The Wyze sensor paired with their smartphone app is quite powerful. I love the feature that when a contact sensor has been left opened for too long, it can send you a notification. Unfortunately, this feature is not available to Alexa Routines. But, there is a solution. I have tested this and it works perfectly.
To get this to work, you need to brush up on using a few tools to get the job done. Don’t worry, they are all free tools. You can find detailed instructions on How to Use Wyze Cameras to Trigger an Alexa Routine. Familiarize yourself with the sequence and tools. You can use the exact same tools to monitor your garage door as well.
In short, you want to do this:
- Use 1 dedicated Wyze plug as a monitor. Let’s call this GarageTooLong Plug
- Install a Wyze sensor so you can monitor your garage door opening
- Set up a Wyze rule for this contact sensor so when it’s opened for a specified time (let’s say 2 hours), it will trigger the GarageTooLong Plug to turn on.
- Enable and Link Voice Monkey in your Amazon Alexa Skills
- Create a Monkey using Voice Monkey and once synced, Alexa will be able to see this as a trigger
- Generate a Monkey URL that is associated with your newly created Monkey inside Voice Monkey
- Open IFTTT, set up a rule where if Wyze GarageTooLong Plug is turned on, then use Webhooks skill to fire the Monkey URL from step #6
- Create an Alexa routine where if your new Monkey is activated, then instruct Alexa to make an announcement on your Echo device.
- Once your garage door has been left opened, it will prompt your Wyze plug to turn on. This will in turn trigger IFTTT to fire your Monkey URL to Alex. Alexa will recognize the trigger and announce a reminder to you.
- That’s it!
I have tested the above and it works perfectly.
Again, if you need detailed instructions to get this setup, go read this article first. It will walk you through step-by-step on connecting Wyze, Alexa, Voice Monkey, IFTTT and Webhooks. Sounds complicated but it isn’t.
Leave a comment below and share your Alexa phrase for your garage door reminder. Mine is boring at the moment. It’s only set to say:
The garage door has been left opened for too long. Please check the garage.
Ian,
Thanks for all the good info. I am still a novice on making these things work when one has to add rules, routines, and add’l apps.
What I am attempting to do is the obvious task that has eluded Wyze: when a sensor is open or closed make a sound on the PAN-CAM and/or make an announcement on Alexa.
You solution turns on/off a lamp.
Any Ideas on how I should proceed using IFTTT and or Voice Monkey?
ciao
Hi Ken,
If you are only looking to have Alexa make an announcement when a Wyze motion sensor or contact sensor is opened, then Alexa can do this without any add ons. Add a routine in Alexa like so:
1. Click on the + sign to add a routine
2. When this happens > Smart Home > Choose your Wyze sensor
3. Add action > Alexa Says (if you want 1 Echo device to say something) or Messaging (if you want more than 1 Echo device to make the announcement).
To have your Wyze camera regular motion sensor (not person detection) trigger Alexa, you can follow these easy steps to make it happen. It looks complicated but go slow and you will be able to set things up.
https://www.ads-links.com/how-to-use-wyze-cameras-to-trigger-an-alexa-routine/
Let us know how things work out!