Smart Home IO

1.  Download the Alexa App. You can also go to  www.amazon.com/echodotsetup   which can help in getting the best app experience to enrich your Echo Dot.   2. Open the Alexa app and once open you will be guided through the setup and Wi-Fi connection process.   3. Setup your others connected devices within the settings of the Alexa app such as Lutron Caseta or Google Nest. A list of connected devices or "skills" as Amazon terms can be seen here Smart Home Skills 4. Talk to Echo Dot by using the word "Alexa" as your voice trigger command. When the trigger voice command is activated you can visually see the Echo light up blue around the top ring and the device is ready for a voice command. After a recognizable voice command is issued to the Echo Dot the unit will give you an audible "OK" acknowledgement. The voice trigger word can also be changed in the app settings menu to "Amazon" or "Echo" depending

The Ring Video Doorbell is advancing forward with the new software updates and features now available that help make it more reliable and less of an annoyance with false motion alerts. See below to help in setting up your Ring device. 1.  Open the Ring app and press the gear icon settings button located in the top right hand corner of the application. 2.  Press the Motion settings button as seen above to access the Ring's motion settings. 3.  You can now adjust how sensitive your motion sensor is when you have the motion alerts enabled on your Ring device. The middle default option may be just right for you but you may want to dial the sensitivity up to catch all activity or down for sensing people only. Important note that you can also adjust the area which the motion sensor tracks within the Motion Zones option. A larger zone or coverage will also make the sensitivity go up so a balance of the two settings is suggested to dial in yo

The new Apple TV remote app has just been released and is a great added feature and benefit when using the Apple TV for video or audio streaming media. Currently the Apple TV Remote app is only available as an iPhone download and not available for the iPad. Assuming your Apple TV is connected to your home network or wireless system the first step is: 1.  Download the new Apple TV Remote app from the Apple App Store. 2.  Once the new remote app has been downloaded from the App store locate and tap the remote app icon as seen above to open. At this point you also want to turn on your TV to your Apple TV as you will need to see the upcoming pairing code on screen. 3.  Next tap the Add Apple TV button within the app to start the pairing process. (make sure your phone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your Apple TV) 4.  Choose the corresponding Apple TV you would like to pair and start controlling as seen above. For this example we are pairi

The new outdoor Nest Smart Cam is now available for pre-order on Nest or Amazon which brings us the newest addition to the Nest product family. Now with the Nest Cam you can view your outdoor areas with the new camera being weatherproofed so you won't have to worry about the elements affecting the performance and life span of the camera. The new outdoor cam has all the features of the indoor cam and it even lets you listen and talk back via the camera itself through the smart phone or tablet application. The largest down fall of this camera is the actual wiring to the camera itself. As shown in the nest demos for this new camera the installation has the wire going straight down the siding of your house. This ascetically is not appealing and beyond the looks the wiring could be cut very easily by someone wanting to do harm. The 25 ft extension cable which comes included with the Nest cam offers some flexibility for placement and installation but if you are weary of inst

Since the inception of the iPad smart tablet from Apple, the smart device has revolutionized the remote control and user interface for using it as a smart home electronic control. The conveniences of the iPad including the multi-function usability with all the tasks and apps that can be used, extended battery life and affordable price point make it a superior remote control to many of the other dedicated electronic touch panels out on the market today. With all the options, features and tasks the iPad does it can also cause problems and annoyances when trying to simply use as a smart home control. The number one issue when trying to simply control your home or television is a pop-up notification from various apps and the iOS software itself that blocks your control app which hinders controlling what you are wanting to control. Simple settings adjustments on the iPad can greatly help the notifications annoyance that many control applications face when being paired with an i

1.  The first step to reboot a Crestron processor remotely is to setup and connect to the remote network with a VPN connection where the Crestron system you are working on resides. Setting up a VPN connection is beyond the scope of this article but this connection can be done utilizing a VPN router and a dynamic DNS service. 2.  Once you have a successful VPN connection you can now open the Crestron toolbox program to initiate your connection to the processor. Within the Toolbox program open the text console and connect to the processor that you would like to reboot. Having an address entry for your processor will help streamline connecting to your processor. This can be done using the address book button located in the lower left of the text console. Once your address entry is complete you can simply select the correct entry in the drop down address box.  3.  Upon connection to the processor within the text console you will see the model number of your proces

When attempting to control and integrate the Amazon Fire TV with the use of a universal control you will need the help from the Flirc USB Dongle to accomplish the task which is readily available on Amazon's Online Store .  The Amazon Fire TV comes with a Bluetooth remote which is great if you do not have an involved TV setup and would like to hide the Fire TV away out of viewing site but it does not help if you are trying to have one system and remote control to work all your devices seamlessly. This is where integrating the Fire TV using the Flirc USB comes into play. When setting up the Flirc adapter you are able to configure the USB dongle and learn the IR codes that you would like to use to control your Fire TV with the downloadable Flirc configuration software. The Flirc dongle and software together learn the IR codes from any remote and allow them to control the functions of the Fire TV which are set one at a time.  Once the setup has been com

1.  Within the Sonos application (app) press the menu button in the upper left corner. 2.  Navigate and scroll down within the list and press the alarm option. 3.  Select and press new alarm. 4. Set the time, room, music, frequency and volume for the alarm. Once all settings are complete press the save button in the upper right hand corner of the app and you have completed setting an alarm on your Sonos system.

If you live in the Southern California area the best FM station around is KCRW  which is 89.9 on your FM dial. If you are listening to the radio from the Coachella Valley than you tune your dial to 89.3 to catch the NPR affiliates music and news programs.  KCRW  is also available from the Tunein radio service for free which can be conveniently streamed from your Sonos system. For the best news, information and music recommendations  KCRW  is your choice not only in Southern California but all over the world with their streaming service online 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

When using the Sonos phone or tablet application press the room name at the top of the Sonos application. If you have a Sonos Playbar playing your TV audio you will see the TV icon as shown above within the respective room that it is located in. Press the group button next to the room audio you are trying to distribute out to the other rooms. IE Living room audio is going to be sent to the rest of the Sonos zones within the house. Press each room name and put the red check mark next to all the areas you would like to distribute the TV audio to. Press done in the upper right had corner of the Sonos app and now you have successfully distributed the TV audio to all the Sonos areas of your house.