Tuxedo Touch is Honeywell’s dealer-only security and automation hub for homes and businesses. You can control your cameras, thermostats, lights, locks, and shades with the professionally installed touchscreen (pictured above) and on the related Web and mobile apps. While the wall-mounted interface and apps cover the on-site and remote access basics, Honeywell has just added a voice control feature, too.

Tuxedo Touch with Voice is very similar to Honeywell’s own $349 Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat with Voice Control. Instead of the thermostat’s “Hello, Thermostat” trigger, though, this smart-home hub relies on the phrase, “Hello, tuxedo.” From there, you can say things like, “Leaving the house” to turn off your lights, adjust your thermostat, and perform any other functions you might need to set your home to “away mode” simultaneously. Honeywell provides a list of commands and questions that are compatible with the system.

The voice-control feature has an optimal operating range of 15 feet, although I was able to use Honeywell’s voice-control thermostat from up to 20 to 25 feet away depending on ambient noise, sensitivity settings, and so on. A software update is supposed to give existing Tuxedo Touch users (with Wi-Fi-equipped units) voice-control functionality, and the feature comes standard with newly purchased units.

Hands-off home automation is an appealing idea, but voice-control tech still falls short in many cases. The Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat with Voice Control is a great thermostat with limited voice capabilities, making the $349 price hard to justify. Interactive Voice’s $200 Ivee Sleek home assistant/alarm clock had a lot of command options, but often misunderstood what I said, resulting in erroneous answers and frustration.

This Tuxedo Touch upgrade also includes video recording, remote software upgrades, and compatibility with H.264 and ONVIF protocol cameras. Contact a dealer to find out more about Tuxedo Touch.

http://www.cnet.com/news/honeywell-gives-its-tuxedo-touch-controller-a-voice/