Most recent ADT systems should work with Alexa. While it is always wise to consult the manual that came with your system, any ADT system installed in the last few years should be fine.
Does ADT Work with Alexa?
In recent years, ADT has started to venture more into the smart home market. This means that many of their recent installations can be connected up to systems like Alexa and Google Home.
Check out this post to know whether your ADT is compatible with Google Home.
All of these connections are carried out through a system known as ADT Pulse.
This is an app for smartphones, tablets, and computers. Technically, your ADT devices will be interacting with this app which, in turn, will be interfacing with Alexa.
Long story short, if you have a recent ADT system, then yes, it will be compatible with Alexa. In fact, it will be compatible with any devices that have Alexa. This includes:
- Echo
- Echo Dot
- Echo Plus
- Echo Show
- Echo Input
This is not an exhaustive list. Amazon is introducing more Alexa devices all of the time. It is highly likely that any future Alexa devices will also be compatible with your ADT system.
How do you know if your system is compatible with Alexa?
If your ADT system is compatible with ADT Pulse i.e. you were told it was, or you were provided with a username and password for ADT Pulse, then your system is going to compatible.
There is a small chance that you may not have access to all of the features in your ADT system. However, this is a very small chance.
You certainly will be able to tap into the main features of your system e.g. camera control, temperature control, light control, etc.
If your ADT system is not compatible with ADT Pulse, then it cannot connect up to Alexa. This is because there is no way to do it.
Thankfully, if you get in touch with ADT, they will be able to help you upgrade your system. While this may cost a little bit of money, it will ensure that your ADT system is ‘future proofed’.
What ADT systems can you control from Alexa?
It depends on what systems you have installed in your home.
Remember, if these systems cannot be accessed through ADT Pulse, they will not work with Alexa.
This applies even if the rest of your system is compatible with Pulse.
You can change the following using voice commands:
- Lighting
- Alarm systems (arm and disarm)
- Temperature settings
- Door locks
- Control cameras, including recording of clips through the cameras.
There are a variety of voice commands that you can use.
It is worth going through the list of voice commands available when you first connect Alexa up to your ADT system.
This is because Amazon and ADT are always working together in a bid to increase the number of options that are available.
How do you connect ADT systems to Alexa?
The process of connecting up the ADT systems to Alexa should be dead simple.
However, make sure that you have the following to hand before you begin:
- An activated Alexa system.
- A user account for ADT Pulse.
To begin with, you are going to need to load up the Alexa app on your smart device and login to your Amazon account.
Make sure that this is the account that is connected up to the main Alexa system.
In the app, find the ‘Skills’ button which will be in the lefthand menu.
From the next page, type in ‘ADT Pulse’. Select the ADT Pulse option that appears and select ‘Enable Skill’.
You will now be prompted to login to your ADT Pulse account. Don’t worry. Typing your details into the Alexa app is 100% secure.
You will now be given options about what you want to control via Alexa. You can turn these features on and off as you please.
Don’t worry if you set something incorrectly here at this stage because you can always edit these features later on e.g. if you decided you didn’t want Alexa to activate your garage door during installation, you can turn that feature back on later on.
The final step will ask you to supply a pin number.
Make sure that this number is different to your normal alarm number. The purpose of the pin number is to allow Alexa to identify you for certain commands e.g. disabling alarm systems. It is an extra security feature.
Once you have completed this process, everything should be hooked up properly. You can then give a few voice commands a test, just to make sure.
Conclusion
The answer to ‘does ADT work with Alexa?’ is that it absolutely does, but it will be dependent on the ADT system that you have. As long as it works with ADT Pulse, you should be fine.
Check out this post to know what ADT sensors are compatible with RING.
