If you have not heard about Ring Doorbell before, it’s a fantastic smart video doorbell system. Installing it by your door means you can monitor your property anytime and anywhere you are. It can do many things, but one that many people wonder about is, “Does Alexa work with Ring Doorbell?”
Do Ring Doorbell and Alex Work Together?
The answer to this question is a resounding ‘Yes!’ Alexa works with all Ring devices, making them partners to make your dream smart home come true. By working together, it means you can use your Ring Video Doorbell’s features with Alexa’s AI abilities when you are home.
When you connect Alexa to your Ring Doorbell, you can take advantage of several new features. For instance, you can use the two-way audio feature of Ring through your Amazon Echo screen. It is only one of the many cool things you can do with Ring and Alexa working together.
How to Setup Ring Doorbell With Alexa
First things first – you need both your Ring Doorbell and Alexa to be set up correctly. You need this so you can connect the two devices and utilize their shared features. Let’s start by setting up Alexa on your Amazon Echo and installing and setting up your Ring Doorbell. You can just follow the instructions below.
Setting Up Alexa
With Alexa, you have a smart AI assistant ready to obey each of your commands. You simply need to ask her something. She can do so many things – answering questions, playing the radio, setting timers, and even giving weather forecasts. Moreover, you can connect her with other smart devices, but that needs a bit of work.
But here is how setting up Alexa generally goes:
- Connect your Amazon Echo to its power supply
- Install the Amazon Alexa app onto your smartphone
- Tap the icon for Devices and the + symbol
- On-screen instructions will appear. Follow it to connect Echo to your Wi-Fi, then enter the password
- After getting into your Wi-Fi, Alexa is now ready for you to enable her skills
The steps probably have some slight differences depending on the device. However, this is the gist of it. Follow these steps, and you can set up Alexa and get it ready to pair with your Ring Doorbell. Now, let’s move on to setting up your Ring device, which can get confusing if you are unfamiliar with the process.
Setting up Ring Doorbell
Setting up a Ring Doorbell starts with attaching the device physically to a wall or your front door. Of course, you need to insert a fully charged battery for it to work, or you could hardwire it. Before you can set up the device, you need to download the Ring app to your phone or tablet.
- Once the app is downloaded and installed, run i
- Register your account using your name, phone number, and email address
- The next screen will show you a list of available Ring devices
- Tap the Ring Doorbell you want to set up
- Next, select the Wi-Fi network you are using at home from the list
- Enter your network’s credentials
- Your Ring device should now be up and running
- Open your Ring app, and you can access your video doorbell
When both devices are set up, the next step is to link the two.
Connecting Ring Doorbell and Alexa
After knowing the answer to “Does Alex work with Ring Doorbell?” the next thing to do is learning how to make it happen. Don’t worry because linking Ring Video Doorbell and Alexa is a simple process. Follow the steps below:
1. Open Alexa App
Located at the upper left-hand corner of the screen are three horizontal bars. You should tap them.
2. Go to Skills Section
After tapping the bars, a new menu will appear. From there, tap Skills & Games.
3. Add Ring as a Skill
In the screen that appears, type Ring in the search box to look for the skill. Tap Enable when you found the Ring skill.
4. Type Your Ring Credentials
Next, a prompt will ask you to sign in to your Ring account. By doing that, your Ring account will be connected to your Alexa account.
5. Discover Your Ring Device
After you signed in to your Ring account through Alexa, she will ask you to discover devices. Do this by tapping Discover Devices, which will show all of your Ring devices then connecting automatically to Alexa. You can stop a particular Ring device from integrating with Alexa by tapping Forget, which you can see on the right side.
If you are not seeing any Ring devices appearing automatically, you can do it manually like this:
- Say, “Alexa, discover my devices” or something along this line
- Next, tap Devices
- Then tap Discover
It will show all your Ring devices so you can connect them with Alexa.
After, your Alexa is now linked to your Ring Video Doorbell. It gives you the ability to direct your Ring doorbells using voice commands. Similarly, you can watch live Ring videos from where your Echo Spot or Echo Show is.
How to Use Alexa to Control Your Ring Devices
With Alexa’s Ring Skill, you can connect to any Ring device, whether a video doorbell or not. You will be able to stream a live video of what is happening in front of your door through your Echo Spot, Echo Show, and other Amazon devices. Your Ring device being connected to Alexa gives her the ability to start a new video or join an existing one.
All these you can do with voice commands. You can just say, “Alexa, show the front door,” and Alexa will instantly show you a live feed of any activity at your home. When you want to stop seeing the feed, you just have to tell Alexa to hide it. Whether it is the front door, side door, garage, or backyard, you need only to ask Alexa to show you.
Problems with Alexa and Ring Devices
You may encounter problems sometimes when controlling your Ring devices with Alexa. One reason for that is compatibility. For instance, the Live View functionality might not work on Echo Show because it does not support Ring Doorbell. Long connecting times are also a common problem, but you can resolve it by improving your Wi-Fi signal.
Setting Up Announcements/Notifications through Alexa-enabled Device
You can set your Alexa smart speakers to let you know when activity occurs at your door, such as someone ringing your doorbell. It is possible when you use Alexa announcements. Besides the Ring Doorbell, you also need to connect your Alexa account to your chime through Ring skill.
After connecting them, follow these instructions:
- Go back to the Alexa app
- Go to the smart home tab
- Swipe through the list of devices
- Choose All Devices
- Find your Ring doorbell (shown as a camera)
- Turn on Doorbell Press
- Turn on Motion Announcement (for motion alerts)
- If you can, you can also change the chime
Viewing Recorded Ring Video
Viewing a Live feed is already mentioned before. When viewing a recorded video, the process is the same. The only thing different is the commands you say. Here are some of the things you can ask Alexa for this task:
- Alexa, show [Ring Device Name] ‘s last activity
- Alexa, show [Ring Device Name] ‘s most recent activity
- Alexa, fast-forward the video/Alexa, fast-forward
- Alexa, fast-forward by 10 seconds
- Alexa, fast-forward by 1 minute
- Alexa, rewind the video/Alexa, rewind
- Alexa, rewind by 10 seconds
- Alexa, rewind by 1 minute
- Alexa, pause the video/Alexa, pause
- Alexa, play the video/Alexa, play
These are basic commands, and you can use others to ask Alexa to view a recorded video. Remember that you cannot view a video from Ring Doorbell if you do not have a Ring Protect Plan. On that note, make sure that you have subscribed to this affordable but beneficial Ring service.
Answering the Ring Doorbell with Alexa
This task is also an easy job. Ring Doorbell’s two-way communication makes it all possible. When someone rings your doorbell, answer by saying, “Alexa, answer the front door” or “Alexa, talk to the front door.” You can also respond by unmuting the mic on the screen after entering Live View.
You can watch this video to see how Alexa works with Ring doorbells.
Ring Device Needs Time to Wake Up
Accessing your Ring Doorbell using Alexa can sometimes take a bit of time. It often happens when its battery is low. Your Ring device may take at least 30 seconds to wake up, which might cause you concern. Don’t worry, and just charge the battery if need be.
Conclusion
Does Alexa work with Ring Doorbell? As you can see, it does. The two of them go hand in hand. So, if you have an Amazon device like Echo Show, you can pair it with your Ring Doorbell or Ring Chime for a smarter home. Do that, and it will be easier to monitor your entire house wherever you are.
References:
- Can Your Ring Doorbell Ring Through Alexa? Arch, Techjunkie.com, October 19, 2019
- Integrating Amazon Alexa-Supported Devices With Ring Devices, Support.Ring.com
- Using Alexa to Control Your Ring Doorbell or Camera, Support.Ring.com
- How to Use Ring Video Doorbell with Amazon Alexa, James Stables, The-Ambient.com
