Alexa, tell my computer to... [NO IFTTT required]

[LazySpaniard]

Hello forum,

I'd like to ask for your help in developing and testing an alternative to the Google Assistant-to-IFTTT-to-Pushbullet integration. I've made a functional POC and would appreciate your input and feedback for making improvements. I'm looking for beta testers to use this Alexa skill in whatever way makes sense for their use cases. If you're interested, please read on.

You can read more details here but I'll include some basic information below.

Pre-requisites
- An Alexa digital assistant (either Amazon Echo device or the Alexa app on your phone)
- A Pushbullet account
- Approved access to the beta (read on)
- Pushbullet account linking with the skill (which is done when enabling the skill)

How to use examples

Long way
"Alexa, open my computer."
listen to the intro
"Push [your command here]"

Concise way
"Alexa, tell my computer to push [your command here]
"Alexa, push [your command here] using my computer"

See a short demo video here:
https://youtu.be/2mzV1V0gVAE

Want to join the beta? Fill out this application.
https://forms.gle/EA43Y3PfYZG73uEi7

[RobLatour]

looks promising, I just sent you a separate email

[LazySpaniard]

Thank you Rob for testing the skill out and for all your great feedback!
I recognize that the main challenge in making the skill usable is finding phrasing that conforms to Amazon's skill + intent invocation requirements and is comfortable to use; in particular, for one-shot command pushes.

First and foremost, I'd like to community-source the skill invocation phrase, the one thing that can't be changed once the skill goes public. The invocation phrase is practically synonymous with the skill's name. It should be something that makes sense in the context of the skill's function as well as it's purpose. I started with "PC Pusher", changed it to "My Computer" to duplicate the old invocation method with Google Assistant, and am now considering "Bullet Pusher" as users' use cases may not be equivalent to that of my own; controllling my computer with Push2Run. The skill invocation phrase should be between 2 and 5 syllables and make sense in most of these phrase templates.

• Alexa, tell skill invocation to push [my command].
• Alexa, ask skill invocation to send [my command].
• Alexa, send [my command] using skill invocation.
• Alexa, push [my command] with skill invocation.
• Alexa, launch skill invocation.
• Alexa, open skill invocation.

Next, I'd like help pre-setting a few handy intent invocation verbs as synonyms for the "push" key word. A little background, Amazon requires a trigger word for each intent (thing you want to do in the skill). For example, "help" will prompt Alexa to explain how to use the skill. For the push intent, we have "push" and "send", as well as a couple other words that push a command or message such as "type", "press", "open", "close", and "launch". This means that you can fullfill your command without needing to say "push" or "send" for if you use one of these words.

For example, instead of "push type this long sentence", you can ommit the first word since "type" is a preset synonym for the push intent. In Rob's testing, he found that "empty recycle bin" didn't work because he needed to say "send empty recycle bin". In addition to "empty", I'd like to know what other words, likely verbs, the community would want to use as an intent invocation word.

Thank you all for your time. I hope to hear from you soon!

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer.

For more context...
What is a skill invocation phrase?
https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs ... skill.html

What is an intent?
https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs ... -and-slots

[MarshallVisions]

Hey, this sounds great!

[LazySpaniard]

Quick update. I'm trying a three syllable invocation of "my bullet" intead of "pc pusher" for the skill. You use it like so.

"Alexa, tell my bullet to push [command guess here]"
"Alexa, push [command goes here] using my bullet"

I welcome feedback or suggestions.

[LazySpaniard]

Update

1. Added Spanish and German language sets. Please report any localization errors you find.
2. This week, I will be changing the invocation phrase from "my bullet" to "my computer".

I gave "my bullet" a fair chance but frustratingly it never became intuitive to use like "my computer" did.

With the new invocation phrase, the use will be like so...
"Alexa, tell my computer to push [command guess here]"
"Alexa, push [command goes here] with my computer"

As usual, I welcome feedback or suggestions.
In particular, at this moment I'm looking for input on whether users would like the invocation phrase localized or not. For example in Spanish a user would use "mi computadora".

[smay_lee]

When IFTTT broke most of extremely useful applets, so was gone many hours of my time and many commands that I use daily. I would like to help, but I use Google home. Can it be adapted for Google home?

[LazySpaniard]

Same. It really wrecked my flow when Google pulled the rug from under us like Google does.

My apologies smay_lee. I've looked into re-making the skill for Google Home but apparently setting up the Alexa skill was a far easier endeavor and based on how long that took me, I just don't have the resources to embark on a more difficult endeavor for Google Home. Plus, I'm still bitter at Google so I have little will to make something for them.

If it makes sense to you, I hope you give the Alexa skill a try. It's free to have an account and you can use the app on your phone to try it out before needing to make a decision about investing in an Alexa smart home device.

[LazySpaniard]

Update

Due to popular demand, I've added a toggle to the push intent's follow-up behavior. If you'd like Alexa to NOT ask "anything else?" after every push, simply tell it to "toggle follow-up mode". Moving forward, the skill's session will end after every push.

[LazySpaniard]

Update

Added push intent bypass variations...

• Find
• Set
• Print
• Turn On
• Turn Off

Now, instead of saying something like...

Tell my computer to push turn on the toaster

A user can omit "push" and say...

Tell my computer to turn on the toaster