{"id":15381,"date":"2018-05-29T14:16:54","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T21:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/?p=15381"},"modified":"2018-05-29T14:16:54","modified_gmt":"2018-05-29T21:16:54","slug":"ecobee-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/ecobee-switch\/","title":{"rendered":"A Talking Light Switch? ecobee Switch+ – by Joe Dugandzic"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"Have you ever thought, \u201cgee whiz, I really wish I could talk to my light switch\u2026\u201d?\u00a0 Well, you\u2019re in luck, smart thermostat maker ecobee just released a Wi-Fi smart switch with Amazon\u2019s Alexa onboard called the Switch Plus!<\/p>\n

Now, ecobee isn\u2019t completely new to this \u201cadd Alexa to a wall-mounted smart home device\u201d game. In 2017, they introduced their latest generation thermostat, the ecobee4, also with Alexa integrated right on the device with far-field listening microphones and a speaker. A talking thermostat? Yup.<\/p>\n

So now, a talking light switch? Nod<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But seriously, there is definitely something to having a multi-function voice assistant device mounted at a convenient location on the wall. Remember the intercoms of the 1970s and \u201880s? Merge that with the \u201cComputer\u201d of Star Trek and then fast-forward to today with Alexa and Google Assistant.<\/p>\n

One small problem with adding a voice assistant to (potentially) every room of the house is needing to find a place for a smart speaker or other device that has a voice assistant. And some rooms don\u2019t need a great music listening experience, they would probably be perfectly fine with average sound quality and basic voice interaction. That\u2019s where a smart switch with a voice assistant makes sense.<\/p>\n

OK, so what does this Switch+ thing do?<\/h4>\n