TouchControl & HomeSeer

If any of you use HomeSeer, did you know that you can use TouchControl to drive it from your iPhone? HomeSeer provides an automation interface that allows you to drive it from script, and all you have to do is call those scripts from "Command"-type buttons in TouchControl. Here's a sample VBScript that HomeSeer provides in their documentation to make your PC speak the words "Hello World":

 

Dim hs

Set hsi = createobject("HomeSeer2.application")

hsi.SetHost "localhost"

rval = hsi.Connect("default","default")

if rval <> "" then

msgbox rval

end if

Set hs = hsi.GetHSRef

hs.speak "Hello World"

 

Note: The "SetHost" method allows you to control HomeSeer on a system other than the one you are running the script on, so therefore, HomeSeer and TouchControl Server DON'T have to be on the same PC. Also, the "Connect" method takes an ID and password, which defaults to "default" for both in the trial version, and can be changed from within the HomeSeer interface.

 

So to try this out, just save that script in a .vbs file on your PC, then add a "Command'-type button to one of your TouchControl devices, and enter the following when you click "Set Data" for the new button:

 

Button Command: c:\windows\system32\cscript.exe (or "c:\windows\syswow64\cscript.exe" on 64bit systems)

Command Arguments: c:\hello.vbs (pointing to wherever you saved the script file)

 

Then add the button to an activity, and right-click on the button and click "Test Button", and your PC should talk to you. (Remember to make sure HomeSeer is running, otherwise you'll get a message telling you that it's not.) Now try the button from your iPhone/iPod, and you should get the same results. So now you have control over HomeSeer from your iPhone (any functions that are available through it's automation interface anyway, which should be pretty much everything).

 

Of course the biggest "problem" with this is that HomeSeer isn't cheap (full versions from $219.95). At lease that's not cheap compared to, say, TouchControl! So I offer this solution for anyone who already owns HomeSeer and wants to integrate it's functionality with your TouchControl activities. If you don't own HomeSeer, you can download and install it and use full functionality for up to 30 days, so you can at least play around with it and see what you can dream up to control from TouchControl on your iPhone.

 

I have a feeling that HomeSeer probably isn't the only home automation app that provides a scripting/automation interface, so if you know of or are using another product (either home automation or anything else), let us know!

 

Enjoy!