Dumb questions about Ring Wired Video Doorbell - SORTED THANKS!

Si_Clist

OK, I'm pushing 80 years old and our new Ring Wired Video doorbell is sending me daft. I've got it up and running, and I've even got it working with one of the Ring chime thingies that you plug into the mains. However …

Is there a way of disabling that horrible three-note chime it makes OUTSIDE when the bell push is pressed, the point of which escapes me?

And what exactly am I supposed to do when somebody pushes the bell push, I hear the chime, and I get the notification? There doesn't seem to be any way of acknowledging it, or indeed of speaking to the caller, which I thought you could do.

Sorry if this is all obvious, but it isn't to me 🙄

soolin

to speak to the person outside you need the app on your phone. You use the app to ‘answer’ the door, we’ve answered our door from all over Europe, usually to tell the postman to try next door to leave our parcels.

If you want to keep a copy of what your Ring doorbell picks up, you need to pay for a subscription, which is currently £49 a year. We live in a high car crime area and when we first got the Ring we used to check each morning to see if anyone tried to steal our cars overnight but The novelty soon wore off.

elsien

You should see something like a live view on your smartphone when you get the notification, which allows you to then talk to whoever is at the door.

Si_Clist

THank you. Got the app, and I now see how it works to speak to a caller 😃

But how do I stop it making the stupid chimes that the bell push sounds outside?

elsien

it will be in the device general setting somewhere in the app. There will be an option to either change it to something else or turn it off completely.

Si_Clist

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81896737#Comment_81896737

That's what I thought, but I can't see it anywhere - hence the question.

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6656625/dumb-questions-about-ring-wired-video-doorbell

Try the following, I don't have one and am presuming the app is the same the world over. It looks like you can mute it, although I'd leave it low so that people know it is working.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU0FR6NYPNQ

Si_Clist

OK, thanks folks - I got it sorted now. I was confused by the terminology!

Still trying to get the hang of the whole works though, and all I've managed to find by way of help on YouTube etc is wannabe media personalities making it their life's work to explain the physical installation and initial setup, which I've done.

Is there anywhere a video or whatever that explains what you actually need to know step by step once you've got it connected? For example, caller pushes bell push, blue light spins round the button on it, and I get the alert on my phone. How am I actually supposed to respond to that alert?

If it's just a courier who pushes the bell push and clears off, what do I do with the alert?

Sorry to be a bit thick about this stuff 🤔

Exodi

I think you're overthinking this.

Easiest way to test it now you've got the app and the doorbell installed is to go press the doorbell yourself - then you'll know fully how it works and be comfortable before a live situation.

If it's just a courier who pushes the bell push and clears off, what do I do with the alert?

Well it's useful to get these notifications so you know if a driver has just left a parcel on your doorstep, pressed the bell and walked off (happens all the time at mine, very few couriers wait for someone to answer the door nowadays). You don't have to respond to the alert on the app, in fact 99% of mine I don't.

If the notification is not of interest, you'd just dismiss it like any other notification, usually by swiping it away (specifics would depend what phone you have).

Si_Clist

Who knows if I'm overthinking this? Whatever, some of it is mystifying though - for example, what does the blue light spinning round the bellpush button indicate? It seems to keep doing that for a certain length of time then revert to stationary white.

If answers to questions like that are in fact to be found on the internet, they've eluded me so far …

EssexExile

It seems to be the modern way Si_Clist, I have another make of doorbell and could find no useful information on what to do with it once installed, it certainly didn't come with any instructions. I just play with it now and then and eventually I'll get the hang of it. But I'm only 74 so I'll be fine. To be honest by the time it has detected an oik at the door and sent me a notification and I've opened the app, he's usually long gone.