Connecting your Ring Video Doorbell to Alexa gives you several quality-of-life features. Then you can use Alexa smart speakers to play your doorbell’s chime sound, so whenever someone rings your doorbell, you can hear it in any room. Plus, you can connect your Echo Show smart displays and Fire TV streaming devices to your doorbell, so you can see your visitors and talk to them hands-free. Here’s how to connect your Ring Video Doorbell to Alexa and how to use your Echo Show to see your visitors in real-time.
In order to connect your Ring Doorbell to Alexa, you first need to enable the Ring skill in the Alexa app. Here’s how:
How to Connect Ring Doorbell to Alexa
To control your Ring Video Doorbell with Alexa, open the Alexa app, go to More > Skills and Games, and type “Ring” into the search bar. Select the first option and follow the instructions to enable the Ring skill. Once you connect your Ring Doorbell to Alexa, you can say, “Alexa, talk to [your Ring Doorbell name].”
- Open the Alexa app. You will need to have the Alexa app downloaded to your smartphone or tablet and already have your Echo speakers connected.
Read More: How to set up Alexa on your Echo devices
- Then tap More. You will see this three-line icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen.
- Next, tap Skills & Games.
- Then enter “Ring” into the search bar. You can see this search bar at the top of your screen. Tap on it and then type “ring” to see the list of Alexa skills.
- Next, tap the Ring skill to choose it. This should be the first option in the list, with the blue and white Ring logo.
- Then tap Enable to Use, followed by Enable Skill and Link Accounts.
- Next, sign in to your Amazon account.
- Then sign in to your Ring account. You might need to enter a one-time password in order to verify your account.
- Next, tap Authorize to connect Alexa to your Ring Doorbell.
- Then tap Next and wait for Alexa to find your other Ring devices. If you have other Ring smart cameras, doorbells, alarms, or other devices, Alexa will add them automatically. Then you can control them all from the app or with your Alexa smart speakers.
- Next, add your video doorbell to a group. This will allow you to control your Ring Video Doorbell and other devices at the same time with a feature called Alexa routines.
- Finally, tap Continue and then Done.
If Alexa didn’t connect to your Ring Doorbell the first time, you can always say, “Alexa, find my devices” to make Alexa automatically search for your Ring devices again. You can use this voice command with your smart speakers to find new Ring devices you install any time after enabling the Ring skill.
If it still doesn’t work, you should also make sure you have the most recent version of the Alexa app on your device. Finally, make sure your Ring Video Doorbell has a strong and reliable WiFi connection.
Read More: How to test your WiFi speed anywhere in your home
How to Control Your Ring Doorbell with Alexa
Once you connect Alexa to your Ring Video Doorbell, you can see a live view from your Echo Show devices by saying, “Alexa, show [Ring Doorbell Name].” Or you can talk to visitors by saying, “Alexa, talk to/answer/speak to [Ring Doorbell Name].”
However, in order to see your doorbell from your Echo Show, you need to make sure you have Live View enabled. To do this, open the Ring app and tap the three-line icon in the top-left corner. Then go to Devices and choose your Ring Doorbell. Finally, go to Device Settings > Video Settings and tap the slider next to Live View.
To end the live view on your Echo show, you can say “Alexa, hide [Ring Doorbell Name] or simply, “Alexa, stop.”
How to Change Your Ring Doorbell Name in the Alexa App
Once you have connected a Ring Video Doorbell to Alexa, you can change its settings in the Alexa app by going to Devices > Cameras and selecting your device. Then tap the gear icon in the top-right corner and finally, you can change the name of your Ring Video Doorbell by tapping Edit Name at the top.
From here, you can also change other settings to change which types of events Alexa announces, the sound of your doorbell chime, and which Echo speakers you can use to control your Ring Doorbell.
- Person Detection Announcements: Alexa will announce when your Ring Doorbell detects a person. However, this feature requires you to have a subscription to Ring Protect.
- Announcement Devices: This will let you choose which devices will announce events. You can choose multiple devices, but if you want to limit the devices, you can uncheck some.
- Motion Announcements: Alexa will announce whenever your Ring Doorbell detects motion.
- Doorbell Press Notifications: Alexa will announce whenever someone physically rings your doorbell.
- Doorbell Sound: This will change the sound that your connected Alexa speakers make when someone presses your doorbell.
