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Not at home? Alexa can greet visitors for you on your Ring doorbell

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The benefits of a smart video doorbell are numerous and obvious. When you aren’t home, you can still respond to visitors and provide instructions for deliveries. The downside is that you have to be near your phone and not currently busy in order to respond to visitors, so what happens when you’re in the middle of an important conversation or driving? Thanks to a new feature called Smart Responses, Alexa can greet visitors for you. Alexa’s reach continues to grow beyond just being a voice for Amazon Echo smart speakers and displays.

There are three main Smart Responses: Quick Replies, Alexa Greetings, and Motion Warnings. It’s worth pointing out that Alexa Greetings is the only smart response that is Alexa powered.

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Quick Replies is a solution for those times when someone shows up at your door and you can’t — or you just don’t want to — answer. When someone comes to the door, you can choose from six preset responses, including “Please leave the package outside,” “Hi, we’ll be right there!” or “If you’d like to leave a message, you can do so now.” This feature has already begun to roll out and will be available on Ring Video Doorbell models, with the exception of the Ring Video Doorbell Wired.

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Alexa greetings turn your doorbell into a sort of smart concierge. It can greet visitors for you and provide contextual responses based on their answer. For example, Alexa might ask if a visitor wants to leave a message or what the purpose of their visit is. If the response includes the word “package,” Alexa can ask if the packages require a signature and inform the delivery person where to drop the packages. It’s a useful tool for when you’re away from home but you still want to leave information for visitors.

One of the Smart Responses, Motion Warnings, acts as a deterrent to anyone with less than honorable intentions. As soon as the doorbell detects motion, it chimes in with the message: “Warning, you are now being monitored and recorded by Ring.” It functions in much the same way as a yard sign for a security system. If a potential burglar knows they are being watched, they’re more likely to leave.

These new Smart Responses make the Ring lineup of doorbells even more useful, all while adding another layer of intelligence to Alexa’s capabilities.

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Patrick Hearn
Patrick Hearn
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it's a…
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