With the rise of porch pirates and package theft, a common critique of Ring’s Video Doorbell lineup is that it lacks package detection alerts to let you know when a delivery has been left at your door.
To help alleviate these concerns, Ring is finally rolling out package detection for the Ring Video Doorbell (2020) and Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2. If you currently own one of these products, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to take advantage of this well-needed update.
What you’ll need for Ring Package Alerts
Not all Ring video doorbells are created equal. And, in fact, only the Ring Video Doorbell (2020) and Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 can send you a notification when a delivery has been left at your door, though you’ll need a Ring Protect subscription as well.
To check which Ring video doorbell you own:
- Launch the Ring app on your phone
- Open the menu and tap Devices to select your doorbell
- Select Device Health and locate the Device Details section to locate a Product Name category, along with the specific model of the doorbell you currently own
Ring’s Protect subscription plans start at $3 per month/$30 per year for a single camera or $10 per month/$100 per year for all Ring cameras at your home.
How to turn on Ring Package Alerts
Once it’s confirmed your doorbell is compatible, you’ll need to dive into the device’s settings to turn on Package Alerts on the Ring app:
- Slide out the menu to choose Devices
- Select your doorbell
- Tap Motion Settings followed by Smart Alerts
Here’s where things can get tricky. Because Ring hasn’t fully released Package Alerts yet, the company is slowly rolling it out to customers, which means that if you don’t see a Package section, then your account doesn’t currently have access to the option. Bummer, right? Unfortunately, the only thing you can do is keep randomly checking the app to see when you’ll have access.
If you’re lucky enough to have the Package section, you’ll simply tap on the video camera icon and follow the prompts to create a package detection zone. In addition to turning on video recording, you’ll want to also tap the alert icon so you receive push alerts on your phone when a package is left at your door.
According to Ring, you may have to fine-tune the package detection zone and the motion sensitivity (for the Ring Video Doorbell 2020 at least) in order to increase the reliability of the feature. Another thing to keep in mind when setting up your package detection zone is that the feature works best when packages are left within 7 feet of the video doorbell. Ring’s approach is different from other doorbell makers in that it monitors a specific spot on the floor in front of your door for packages instead of analyzing the entire video feed. As the company fine-tunes its software, it’s likely the various caveats will improve.