Updating Alexa Voice Integration Device List

Updating Alexa Voice Integration Device List

NOTE: These instructions are for CoachProxy 2.3.0 or newer software.

Occasionally, new voice commands are added to CoachProxy. However, these new commands are not automatically added to your Echo/Alexa device. To use newly added Voice Integration commands with CoachProxy, you must first follow a few steps. Please carefully read and understand the information below before proceeding.

If you just wish to continue using your existing Alexa Voice Integration commands and are not interested in adding new voice commands, you do not need to do anything! These instructions are only for users who wish to update their Voice Integration system to take advantage of newly added voice commands such as individual window shade controls.

If you have never set up CoachProxy Voice Integration before, you do not need to follow these steps; just follow the normal Voice Integration Setup Instructions. The instructions below are only for upgrading an existing Voice Integration system to use CoachProxy software version 2.3.0 or newer.

If you have already upgraded your Voice Integration Device List with the instructions below, you can enable newly added voice commands simply by selecting the “Activate Voice Integration” button on CoachProxy’s “System” page, and then asking Alexa to “Discover Devices” to add the new devices.

If you already set up Voice Integration with CoachProxy software earlier than version 2.3.0 (before September 5, 2018) and wish to enable newly added voice commands, you will need to follow the instructions below to delete/forget all your existing CoachProxy devices from Alexa, update your CoachProxy voice device list, and then re-discover the devices with Alexa. This is a one-time process. Once completed, future voice commands can be added with the simple instructions in the previous paragraph.

Why is this needed?

Just want to get going? Feel free to skip down to the instructions below! This background information is optional, and explains why these steps are needed.

When Alexa discovers CoachProxy’s voice devices, it remembers each device name (e.g. “main ceiling lights”) along with an ID (e.g. “52”). Prior to CoachProxy version 2.3.0, those IDs were assigned to Alexa in a non-standardized way. Unfortunately, this meant that if a missing light was later added (e.g. “map light”) to CoachProxy’s voice device list, all existing device IDs would change. Asking Alexa to “discover devices” again would cause duplicates to appear, since the IDs of the existing devices would be changed (e.g. “main ceiling lights” might now be “96” instead of “52”, so it would be added again). Worse, where IDs overlap, voice commands could control the wrong device!

CoachProxy 2.3.0 and newer uses a standardized ID for every voice command. This means that as more voice commands are added in the future, the existing voice commands will not change. Re-running Alexa discovery will simply find the one or two devices that are new and add them to the system, without affecting existing devices. However, in order to switch to the new, standardized IDs, all existing voice commands must be deleted from your Alexa devices so they can be rediscovered with their new, permanent IDs.

Instructions for Updating Voice Device List

The detailed process below covers three main steps: 1) Rebuild CoachProxy’s voice device list using the new permanent IDs mentioned above; 2) Delete all existing CoachProxy devices from Alexa; 3) Ask Alexa to discover the new CoachProxy devices.

  1. Rebuild your CoachProxy Voice Database to use the new IDs:
    1. Go to the “System” page in your CoachProxy interface.
    2. Ensure that your CoachProxy is running software version 2.3.0 or newer. If not, use the “Software Updates” section to upgrade your software to 2.3.0 or newer. If your CoachProxy has software older than 2.2.0, you will need to manually upgrade via the instructions at https://coachproxy.com/instructions/re-installing-coachproxy-software-image/.
    3. Select the “Activate Voice Integration” button on the “System” page. This will rebuild CoachProxy’s voice device list using new voice command IDs. When finished, your CoachProxy will restart, and “Connection Lost” will be displayed for a minute or two.
  2. Forget/delete all of CoachProxy’s existing voice commands from your Amazon/Echo devices. This can be done in your Alexa mobile app or via the Alexa web site. The web site tends to be a slightly easier method.
    • Mobile App:
      1. Open the Alexa app on your device.
      2. Select the main menu (three lines near the top of the screen).
      3. Select “Smart Home” and if needed, select the “Devices” tab to view your voice devices.
      4. Select a device (e.g. “Main Ceiling Light”).
      5. On the device’s screen, select the device menu (three dots near the top of the screen).
      6. Select the trash can icon to delete the device.
      7. Repeat this for every CoachProxy voice device.
    • Web Site:
      1. Log into the Alexa web site at http://alexa.amazon.com/
      2. Select “Smart Home” from the menu on the left and select the “Devices” tab to view your voice devices.
      3. Select “Forget” next to one of the devices, and accept the confirmation question.
      4. Repeat this for every CoachProxy voice device.
      5. Note: the web page has a “Forget All” button at the bottom of the page, but this does not work correctly and devices will re-appear after a short delay if this button is used. Devices must be forgotten individually.
  3. Restart your Echo device:
    1. Confirm that all devices are forgotten, by refreshing the mobile app screen or web page. Also, try asking your Alexa to turn something on or off—she should respond that she doesn’t know that device.
    2. Restart your Echo by unplugging it from its power outlet for a few seconds, then plugging it back in. If you have multiple Echos on the same network, restart them all.
  4. Discover CoachProxy devices:
    1. Once your Echo and CoachProxy are restarted, ask Alexa to “Discover Devices”. After 20 seconds, she should report the number of new devices found. It is possible Alexa will continue to find and add new CoachProxy commands over then next minute or two.
    2. If no devices are found after a few minutes, select the “Restart Voice Integration” button from CoachProxy’s “System” page, and then immediately retry the discovery. Discovery sometimes works better immediately after restarting the CoachProxy Voice Integration software.

If the above steps are successful, you will now have access to all current CoachProxy voice commands. If new voice commands are added in the future (you can check the CoachProxy Change Log), you can add them just by re-selecting the “Activate Voice Integration” button on CoachProxy’s “System” page, and once CoachProxy restarts, asking Alexa to “Discover Devices”.