Intercom: Ring to Open

Would love to get the Setting: Ring to Open like Nello had it and Nuki Opener has ist!
It will automatically open the door if you ring. No matter if you are in the Geo zone or not

Just for clarity, when you say “If you ring”, what do you mean? Do you mean the visitor can ring a telephone number (from a telephone/smartphone) and the door will automatically open?

If so, why not just have your visitors install the app and add them as a shared user? Or have them call you on your phone, so you can let them in? Although given the way Ring Intercom works, you’ll be notified when they’re there anyway so it would be unnecessary to have them call you.

Maybe you could rig something up with Homekit or some other proxy to handle the automation, assuming it doesn’t weaker the security of the entire building - imagine an Indian call centre scammer opening your front door… :frowning_face:

Alternatively, if you mean to open the door whenever the Call button (on the entry panel) is pushed (ie. “ringing your flat”) then I would be 100% opposed to a feature that allowed the door to be opened automatically whenever the Call button is pressed - that would be a huge security issue, so hopefully that isn’t what you mean.

i’m sure they’ve meant ring the intercom doorbell downstairs instead of calling a phone number. when it comes to security, nuki and other manufacturers have this features for a long time so i’m sure it’s ok. i would welcome geofence feature so it works only when you are home,

yet better being able to set to work only when your Home is in Away state (you are not home but by geofence the app would know you are near), this would prevent auto opening doors for anyone that rings while you are home - this however would require some heavy interconnectedness - maybe for the Matter future, but until then i’m ok with this being the case

so until then: Ring the intercom downstairs (while you are close optional) and doors automatically open

why? keyless entry for you. no hassle of having to take out your phone and opening the app and pressing the button, especially because there is not an apple watch app. at this point it is quicker to just use the key

again, other smart intercoms have this feature, it was a surprise to me that ring does not have this (there was 0 reviews when i was preordering)

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Just something else to consider, particularly for Ring - Amazon Auto-Verify will make gaining unverified access to buildings an even more tempting opportunity for certain people that shouldn’t be in the building, in which case with Amazon Auto-Verify building security needs to be stepped UP not DOWN.

Take this example - coincidentally caught on a Ring as they always are these days - a woman inside a building pinching parcels from outside a front door (not my building, thank God).

I’m just saying, that providing too many unverified auto-entry convenience solutions which are then multiplied by potentially dozens of flats in the same building each with a Ring Intercom, all using the same convenience features at different times, will become a huge security nightmare for ALL residents.

If buildings are rendered insecure because of people not wanting to use their keys/phones then a genuinely useful feature like Amazon Auto-Verify becomes impossible due to thefts.

I also really need that feature. I cant wait three more weeks. Otherwise I have to return it. I thought such a basic function would be implemented already.
I can’t even just press „open“ or do I miss something?
I just can open the door when someone is ringing.

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wtf neilm. if someone wants to get in they have milion options to do so unless there is a security guy present at all times by the entrance. we were talking about geolocation. i’m sorry i don’t care what some “chick” done in some who knows where. and btw it was most probably someone from the building. i would never consider any space outside my door safe to leave stuff in. also if i want to make my building’s door less secure i also have million options to do so, that’s not my goal, i wanted a smart device to make my life easier.

just so we are clear so i know that i can return the Intercom and purchase one of others brands that support this, Ring is not planning adding this feature right? thanks

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The problem, if I haven’t made it clear already, is the risk of a multiplicative or compound effect when potentially dozens of Ring Intercom users within a building enable these convenience features to the point where the door pops open pretty much 24x7 if the visitor can find the right button.

And trust me, there ARE people in this world that would be willing to spam an entry panel if there’s the slightest chance of the door automatically popping open thanks to a Ring Intercom - at the very least it will become a nuisance for everyone. It’s going to be Knock Down Ginger every week. On an entire building.

Try and look at the bigger picture, which is that it’s not just about you.

There wouldn’t be a problem if you could ensure that ONLY YOU would have geo-location enabled in your building (or timed-unlocking or whatever unverified unlock feature anyone can think of), but when a lot of flats in a single building enable such features then hopefully you can see that a problem may start to arise.

And that’s the risk, because it now impacts not just yourself but also your neighbours who are powerless to stop their other neighbours from being selfish or inconsiderate dicks.

Which is why it should be down to the building management to decide whether features that permit unverified unlocking (like geo-location or timed-unlocking etc.) should be enabled - as standard, unverified unlocking should not be available without building management approval.

If your building management is fine with it, then great have them ask Ring to enable it for your building but mine wouldn’t be as we’re having to think of ALL tenants and not just the ones that want some extra convenience in their life.

The thing is, which is good, is that few people have heard of the “other brands” that support this kind of unverified entry, which is why it’s less of a risk/issue but this Ring Intercom product could be huge for Ring, and that’s a very big difference.

PS. Yeah the use of “chick” is a bit weird, it’s from a local UK neighbourhood forum. Unlikely to be someone from the building as (from my experience) residents tend to recognise each other and apparently nobody has recognised this individual. But why reduce building security just to make your life that tiny little bit easier if it then becomes a problem for everyone else who then can’t have nice things (delivered)? That seems pretty selfish to me. :man_shrugging:

Ohh Yes Ring to open is the best feature, i need that promptly on Ring Intercom!

Hey neighbors! As a reminder, please keep conversations and discussions polite and make sure to review the Community Guidelines here. We appreciate a healthy discussion between neighbors, but understand things may get heated with differences of opinion, so feel free to take a step back if needed.

Additionally, I’d like to clarify that the Feature Request board is what we utilize to gather and share feedback with our teams here. We do not comment on every request added, as we receive a large volume of requests each day. Whenever we have relevant information or updates to share on a specific idea, we will share that information in the appropriate threads. Thank you!

Yes, thank you for mentioning this! I just switched from Nuki (out of curiosity) and was shocked that this feature doesn’t exist!

Ring to open is such a basic and useful feature to have.

Can somebody from Ring clarify if it will be added? Right now, the intercom doesn’t seem too smart - the only feature is distant unlock. As far as I can tell, I can’t even grant access to guests without sharing admin rights?!

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I also desperately need this feature. Ring, please listen to us. We can have something like, ring 3 times to open the door or 5 times or whatsoever. I am afraid I will have to abandon ring if this feature isn’t made available in the near future!!

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Hi Ring team,
yes a ring to open functionality would be extremely great.
Based on geofancing I would want to define a time period how long ring to open should be active. Means If I am entering (only if am entering, means I was not in before) the geofancing area with my smart phone ringing the door (within defined timeframe after entering the geofancing area, e.g. 1 minute) will open the door once (only once).
Please implement this feature. Your competitors do have this feature already.
Thanks and best regards,
domde

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Nuki has this feature:

  • The app has an active notification symbol in android so that it can track your location.
  • As soon as you enter the geofence you have a set period of time (20 min default) to ring the doorbell
  • if you do so the door is opened automatically by the nuki opener
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You can open the app go to dashboard, hit the “front entry” button that has the lock on it.

Better would be a single button widget to be placed on phone Homescreen or Geo fencing allowing me to open for myself when close to my building by pressing call button on house panel.

Understand your argument but also want access for MYSELF, and maybe a SELECT FEW (with parameters like time window) for building access. In the end, it is a building community specific issue as, with or without intercom, anyone in the building can let anyone in and give anyone key copies.

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Just got Ring Intercom and also was surprised after knowing Nello und Nuki to be unable to use this basic feature.

Has anyone found a workaround via IFTTT or something else?

Without this feature I can straight away return the product…

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That’s actually one of the basic features and I’m really surprised too that it is not there. When will it be there? If it will not come maybe a system change is valid for me.

Neilm,

  1. Your main competitor has this feature

  2. There is a way to make it safe by choosing the range of time when ring to open is activated, same way nuki does it

  3. A lot of users obviously are asking for it

What else do you need to take your ego away and consider adding this to the backlog ? It’s your duty as product manager to consider these kind of feedbacks. That would be a pity for your company to stay deaf about it.

With hope that you will reconsider.
Have a good day at work.

Thanks

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  1. I don’t work for Ring, I am a director of a building management company that manages multiple large developments with hundreds of properties where this feature could become a massive problem.

  2. So what if Nuki has added it? That doesn’t mean it is safe and secure. On an individual basis, one user in the entire building with a Nuki may not be an issue, but as Ring Intercom is likely to be much better known and more widely installed than Nuki ever hopes to be, what happens if 10, 20 or more Ring Intercom users each enable “Ring to Open” and use different overlapping/non-overlapping times? Eventually they’d be enabling potentially 24x7 unfettered building access where anyone can just breeze in at the push of enough random buttons - blissfully unaware of what they are doing collectively, because they’re each operating in their own personal security bubble.

Are you honestly telling me that you don’t see this as a potential issue? Think of how it might work in an apartment building with 100-200 properties with maybe 300-400 residents. That way lies utter madness.

  1. Actually, a very small number are asking to have the security of their entire building reduced for the majority of their neighbours, just to save them from clicking the button on a phone. Convenience is never a reason to compromise building security for everyone.

In my role as property - not product - manager I’m simply posting on behalf of all those silent residents that don’t want to have their personal security compromised by a small minority of residents that think the world revolves around them and only them (every shared living community has a tiny minority of such people that behave in ways which make life difficult for everyone else - one could call them ego-maniacs…)

So if anyone has an ego, I’m pretty sure it ain’t me…

Hi @user47586. The Ring Community is a public forum where neighbors can interact with one another and share new ideas. This is not an official Ring support forum, and any members of the Community Moderation Team will have “_Ring” in their name to designate them as a moderator. Please keep in mind the Ring Community Guidelines, as we aim to keep interactions civil and polite.