Improvement Idea - Link smart devices with Alexa device (per room)

[titus_t]

Hi everyone,
Have you noticed that Alexa is always confused about what device to address, when there are many similar devices?
It always answers "multiple devices share the same name, which one you want" which is frustrating.
I have this idea, and it would be nice if this proposal would be addressed by Amazon in future updates, as long there are other people who think the same as me, and encountered the same issue.
I have multiple TVs in my household in different rooms, and obviously I have an Alexa device in each room.
Each time I want to turn a TV on / off, I have to specify what TV to turn on /off (i.e. Alexa turn on the Living Room TV or Alexa Turn on the Basement TV)
Obviously when I am in the basement, I talk to Alexa which is in the basement, and when I am upstairs, I talk to Alexa which is upstairs
It would be great if we could link smart devices (TVs, lights, scenes, etc.) that belong to a room with a certain Alexa device which resides in the same room.
For example when I am in the living room I would just say to Alexa in the living room: Alexa turn on the TV (and because they are both part of the same room, I shouldn't specify what TV to turn on). When I am in the basement I would just say to the basement Alexa, Alexa turn on the TV.
I could also say to the basement Alexa... to turn on the Living room TV, by explicitly specifying what TV to turn on (but would be very very exceptional) 
The idea is to make the Alexa assistant as human-like as possible.
This is something that would not be difficult to implement, I think. Every device should have a generic name and an explicit name.
When the generic name is used the device which is in the area of that particular Alexa would be addressed.
When the explicit name is used, then nothing changes, everything is like now.
My examples above are using the TV, but the idea would be good for anything that can be controlled with Alexa.
If you guys know, is there an official improvements ideas for Alexa, forum, or site.
What do you guys think?
Thanks,
Titus

[renegade600]

I think that is what most do.   I know I have done it that way with smart devices for years, even before alexa.   

[dragon123]

It would be great if we could link smart devices (TVs, lights, scenes, etc.) that belong to a room with a certain Alexa device which resides in the same room.

That's called a 'smart group'. You can set in in the app only, not on the website ATM.

[scottrods]

Yes... As said above, you already have the option to set up a Group that the specific Echo device is in, such as a bedroom so when you enter a room, you can say "Alexa, turn on the lights" and the lights in the room with the device that heard the command, will come on. If (like at my house) you have two rooms close together with devices within a few feet but just around a corner... you will want to move the devices to placements that give it a better chance to figure out which room you're in, as the devices can get a fair idea when there's 2 of them hearing the commands, which is closer... but if they're equidistant from you but in two different rooms it WILL have a hard time deciding which to answer and respond from. Just use some common sense and set up through the phone app and it works great. I have mine set up by room as well, so they will do just what you ask. I only use Lighting with this feature though, so I am not sure how well a TV would do, using multiple smart hubs Like Harmony hub for entertainment systems.

[asianrocker]

OP what you want have already been implemented years ago. So  there really isn't any improvement to utilize. Read about how to do group command coz that is what you have to do.

[titus_t]

I guess you guys did not really understand what I was saying, let me reformulate.
Yes it is possible to create groups of devices (TVs, lights, scenes, etc.) based on room, despite that, that Alexa is still confused about what smart device I want to address.
I have multiple TVs in my household in different rooms, that are controllable by Alexa, and I have an Alexa device in each room. Groups have been created per room. When I talk to Alexa, Amazon knows to what device in particular I am talking to, and it also knows what controllable smart device are in the same group / room.
For this reason, I should be able to say simply this Alexa turn the TV on (use a generic name, TV) because there is only one freaking TV device in that group / room (no need to say what TV).
In reality, I have to explicitly specify the complete device name each time (i.e. Alexa turn on the Living Room TV, or etc.)
If I don't explicitly specify the complete device name, Alexa always answers "multiple devices share the same name, which one you want" which is frustrating.

Are you guys telling me that this works for you, right now?
You just say Turn on the Light (and if there is only one light in that group) it will turn it on?

[jwlv]

Did you tell the Alexa app that your smart plug is a light? If you are using Wemo, TP link, or some other smart plug, they default to a plug and not a light. If you are using Phillips, then you won't have to do this since they default to light.

This is done in the Alexa app, in the smart devices screen. Tap into each of your plugs and change the type from plug to light.  I'll show screen shots of this in another post.

BTW this only works for light device type. You can say "turn on the lights" and Alexa knows you mean the light in the group you are speaking to. It will not work for any other device type. It won't work for "turn on the TV" or "turn on the radio" regardless of how you set up the groups or devices. There isn't a device type for TV or anything else. In the Alexa app, there are two device types: light and plug.

[jwlv]