YOUR Ring smart doorbell is packed with handy features that make your life easier.
Here are three that are easy to miss.
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Get package alerts
Your Ring device can let you know when a package has arrived at your doorstep.
It’ll let you know when there is a package left in a designated area near your gadget.
- Open your Ring app
- Tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines)
- Go to Devices and select a compatible device
- Select Motion Settings > Smart Alerts
- Under the Package section:
- To turn on and record your package deliveries, select the video icon
- Follow the instructions and create your Package Zone
To start using Package Alerts, you will need a Ring Protect subscription, which starts at £3.49 a month.
You’ll also need a Ring Video Doorbell (2nd Generation) or a Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2.
Track visitors
Your doorbell can show the path of visitors on an aerial map view in the Ring app.
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Called Bird’s Eye view, the map is made up of motion events recorded by your camera throughout the day.
It helps you track where people are walking, entering and exiting your property.
The feature provides a useful way to, for instance, find out precisely where a delivery driver has left a package.
To try it for yourself, you’ll first need to set up 3D motion detection, which triggers video recordings when your camera spots movement.
You can find out how to do that on Ring’s website.
Once that’s done, Bird’s Eye View is automatically activated.
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Battery saving tip
If your Ring doorbell isn’t hardwired, it can burn through its battery pretty quickly with constant use.
The gadget’s pretty useless without any power so employing a battery-saving trick or two could save your blushes.
Turning on Motion Detection, for instance, is one way to ensure the device isn’t constantly running.
When activated, your doorbell only records video and audio when it senses movement within a certain range.
It can make your battery last much longer as clips are only recorded when there’s some action near your door.
This spares your battery life and has the added benefit of saving your cloud storage space.
- Open the Ring application, and select your Ring device.
- Tap Motion Settings.
- Tap Motion Zones.
- Move the slider on the Motion Zones screen to the spot named “MIN” and then make sure all zones are turned off on the next screen.
Add shared users
If multiple people live in your home, you may want each of them to have access to your Ring account.
This allows them to view alerts, and cameras and share videos, access to which can be granted or revoked by the owner.
Rather than share your login info with multiple people – which could jeopardise your account if the wrong person gets hold of your password – try adding them as shared or guest users.
This gives them access to the account while keeping your credentials secure.
It also prevents housemates from changing system settings or account information.
- Open the Device Settings page in the Ring App for one of your Ring devices.
- Tap Shared Users.
- Tap Add User.
- Enter the email address of the person you want to add as a Shared User.
- Select the devices you want to share with this person.
- Tap Send Invite.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
