Al

---

From: loxone-...@googlegroups.com <loxone-...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Robbie <roban...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 1, 2017 1:53:04 PM
To: Loxone English
Subject: Re: Voxior - Control your Loxone Miniserver with Amazon Alexa

 

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[Urban]

Dear Loxone Users,

we are happy to let you know that we added some additional functionality on Voxior last week:

1. Support for Loxone Cloud DNS was added.

2. Voxior now recognises additional device types:

- EIBDimmers

- Timed switches

- RoomController V2

3. Support for the Loxone 9.0 beta version was added.

[Robbie]

Yes, voice control of Loxone is all I need, along the lines of:

"Alexa, (Room) Lights On/Off/Scene"

"Alexa, (Room) Extractor Fan On/Off"

"Alexa, (Room) Skylights Open/Closed"

"Alexa, (Room) Roller Blinds Open/Closed/Partial (shading)"

"Alexa, (Room) Heating Up/Down XDegrees"

It sounds like you have achieved some of this easily?

Some feed back would be an added bonus:

"Alexa, What is the temperature in the (Room)"

"Alexa, Are the windows open in the (Room)", "Alexa, Are any windows open?" or "Alexa, Which windows are open?"

"Alexa, are the patio doors op?" "Alexa, Are any doors open?" or "Alexa, Which doors are open?"

I wonder if this is possible?

I agree that pricing is steep. Something like €50 a year at a time would be much more attractive. I also wonder if Loxone themselves might be considering producing an Alexa skill?

[Keith Emerson]

Hi Robbie,

I've had Voxior up and running with an Echo/Loxone for a week or so now. A few small issues getting the gateway set up but Voxior have also now included Loxone cloud support.

It all works pretty well for lights, blinds scenes etc. I've also set it up to give me basic TV control via voice commands using the loxone IR air controller and a bit of configuration logic.

Once up and running it is easy to reconfigure the voice commands but you do need to refresh the Alexa smart home and Voxior apps when you make changes.

I have a couple of small gripes e.g "Alexa, turn on study blinds" to close blinds, "Alexa, turn off study blinds" to open them. "Alexa close study blinds" would be nicer.  An integrated AV controller inteface would also be nice. I would guess that there may be improvements/increased functionality in the pipe-line.

Overall, very pleased and getting good support from Voxior via email. Definitely worth subscribing for the free trial and giving it a go.

Keith Emerson

On Thursday, 20 July 2017 15:23:27 UTC+1, Urban wrote:

[Simon Still]

I agree that pricing is steep. Something like €50 a year at a time would be much more attractive. I also wonder if Loxone themselves might be considering producing a Loxone skill?

Agreed - the cost for Voxier is way too high for me to consider and it's an obvious feature for Loxone to integrate/add.   

That said, I remain unconvinced about the privacy implications of  having a microphone in the house with a web connection 

[Robbie]

On Wednesday, August 2, 2017 at 11:52:17 AM UTC+1, Simon Still wrote:

I agree that pricing is steep. Something like €50 a year at a time would be much more attractive. I also wonder if Loxone themselves might be considering producing an Alexa skill? (Corrected)

Agreed - the cost for Voxier is way too high for me to consider and it's an obvious feature for Loxone to integrate/add.   

That said, I remain unconvinced about the privacy implications of  having a microphone in the house with a web connection 

I understand that concern. It supposedly only sends audio out once the trigger word ("Alexa") is detected and glows blue to show that it is listening (but there is always the risk of that being hacked). There is also a button to turn off it's mic, but it does defeat the point of voice control.

[Robbie]

Hi Keith,

That's very encouraging!

I hope they implement close/open as an alternative for on/off, as I would also need that for the skylights.

At £50 for an Echo Dot, I may well purchase one in the next few days to have a play.

Robbie

On Wednesday, August 2, 2017 at 11:51:04 AM UTC+1, Keith Emerson wrote:

[Simon Still]

On Wednesday, 2 August 2017 12:01:30 UTC+1, Robbie wrote:

I understand that concern. It supposedly only sends audio out once the trigger word ("Alexa") is detected and glows blue to show that it is listening (but there is always the risk of that being hacked). There is also a button to turn off it's mic, but it does defeat the point of voice control.

https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/23/the-fbi-recommends-you-cover-your-laptops-webcam-good-reasons/

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/04/15/how-to-listen-to-everything-amazon-echo-has-ever-heard.html

Not very comforting really. 

[Robbie]

I've found that you can buy a ceiling flush mount for an Echo Dot, which would be perfect for the way I envisage it being part of the home automation (rather than a gimmicky music steamer, taking up space on the kitchen counter). 

I think I will order a Dot and have a play with Voxior next week.

Therefore I would appreciate it if anyone has any more insight into integrating Alexa with Loxone. Keith, have you added any further functionality, come across any other issues, or have any updates?

On Wednesday, August 2, 2017 at 4:47:17 PM UTC+1, Simon Still wrote:

https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/23/the-fbi-recommends-you-cover-your-laptops-webcam-good-reasons/

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/04/15/how-to-listen-to-everything-amazon-echo-has-ever-heard.html

Not very comforting really. 

Certainly a concern, as are the laptop web cams mentioned, Wi-Fi security cameras, and even the Loxone Intercom. For those reasons I wouldn't have and Echo in more "private" spaces (such as bedrooms). But this doesn't put me off, it just makes me cautious.

[Keith Emerson]

Hi Robbie,

Currently the Voxior system detects the following ranges of "devices" found in the Loxone configuration (on my system)

Thermostats, switches, blinds, lights, scenes

Each group has a set of commands dependent upon the function. e.g blinds and lights  have "On, off, set percentage". Thermostats have "set temp, increment temp, decrement temp" (I haven't tried this as yet). Scenes can be turned "On"

I've added TV on/off, volume up/down, channel up/down by including a push switch in the configuration which feeds into a virtual output via either toggling logic or a pulse generator (for multi-step up/down). These virtual outputs then feed into the Loxone IR Air to provide IR commands to the TV etc. (NB if you then use a handset IR controller then the Loxone/voxior system can get out of step with toggle functions such as power)

Once the devices are detected, Voxior provides a print out of all the spoken comands required by Alexa. These commands can then be edited to some extent but they need to retain certain keywords/phrases  such as Aexa, on, off, percentage etc.

Still very happy with the system. Coming up with a set of commands which are as short as possible without Alexa asking for clarification is key (and then remembering them, which is more my problem!!)

By the way. I recently subscribed to Amazon Prime and bought my Echo for £80 as a special offer. Dots were also reduced considerably. I don't know if this offer is still around but it prompted me to get hold of an Echo.

Hope this helps, regards, Keith

On Thursday, 20 July 2017 15:23:27 UTC+1, Urban wrote:

[Robbie]

Thanks Keith,

I now have an Echo Dot, but haven't had time to open the box yet. Hopefully I'll get a chance to play in the next few days.

Robbie

On Monday, August 7, 2017 at 12:36:03 PM UTC+1, Keith Emerson wrote:

[Urban]

Dear Loxone Users,

we are happy to let you know that we added some additional functionality on Voxior in the last two weeks:

1. Added confirmation questions when deleting gateways with active licence

2. Fixed bug regarding trial message

3. Improved user interface for end users

4. Improved Voxior Pro interface for end user manegment

5. Added new device for Loxone users: UpDownDigital

6. Other improvements and bug fixes

[Sergey Rozenblat]

Bought Echo Dot to integrate Voxior. Turned out it (Echo Dot) is a bitch to set up because of country restrictions for their apps.

[vampiris]

I have an echo dot, also, and i can't understand what is your problem? You can open the app through your browser or you can download the app from the internet. Echo dot is an excellent device for the money it costs.

[Urban]

Dear Loxone Users,
we are happy to let you know that we added some additional functionality on Voxior in the last week:

1. Added tutorial for users, how to rename and enabled/disable devices
2. New option to overwrite devices when acquiring them from server
   
3. Warning on device renaming if name is not in correct format for alexa
4. Added tooltip to redescover devices when devices is renamed or disabled/enabled
5. Other interface imporovements and bug fixes

[Rok Prevolsek]

Hello Everyone :)

Firstly, Thank you for the extensive feedback and constructive critics.

Since there were many comments on pricing we have decided to share this here:

We are just wrapping up our end of the summer sale - discounting all of our Voxior licenses by 40%. That being said, for most of you, our 3yr license (40%off) might hit the desired per year price point. To apply the discount, just choose the desired license configuration in our web shop and apply the following coupon code: VOX-40OFF-25817

Please note that the discount will be applicable until Thursday, 31st of August.

At the same time, keep in mind that the product is being continuously updated with features and functionalities - we will also start supporting new voice assistants (Google Home - in 3-5 weeks; Sirir - by the end of the year).

We would be happy to receive more suggestions/proposal on how the product should look like.

We are fully committed to create the best voice control for premium smart homes and any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Have a great week and enjoy your smarter Smart Homes! :) 

Best,

Rok

[tkn]

I am curious about multi-room audio integration with Alexa and specifically the new multi-room feature versus using a loxone music server.

Anyone have a chance to test this out?

[Urban]

Dear Loxone Users,

we are happy to let you know that we added some additional functionality on Voxior in the last three weeks:

1. Added option to invert open/close commands:

If opening commad for the blinds did not seem natural you can now invert it to be more natural.
2. Added option to toggle command which activates scene (on/off)
3. Added new device; virutal switch:

So far we suggested to our users to create a virtual switch on the smart home server which triggers an ON scene then switch is turned on and an OFF scene when the switch is turned off.

From now on the users can do the same via Voxior web interface without any changes to the smart home server. Clicking on a “Add a virtual device” button at the Devices tab allows the users to create a virtual switch. Users are able to define the actions executed on both ON and OFF commands.

We even create automatic virtual switch for every Loxone Light controller device for you. ON triggers the all on light scene while OFF starts the all off light scene.

[Urban]

Dear Loxone Users,

we are happy to let you know that we added some additional functionality on Voxior in the last two weeks:

• Added slider device for Loxone
  
• Added Virtual Scenes on the Voxior app:
  You can now easily create virtual scenes on the Voxior app without programming changes. You can read more about Virtual Scenes in our blog post.

If you haven’t tried Voxior yet, you can start here.

[Radim Rimanek]

So first of all, i just tried voxior last week and i’m blown away that i can use my echo dot to control my loxone. Voxior team, amazing job despite it being a relatively new product! I even got my installer (one of the largest loxone partners in prague) excited about it right away. :)

I was now looking to pay up, and i was blown away again - by the pricing, which is simply beyond my wildest expectations, i don’t think i’ll splurge that much.. :(

Rok, is there any way you’d consider an autumn promotion just like you had at the end of august? I’d jump on that immediately!

[Rok Prevolsek]

Dear Google Group users,

We are happy to announce that today we are launching a Beta Program for Google Home Voice Assistant.

To be one of the first to try out this exciting new technology, please submit the following form: http://eepurl.com/c8jiKf
The program is limited to 100 seats and is expected to start within a week

Official release will follow shortly after that.

Voxior team would be happy to hear some inputs from you on the direction in which we are going.

Thanks,
Voxior Team