Ring of Security

What’s This About

Ring has the secret sauce combining hardware, software, security, into an integrated (and growing) platform for a very reasonable price.

Ring began its early days as a startup called Doorbot by inventor and CEO of Ring, Jamie Siminoff. Jamie started his Doorbot business on Kickstarter (I was part of the Early Bird Campaign – of course) to fulfill the use case of him being able to “answer” his doorbell from his workshop garage where he did all his tinkering and inventing. His first product Doorbot was a video doorbell that “worked” but needed improvement in quality (both software and hardware).

After NOT getting the Shark Tank deal, the company was realigned and refocused and re-branded as it is known today, Ring, and expanded into a “Neighborhood Security Ecosystem” by improving the Doorbell Camera, introducing both battery and wired video cameras (with solar panels), Smart lighting, flood light camera replacements, and ultimately a Home Security solution that incorporates all these products into one ecosystem, with the reinvented company goal of making the communities we live in safer for everyone. Not to mention increasing valuation to >$1B and being acquired by Amazon!

Don’t want to install yourself? Hire one of Amazon’s approved installers!

Improved software for existing hardware, as well as some new additions for video surveillance/security continue to be refined and released with impressive functionality. The best part about the Ring System (besides the excellent hardware) is the value/cost for their service: ONLY $100 per year (Yes I said yearly) for all the cloud backup AND 24/7 LIVE Security Monitoring Service, without a term contract! This makes much of the upfront hardware purchase negligible in the relative short term when comparing to something from Brinks or ADT (Many times the legacy players”give” you the crappy hardware, but also “give it to you” in monthly service fees…and frequently increase those when your contracted term is up!)

Newest integration with Ring Alarm are 3rd Party devices (It’s slowly becoming a Smart Home hub, along with its direct integration into the Amazon Echo ecosystem.) The feature I was most impressed with was the integration with Smart Locks. Not only can you control your locks from anywhere via the Ring App, but you can set nearly an unlimited number of Ring Alarm codes via the Ring App after the lock is paired, that will sync with the Smart Lock Keypad for arming and disarming of the door lock. You can still lock the Smart Lock on exit either manually (buy just pressing the “lock” button or by setting up a rule in your Echo to lock after a period of time), but when you type your Alarm/Lock code followed by the “lock” button, it will lock the door and also arm the Ring Alarm System. Simplistically brilliant! Returning home, just using your Smart Lock/Alarm code on the Smart Lock unlocks and disarms the Ring Alarm!

…but when you type your Alarm/Lock code followed by the “lock” button, it will lock the door and also arm the Ring Alarm System. Simplistically brilliant!

No more opening your door and rushing to disarm the alarm system quickly (like when your kids rush from the garage to unlock the door and storm inside) before the police are called 🙂

Tech Dad CO’s Take

What we have in our home:

• Ring Alarm System
• 3 Motion Sensors
• Door and Window Sensors on all primary entry points
• Ring Doorbell Pro (Front door)
• Ring Indoor Cam (Plug-in)
• Ring Battery Stick-Up Cam
• 2 Wired Spotlight Cams (Front of Home and Garage)
• 2 Wireless Spotlight Cams with Solar Panel (Driveway and Rear Yard)
• 3 Kwikset Smartcode Z-Wave Electronic Deadbolts (Garage entry and side door and Front door) – mine are 4 years old but they still worked!

Not only does Ring offer a great variety of options in their Ring Platform (that is easily scalable with hardware additions) at a very reasonable price, but they have a community platform for sharing video clips and concerns in your neighborhood. Porch Pirates beware! (My hood just helped nab some high schoolers who thought it would be fun to steal an Amazon package off a porch. After about 5 neighbors submitted video and stills to the high school security team, a knock on the door of the victim came with the teenager thief and their father…along with the stolen items to be returned.)

Disclaimer: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”

Don’t want to install yourself? Hire one of Amazon’s approved installers!

I would love to hear your comments and thoughts from your experience with Ring, or any questions you have about the Ring Product Platform/Ecosystem. What do you think? Use the comments section below.