Create an api/command line to trigger announcements

jedberg commented 4 years ago

I'm submitting a...


[ ] Regression (a behavior that used to work and stopped working in a new release)
[ ] Bug report  
[ ] Performance issue
[X] Feature request
[ ] Documentation issue or request
[ ] Other... Please describe:

Expected Behavior

In the Alexa app, I can go to the communication tab, hit "announce", type in a sententce, and then all the Alexa devices in my house will ding and say "Jeremy says: Blah blah blah".

I want to trigger this behavior from the command line or from a lambda function as well.

Current Behavior

Currently this appears to be limited to the iPhone/Andriod apps. I'd like to be able to trigger it from the command line or lambda.

Context

I have many use cases in mind!

Set up a cron to trigger an announcement when I know we need to leave the house.
Set up a cron to trigger an announcement at 7pm to remind the kids to come to dinner (and remind me it is dinner time).
Use a weather API and the Nest API to determine when it is time to open or close the window and announce that.
Use my DeepLens to determine when the postman has arrived and then announce that the mail has arrived.
Basically any useful household information that can be gathered and announced to the household without anyone having to ask for it.

The proactive announcement API exists but does not suffice for my use cases mainly because I have to notice the yellow ring, and also because my three and five year old can understand announcements but don't know how to ask for the notifications when the yellow ring lights up (if they even notice).

We use announcements many times a day in my house, instead of yelling down the hall. My children know how to use announcements and drop in to respond as well.

Your Environment

ASK SDK for Python used: 1.13.0
Operating System and version: MacOs Catalina 10.15.5 Beta (19F83c)

Python version info

Python version used for development: 3.8.3

Shreyas-vgr commented 4 years ago

Hi @jedberg, thanks for the feature request and describing the possible use cases too. I will definitely forward the feature request to the relevant team who manages communications tab on Alexa App.

jedberg commented 4 years ago

Hey there, any updates on this? :)

I have two new use cases. Now that my daughter has started school for the year, I'd like Alexa to announce "It's time for school!" at 9am and "It's time for bed!" at 9pm.

Thanks!

jamespo commented 4 years ago

I don't think amazon want you triggering this sort of thing "manually".

Of course for your scheduled school / bedtime announcements you can just set up routines in the app.

jedberg commented 4 years ago

I don't think that's true at all. They already have the API in fact -- you can manually trigger announcements from the Alexa app. They just need to expose the API in a way that is accessible outside the app.

And yes, using routines is a hack that will meet the most basic use cases, but the scheduler for routines isn't nearly robust enough to handle even all of those use cases.

jamespo commented 4 years ago

Yes I know they have the API; and I believe they have zero intention of exposing it. Many people have asked for this: https://forums.developer.amazon.com/questions/8660/alexa-api-for-external-triggers.html

nikhilym commented 4 years ago

Hey @jedberg , a quick search on uservoice gave me this feature request : https://alexa.uservoice.com/forums/906892-alexa-skills-developer-voice-and-vote/suggestions/40613512-rest-api-that-can-send-an-alexa-announcement. Please upvote and comment on the request, so that the concerned team receives the request feedback properly.

@jamespo , thanks for responding here. Though this was asked before by the customers, I am sure the service team had a good enough reason to not expose it yet. However, with enough feedback on the user voice, the concerned service team should be taking a hard look at this requirement. Please upvote the mentioned post if you are interested in this as well.

Since this is not related to the SDK, we are going ahead and closing this issue. Please keep an eye on user voice for more information. Thanks.

bekkino92 commented 3 years ago

I found an app in the Play Store that can send audio trigger to Alexa with your recorded voice. So you can start Alexa routine opening the widget. Does anyone know how can I do the same thing in my python code? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mc.alexawidget&hl=it&gl=US

alexa / alexa-skills-kit-sdk-for-python