Make calls using Alexa from SharpTools dashboard?

SharpTools.io (web)
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Hi All,

Apologies if this has been asked and answered - I searched but couldn’t find what I’m looking for. My daughter uses Alexa to make calls to my mobile phone. I thought it would be cool to put a tile on the dashboard to do the same thing. Any suggestions how to go about doing that? I am using SmartThings and running my dashboards on Fire HD 10 tablets (latest generation).

Thanks in advance!

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The tablets have the Alexa app installed of course. Is it possible to use intent links to not only launch the Alexa app, but also initiate the call?

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Hi @T_Shoaf, I haven’t tried this personally before, but it looks like you can create an Alexa Routine and set “Calling” as the action. So you can use a community developed Virtual Alexa Switch to trigger this routine, or use Voice Monkey and SharpTools Rule Engine’s HTTP Action to trigger the routine. Then add the virtual switch or the rule to the dashboard that can be tapped to trigger the routine and call your mobile phone.

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Thanks a lot @James !! I got it working.

In the end I did not use the “Calling” action because (as far as I can tell) it seems to enable/disable receiving calls on Alexa (rather than making them). Maybe it could have worked but while tinkering with the Alexa routines I found I could create “custom” actions which is apparently like talking to Alexa, so I created one that says “Alexa, call [name] mobile.” I used your link to create the virtual switch and created the tile to trigger it. Quite easy thanks to your suggestion (and the author of that virtual switch)! Thanks again!

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