Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Insteon Hub with Alexa in Canada

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Insteon Hub with Alexa in Canada

    When do you think, the skill for Alexa (Echo Plus) will be avalable for Canada ?

    #2
    There are recent posts about this already. You would need to contact Amazon as insteon does not control Anson skills releases

    Comment


      #3
      I've contacted both Amazon Canada and Insteon and all they say is it is being worked on. I have a bunch of Insteon light switches and lamp/appliance modules and got my Echo and Dot working with them by changing my location to the US. I mainly use Alexa to control the lights and play music, so it is really just an annoyance that this skill doesn't work in Canada. If I want the weather for where I live, I just need to state the city and province I live in.

      I did need to reset my Echo and set it up again using an amazon.com account associated with a valid US address rather than an Amazon.ca account. Once I did this I was able to enable the Insteon skill and get it working. Hope that helps you until this skill is available in Canada.

      Comment


        #4
        Info only: Insteon can only state what Amazon tells them. Insteon has no control of what Amazon actually does. But they do have a bit of influence ;)
        Message from Forum Admin: stusviews passed away in April 2018. Stu was a huge fan of Insteon and a huge presence on both the Smarthome and Insteon forums, helping thousands of us along the way (he had nearly 20,000 posts to his name). We thank him for his contributions, dedication, and passion for making the Smart Home a reality. He will truly be missed.
        Saving energy is not always free. Be a world saver.

        Comment


          #5
          This is nearly 100% in Insteon's control. If they have not put forward the Canadian version to Amazon there is nothing that Amazon can do. From the responses that I've been given by Insteon they have not yet done so. Further, it's not even all that complicated, it's basically a copy paste if the American with minor tweaks. I've looked at the developer tool..Not all that much if a challenge.

          Im going to purchase a HUB from another provider so I can get some of my items up and running while I wait. Hoping that some of the Insteon products will work with it so I don't have to replace everything. I feel like support has not been forthcoming in their responses.

          Comment


            #6
            I don't understand why the Insteon skill is NOT released yet in Canada. The Echo devices has been available for two months now, I've built my own Alexa skills and I can tell you that Amazon will review, certify and approve skills within a few days, one week at most. What Insteon needs to do is to copy-paste the code they used to build the skills and redo the process for the canadian certification. EASY! Everything is there...

            Guys, get you acts together...

            Thanks!

            Comment


              #7
              [QUOTE=Madelinot;n101466]I don't understand why the Insteon skill is NOT released yet in Canada. The Echo devices has been available for two months now, I've built my own Alexa skills and I can tell you that Amazon will review, certify and approve skills within a few days, one week at most. What Insteon needs to do is to copy-paste the code they used to build the skills and redo the process for the canadian certification. EASY! Everything is there...

              Guys, get you acts together...

              Thanks![/QUOTE]

              That's entirely up to Amazon. Reach out to them.
              Message from Forum Admin: stusviews passed away in April 2018. Stu was a huge fan of Insteon and a huge presence on both the Smarthome and Insteon forums, helping thousands of us along the way (he had nearly 20,000 posts to his name). We thank him for his contributions, dedication, and passion for making the Smart Home a reality. He will truly be missed.
              Saving energy is not always free. Be a world saver.

              Comment


                #8
                [QUOTE=stusviews;n101487]

                That's entirely up to Amazon. Reach out to them.[/QUOTE]

                Can you please explain how and why that's the case ? They review and certify skills within a week...

                Thanks!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Amazon has made the app available in several countries that has nothing at all do with Insteon nor the Hub. Insteon cannot control Amazon's decisions, but read this: [url]https://alexaincanada.ca/[/url]
                  Message from Forum Admin: stusviews passed away in April 2018. Stu was a huge fan of Insteon and a huge presence on both the Smarthome and Insteon forums, helping thousands of us along the way (he had nearly 20,000 posts to his name). We thank him for his contributions, dedication, and passion for making the Smart Home a reality. He will truly be missed.
                  Saving energy is not always free. Be a world saver.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I know about that site/blog, I've seen it before. But it doesn't help us understand why Amazon would take so long to review and certify the Insteon skill. I've had my skills approved within a few days, anf from what I can see, that's generally the case for "personal" and commercial skills. Amazon is usually quite responsive. There is something that we don't know and I strongly suspect it has nothing to do with Amazon. I will gladly apologize if I'm wrong. Someone in the know, please explain...
                    Last edited by Madelinot; 02-07-2018, 08:49 AM.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      [QUOTE=Madelinot;n101586]I know about that site/blog, I've seen it before. But it doesn't help us understand why Amazon would take so long to review and certify the Insteon skill. I've had my skills approved within a few days, anf from what I can see, that's generally the case for "personal" and commercial skills. Amazon is usually quite responsive. There is something that we don't know and I strongly suspect it has nothing to do with Amazon. I will gladly apologize if I'm wrong. Someone in the know, please explain...[/QUOTE]

                      Amazon just opened Alexa up for Canada 2 months ago. With the amount of skills that they have it will take some time for them to approve every single one of them. With that said, it is much easier as an individual working on a singular project vs a company that has more hoops to jump through.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        The hoops are exactly the same. However, the scale is different (more users, more testing required, different configurations, etc.) and Insteon needs to ensure they have the backbone to support the load. But that has nothing to do with Amazon itself.

                        It's not like it's brand new code; it's already in use in other countries. It's been proven and tested. Making it available in Canada should be trivial if there is a little will and some technical knowledge.

                        I'm resting my case and waiting now...

                        Comment


                          #13
                          The hoops are not exactly the same. Even other companies have spoken about the long wait times when dealing with Amazons approval process. The fact that there are thousands still waiting for approval speaks for itself. It'll come in time just have patience

                          Comment


                            #14
                            It won’t come if Insteon doesn’t submit it, which they haven’t.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              [QUOTE=MPWNL;n101751]It won’t come if Insteon doesn’t submit it, which they haven’t.[/QUOTE] Where did you hear that? Or are you guessing?
                              Message from Forum Admin: stusviews passed away in April 2018. Stu was a huge fan of Insteon and a huge presence on both the Smarthome and Insteon forums, helping thousands of us along the way (he had nearly 20,000 posts to his name). We thank him for his contributions, dedication, and passion for making the Smart Home a reality. He will truly be missed.
                              Saving energy is not always free. Be a world saver.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X