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On Wednesday, 25 August 2021.

Control Your Lights, Shades, Audio & More Through the Power of Voice

Getting Started with Voice-Controlled Home Automation

Since Siri was introduced in 2011, voice assistants have increasingly become commonplace in many American households. Most people use their voice speakers to play songs or ask random questions like, “Alexa, what’s the flattest state in America?” (It’s Florida!)

That’s fun, but it isn’t really useful—until you merge voice control with home automation. When you own a smart home system like Crestron or Control4, you can manage your entire house in just a voice command, like casting a magic spell. If you’re new to voice-controlled home automation, here’s what you need to know for your home in the Palm Beach, FL area. 

SEE ALSO: How Smart Window Treatments Save Time & Energy for Your Florida Home

What Can I Control with Voice? 

When you integrate a voice assistant in your smart home system, you’ll have vocal control over: 

  • Smart lighting 
  • Motorized shades 
  • Multi-room audio 
  • TVs and projectors 
  • Smart door locks
  • Thermostats 
  • Ceilings fans
  • HVAC 
  • And more! 

And you can do much more than tell your voice assistant to turn on the lights. Say specific commands, like “Dim the lights to 30 percent” or “Play jazz in the living room and kitchen.” For your safety, when you ask to disarm alarms or unlock doors, you’ll be asked to say a unique passcode, so anyone who isn’t authorized can’t enter your house. 

Which Voice Assistant Should I Use? 

There’s no shortage of options for voice assistants. The three major players in home automation today are Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Josh.ai. Which will you choose? 

Amazon Alexa 

If you already use Alexa at home, it’s compatible with both Crestron and Control4 smart systems. Amazon’s smart speakers offer three wake word options, as you can address your virtual assistant as “Alexa,” “Echo,” or “Amazon”—whichever feels more natural. Through Alexa, you can combine devices into rooms and string several actions into one command. For instance, you can say, “Alexa, turn on Netflix and dim the lights.” However, Alexa is known for comprehension difficulties and may require specific phrasings to understand you.

Google Assistant 

Google Assistant’s smart home capabilities are nearly equal to Alexa’s. But one unique benefit to choosing Google Assistant is its compatibility with YouTube, which has been appearing and disappearing from Amazon devices. Google Assistant also lets you select different voices but only responds to the wake word, “Okay, Google.” Google is also stronger than Alexa at answering web-based questions.

Josh.ai 

And last but certainly not least is Josh.ai. Josh isn’t a household name like Amazon or Google (yet), but you can’t do better than Josh.ai for voice-controlled home automation. It was built specifically for smart home control and understands natural language better than any other voice assistant. It can follow complex commands and knows that you may use several words to mean the same thing. 

Plus, Josh.ai values its users’ privacy. It never sells your data to third-party marketers, and you’re in control of how much information you’ll allow AI learning to gather. Josh.ai’s devices include a switch that deactivates the microphone instantly, ensuring peace of mind when you want utmost privacy. 

Want to bring voice control to your Palm Beach or Boca Raton-area home? Contact Definitive Electronics for a free consultation or to schedule a visit to our smart home showroom. 

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Overall rating of 11 1st-party reviews

2024-12-06

Stephen Master
Used Don and Definitive for my new home A/V and Lutron needs in Palm Beach. Highly recommend them, they stood out in the craziness of new construction for being reliable and everyone sent to the house was highly skilled. Will work with them again

2024-10-23

Joey Lenz
Had some speakers installed as well as some remote control blinds. The owner Don was very friendly and Brian and billing with the extra mile to explain everything that needed to be explained. The installer Ken is second to none. He even put batteries in my remote control.!

2024-05-24

John Paul Somers
Our experience with Definitive Electronics exceeded our expectations in every way. From the Shade design, planned WiFi coverage and all of the TV’s, we couldn’t be happier. From the initial sales consult with Tom Samuelson to the final installation support from Ken Wright and the expertise of the overall installation by Rob Glucksman, it was a first-rate experience!

2023-12-18

Kelly Rothrock
We have worked with Definitive Electronics for many of our client's AV and low voltage needs. Their staff is highly educated and professional when it comes to the latest equipment on the market. Working with Definitive has been a smooth process throughout all of our construction processes, and Rothrock Construction will continue to work with their firm over the upcoming years.

2023-08-04

Michael Arrieta
I am so grateful for the professional advice and direction from Brian Hann. The best customer service I’ve ever received … he advised me in a way that no other company would

2022-05-06

Gary Glancy
Professional, personable and up to date on all the latest inovations in the industry. There's nothing that this group of people can't get accomplished. Super happy with the level of expertise and would highly recommend to anyone who considers themselves a audio & video geek.

2020-06-27

Steve B.
This Team is very responsive and very knowledgeable. They have addressed and resolved questions/issues with Lutron, Nexis and Sonos Systems. Good firm to work with!

2019-03-20

Charles Alberti-Tedder
Friendly staff with knowledgable advice

2018-09-19

Adam Griffin
Recently purchased Sonos Playbar, sub and play5. Couldn’t be happier. Owner is very knowledgeable of the electronics industry and passionate about there products. Highly suggest calling or stopping by if you have any home audio, outdoor lighting or marine electronics needs.

2018-08-10

Michelle Nix
Awesome experience, great company in FL

2015-04-25

Yani Kinz
Best av conpany in so flo