Controlling several devices at once using a group

[cpigott]

I recently purchased the Echo and am using it with a smartthings hub and a number of 'smart lights'. I'd like to control a group of several lights at once and have set up a group ('Living room a') in the Alexa app containing two lights named 'living room 1 and living room 6' . I also have created a virtual switch in the smartthings app to control the two lights.


But, when I say
 'Alexa turn Living room a on'

it replies

'I see several devices associated with that name; which one do you want?'

I then have to reply-- 'Living room a' -- and it will then turn both lights on. If I substitute the virtual switch name for 'Living room a' , the same thing happens. Whereas if I turn the virtual switch on in the Smartthings app, it turns both lights on.

So my question: is there some way to get Alexa to skip the first reply ('I see several... which one ...) and simply turn on (or off) the entire group?

To me it seems to somewhat defeat the purpose of the groups to not be able to do this.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions on this.

[DParker]

I've dealt with this issue as well.  I think it has to do with a problem interpreting some combinations of words correctly in certain contexts  In your case I suspect the culprit could be "a on" at the end of the initial command.  Have you tried, "Turn on living room A" instead?  If that doesn't work then I'd suggest changing the group name qualifier to something more distinctive than "A".

[renegade600]

first of all, if the names in your post is the actual names, then I can see why alexa is confused - too many living rooms.  also amazon suggests not using numbers, though I found that if you spell out the numbers there are fewer mistakes.   Try shortening the names if possible.   Make it a better description of where the light is it.  Make it easier to remember - especially for other family members and house guests. 

where are the groups located - in the echo app or the smart things app. 

[cpigott]

Thanks to both of you- DParker and Renegade600. These are good suggestions. I changed the group name to 'Living Room First' and, lo and behold, it now works as hoped! Yes, I should have realized using numbers could pose problems-- as, after all, there is a warning in Alexa itself on this.

I will reevaluate my naming conventions, although the 'Living Room....' does point to the room where the lights are.

Again, thanks.