Patent attributes
A home automation system, for controlling a plurality of uniquely identifiable appliances within a dwelling having several rooms, each room designated as a zone, using a zone controller located within each room. Each appliance has a designated zone according to the room it is located within. Each zone controller is capable of receiving user customizable voice commands. When each voice command is received by one of the zone controllers associated with one of the appliances, a command is transmitted by that zone controller to the associated appliance if within the zone. If the appliance is within another of the designated zones, the zone controller receiving the voice command transmits a command to the zone controller having the same zone designation as that appliance, which in turn transmits the command to the appliance.