Take Control of Your Lighting, Audio, Thermostats, and More with Your Voice

Some folks love their voice assistants. Others prefer to use manual handheld controls. But if you’re like the 128 million Americans that regularly use voice assistants, you may appreciate that you can now control your home’s systems with verbal commands.

Control4 smart technology lets users manage their entire home through their voice. Control4 integrates with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Josh.ai, and through the Apple HomeKit, can connect with Siri too.

If you’re unsure if voice control is right for you or are curious how it works with whole home automation, let us be your guide. Read on to see how you can take command of your Lebanon, TN home—all through your voice!

SEE ALSO: Should I DIY Home Automation or Hire a Smart Home Company? 

When Would I Use Voice Control?  

Voice-controlled homes are incredibly convenient when you’ve got a lot of ground to cover. For example, if you’re leaving the house, you can quickly tell your voice assistant to lower all the shades and turn off all the lights. Rather than run around the entire house, flicking switches and pulling window cords, your home will do it once the thought occurs to you.

Or let’s say you’re already tucked in bed and realize you’ve forgotten to turn off the AC downstairs and left a light on. You don’t need to get up and hinder your sleep. Instead, tell your voice assistant what you need to be done, and your house will respond accordingly.

How Do I Connect a Voice Assistant to Control4?  

Whether you’re new to Control4 home automation or already have a system installed, here’s how you can get started with a voice assistant.

Amazon Alexa: Alexa is fairly easy to incorporate with Control4. To start, you’ll need a Control4 system already installed, a Control4 4Sight subscription, and an Alexa-compatible device like the Echo speaker.

From there, you’ll open the Amazon Alexa app, select ‘Smart Home’ from the menu, and enable Control4. Next, you’ll enter your C4 account information, then click ‘Discover Devices.’ On your Control4 portal, you can manage and customize voice commands to your liking for an intuitive experience.

Google Assistant: Google also seamlessly integrates with Control4 4Sight subscriptions. You’ll first need to download the Google Home app. You’ll tap ‘Add’ then ‘Create New Home.’ From there, select ‘Set up device’ and find ‘Works with Google.’ Add Control4, enter your Control4 credentials, and you’re connected!

To customize device names and voice control settings, sign in to your Control4 customer portal, click ‘Voice Control’ then ‘Google Assistant.’ There you’ll be able to make any changes you’d like.

Josh.ai: Josh is a relative newcomer in the smart home game, but it shouldn’t be ignored. Josh.ai was built specifically for smart home control and understands natural language and complex commands better than any other assistant. Plus, Josh.ai never sells your data to the web.

To set up Josh.ai with your Control4 system, you’ll need to acquire Josh from a certified dealer. Your dealer will add the C4 driver to the system then configure scenes and word aliases. For instance, you can call a room ‘the family room,’ ‘the living room,’ and ‘the TV room,’ and Josh will understand you mean the same space for all three.

Siri: If you’re a loyal Apple user, you may prefer to use Siri in your smart home. Apple doesn’t have a direct integration with Control4, but you can connect Siri and Apple products to your C4 system with the Homebridge driver.

Homebridge is an open-source software that emulates Apple’s HomeKit hardware. Once your smart home company has integrated your Control4 system with the Apple HomeKit via the Homebridge driver, you can control lights, fans, door locks, thermostats, and more with Siri.

If you’re interested in bringing voice control to your Tennessee smart home, Symspire is here to help make that happen. For assistance, you can contact our team here or chat with our staff in the message box below. We look forward to speaking with you!