A network-connected device service receives a request to establish a communications session with a network-connected device. In response to the request, the service transmits a set of electronic messages to the network-connected device through an access point of the network-connected device to establish the communications session. The network-connected device service receives a notification from the network-connected device indicating whether the communications session has been established. If so, the service provides an indication to a controlling device that the session has been established. This enables the controlling device to submit commands executable by the network-connected device to the service, which provides the commands to the network-connected device through the access point.