February 27, 2020
by Ezlo Admin

For the last few years, the “tap” has been the primary way people interface with their apps and connected devices. But the tap is on its way out, and voice will soon be the most common way in which people interact with their surroundings.

Most of us have used our voice to ask a digital assistant for answers. In a recent Microsoft study, 72% of respondents reported using voice-activated search, but many people have moved beyond search and also use voice assistants to control smart devices. Of course, not every voice assistant can control every smart device, so users often end up with multiple apps, multiple voice assistants, and at least one smart home hub to control everything in their homes.

But since voice is going to be the most common point of interaction, we’ve developed a way to give you control of everything: Ezlo VOI™.

What is Ezlo VOI?

Ezlo VOI is a powerful patent-pending platform that lets you control any device associated with any voice assistant through the Vera app. What does that mean exactly? You don’t have to use 4 apps to control 3 different assistants and 1 smart home hub. With Ezlo VOI and Vera app, you can now control everything under one roof with a single tap.

What can it do for you?

You can already use your voice to control the smart home devices connected to your Vera or Ezlo Hub through the appropriate skill. Now imagine that you can use the Vera app to control devices that Vera doesn’t natively support, but are supported by Google Home or Alexa. Put another way, when the motion sensor paired to your Vera hub detects movement, the Vera app can tell Alexa or Google to turn on your Wi-Fi lights without you having to utter a word.

Fulfilling the promise of home automation

One of the biggest barriers to smart home adoption thus far has been lack of compatibility, because when it comes down to it, people want things that just work together, regardless of platform.

VOI brings us a step closer to this promise of being able to control everything, and there are two ways you can use it:

Direct action on any of the devices in your home.

For example, you can open your Vera app and dim your Philips Hue lights to 50%. These lights are not natively compatible with Vera, but VOI gives you the impression that they are, by enabling your Vera app to communicate directly with your Google Home Mini.

Behind the scenes, Vera App/Ezlo VOI™→ asks your Google Home Mini→ to turn Philips Hue lights to →50% brightness.

Scenes that automate devices on different platforms.

Create a scene to set the mood” in which you use a Siri shortcut to dims your Z-Wave mood lights, and Google Home to turn your Nest thermostat to 70 degrees and play your Date Night playlist on YouTube Music. “Hey, Siri! Lights out!”

Behind the scenes, Siri sends the command to → Vera app/Ezlo VOI™ → Dims the Z-Wave mood lights to 50% → Ezlo VOI™ → tells Google Home → Set Nest Thermostat to 70 degrees, Play ‘Date Night’ playlist on YouTube Music.

The Possibilities Are Endless

With Ezlo VOI you can use Alexa to control Google, or Google to control Alexa, or Siri to control either, and on and on. With this new tool, we are revolutionizing the application of voice control in a smart home setting, and there is more innovation coming soon. With additional features and integrations, VOI will truly enable you to control all your connected devices with a single command.

Prerequisites: