Calling all smart home DIYers! Say goodbye to boring notifications and hello to customized sound + visual alerts.
Why the ZSE50 is a game-changer: Play Your Own Audio Files or choose from the pre-loaded sound library Compact Design, Plug-In Install — Fits Any 120V Outlet Built-in Backup Battery for Uninterrupted Protection Programmable Alarms + LED Visual Alerts for Total Control Z-Wave Long Range (800 chip) = Strong & Reliable Connection SmartStart + S2 Security for safe, hassle-free setup
Make your smart home speak YOUR language. Whether it’s alarms, chimes, or fun notifications — the ZSE50 has you covered.
This announcement is excellent news–and I truly believe, a game-changer!
The ability to play one’s own audio files is huge to me. Before I switched to Z-Box from SmartThings, I had Alexa making announcements for certain events. As I’m (probably) moving away from Alexa–she’s too intent on making reorder suggestions, having “hunches,” and trying to make money for her masters (who can blame her, as someone needs to pay for it!)–this is just what I need.
Announcements include:
“Alert! One of the garage doors is open!”
”Attention: leak near water heater in basement!”
”Attention: sump pump has failed to keep up with water level!”
”Attention: power outage at sump pump outlet!”
This makes our Smart Home even smarter!
And think of the possibilities for increasing home security, as well.
Thanks to the crew at The Smartest House for releasing this very promising product.
We do have an EU version in the works! We wanted a sleek look for the siren, so instead of just a basic adapter for the US hardware to EU, we are doing a separate hardware version designed specifically for EU outlets. We’ll add you to the waitlist and reach out once the EU hardware is available
We love to hear it! We’ve been playing with some text-to-speech tools (such as https://ttsmp3.com/) to generate custom voice messages—for example, “Patio Door Was Opened,” then uploading the audio to the siren and triggering by a scene. So, for instance, when the ZSE41 sensor detects that the door has opened, the siren can play the corresponding voice alert. Please let us know any feedback or requests for the device!
That’s pretty useful–and some of the voices are better than others. I like it! The AI generated voices some “instructions” that make subtle changes to the voice output.
Another approach I had been considering is to take the line out from one of my old Echo Dot devices and connect it to the line in on my computer. Then use the Announce action in an Alexa Routine to generate the voice. Record this on the PC using something like Audacity, clip any extra silence off each end of the clip, (optionally add any tones/chimes/whatever) and save as .MP3 file.
First, we want to ensure you are running the Z-Wave Plus integration with the Z-Wave JS Front-End for proper operation of the siren. Once confirmed:
What it sounds like you’re expecting is an event sent from the siren that tells the hub it starts playing and then stops playing a tone; is that correct? For a device like a standard light switch, this would be an accurate assumption: if you physically press a switch - it will send notification to the hub, both on and off. However, if the command is coming from the hub (lifeline) it will not send a notification. This would be against Z-Wave specification and make unnecessary Z-Wave traffic. This is how you would think of the siren; since the siren is activated via a command from the hub, the hub will know and update the status of the siren, both on and off. You would then use the status of the siren to create automations rather than a notification from the device itself.
Are you referring to a situation where you have Scene 1, for example, set to play Tone 1 when the garage door opens, and Scene 2 set to play Tone 2 when the patio door opens? Someone opens the garage and Scene 1 with Tone 1 starts to run, while someone opens the patio door during the duration of the scene/tone?
Yes – I am running the Z-Wave Plus integration with the Z-Wave JS Front-End.
Yes – I was wondering about those kinds of events. As you stated, the hub would obviously know when it sends a command to play a sound. But it wouldn’t necessarily know when a sound finishes playing. The sound could be queued (see question #2) or there could be slight Z-wave delays. In addition, the hub doesn’t know the duration of the sound.
Yes – that’s exactly the kind of situation I’m wondering about.
I’m basically trying to figure out if I could have Tone 1 be a voice saying “Patio Door” and Tone 2 be a voice saying “Was Opened” and somehow get them to play “Patio Door Was Opened”? There are various ways that this could be possible – but reliably doing this either requires queueing on the device (see question #2) or notification when a sound finishes playing so the hub could send the next tone (see question #1).
I’d like to clarify point 1. The Z-Wave specification includes the following requirement:
“If the state change was triggered by a Z-Wave Command: A node SHOULD NOT issue any Report/Notification Commands via the Lifeline if the actual Lifeline destination issued the Set Command.”
In this case, if the Lifeline (Z-Wave JS) turns on the siren, and the siren plays for a set duration (seconds or minutes) before turning off, then Z-Wave JS will already know both how long the siren was active and when it turned off.
Regarding point 2: On my Z-Box hub, I have a setup where the ZSE41 triggers a siren using two scenes to notify me when my backyard gate is opened or closed. While this may not be the exact use case you’re looking for, it could give you an idea of how two different tones can be played one after another. You may also be able to configure multiple tones as part of the action in one scene.
@paulkn This is an example of two tones played in one scene. As you can see, I set a delay, so the first tone can be played fully and then a second tone will be played.
Your example scenes, @BartekZooz, are very helpful. So the uploaded .mp3 files can be indexed directly by name in a scene, rather than an indirect reference, say, “Tone #15?” That’s great!
Play Your Own Audio Files or choose from the pre-loaded sound library
Make your smart home speak YOUR language. Whether it’s alarms, chimes, or fun notifications — the ZSE50 has you covered.
Intro Price: Just $28.95 (this week only!) at The Smartest House!
