Ring Intercom - Amazon Auto-Verify with unique street addresses

I’ve read the article, which implies that once a single Ring Intercom is installed in a building (and Auto-Verify enabled) then any deliveries to the building will potentially allow the door to be unlocked using the installed Ring Intercom (assuming a delivery instruction is provided, I guess).

So is this correct? I asked Ring Support (via email) and they seemed a little confused, suggesting that I would need to setup neighbouring properties as Shared Users, which clearly isn’t going to happen (so can’t be right).

The thing is, I can very easily see how Amazon/Ring can coordinate deliveries to a single building address (with individual flats within), eg. this sort of address when delivering to Flat 80 would unlock the door using the Ring Intercom installed in Flat 6:

  • Flat 2, 6 Acacia Avenue
  • Flat 4, 6 Acacia Avenue
  • Flat 6, 6 Acacia Avenue (<— this flat has a Ring Intercom with Auto-Verify enabled)
  • Flat 78, 6 Acacia Avenue
  • Flat 80, 6 Acacia Avenue

However my own building isn’t so easy to divine… for example, I have the following 8 unique street addresses all within the same building that is accessed via a single front door:

  • 58 Acacia Avenue (<— this property has a Ring Intercom with Auto-Verify enabled)
  • 60 Acacia Avenue
  • 62 Acacia Avenue
  • 64 Acacia Avenue
  • 66 Acacia Avenue
  • 68 Acacia Avenue
  • 70 Acacia Avenue
  • 72 Acacia Avenue

So, if Auto-Verify is enabled how would Amazon/Ring know to unlock the door for a delivery to, say, 72 Acacia Avenue using the Ring Intercom installed in 58 Acacia Avenue?

Will Auto-Verify work for my kind of building address system? And if not, could it be supported in future (perhaps by enhancing the Ring app to allow the entry of “co-located property addresses” for the purpose of unlocking?)

As a Director of the Management Company for this building I’m also interested to know how Amazon/Ring would be able to disable Auto-Verify for this kind of building addressing system when suitably requested - we’d have to give you all the possible addresses within the building (all 8 addresses, in the example above) to ensure that none of them could activate Auto-Verify.

Hi @neilm-uk. Do you have the Ring Intercom set up at this address currently? I’m looking into the information I have available regarding different address types and how that works with Auto-Verify for Amazon Deliveries. In the meantime, I’d be happy to clarify how the feature works.

Once the Ring Intercom is set up and Auto-Verify for Amazon Deliveries is enabled, all residents of that building will receive verified, time-bound Amazon deliveries. I apologize for any miscommunication received, but this process does not require adding anyone as a Shared User. The Amazon delivery driver will always comply with the delivery instructions provided in each resident’s Amazon account.

It’s important for any residents interested in installing the Ring Intercom and using this feature to seek out and obtain any required consent from the landlord or co-residents first. With that said, Auto-Verify for Amazon Deliveries can be deactivated at any time. Ring will also deactivate Auto-Verify for Amazon Deliveries for the building If instructed by a verified building authority, such as a home owners’ association or landlord.

Hi @Caitlyn_Ring

Obviously I haven’t given my actual address above, but yes I do have my Ring Intercom set up at my current address which for the sake of this public discussion I will say is 58 Acacia Avenue - this is configured as my “location” in the Ring App, for my Ring Intercom (“Front Entrance”).

The neighbours in my building have addresses such as 60 Acacia Avenue (across the hall from my flat), 62 Acacia Avenue (flat above mine) through to 72 Acacia Avenue. There are actually several other buildings in the vicinity, part of the same development, that all have properties inside with individual street addresses - we’re talking about 86 individual properties/street addresses, in 9 separate buildings. It’s possible this street addressing scheme used by my development is a quirk, but I’d be surprised if this is the only development that uses this individual street addressing system for properties.

As for Shared Users, I’m very glad to hear that it’s not necessary to set neighbours up as Shared Users in order for Auto-Verify to work, as that felt totally wrong and counter-intuitive!

However it’s not at all clear how Auto-Verify identifies the “other” neighbours/properties within the same physical building (please see this request so that the other neighbour addresses can be viewed within the Ring app - if only to confirm that Auto-Verify is configured correctly for the building).

My assumption is that Auto-Verify will only work when there is a single street address for the building (ie. “Flat 2, 6 Acacia Avenue”, “Flat 4, 6 Acacia Avenue”, etc. - ie. all flats within the same building at 6 Acacia Avenue). Unfortunately, this isn’t how it works at my building!

I totally agree that consent should be requested. I’m actually a director of the management company for the building(s) where I live, and requesting that Ring disables Auto-Verify when Ring Intercom may be installed in potentially dozens of different street addresses (all located across multiple buildings) is another concern that I have - can Ring cope with that kind of request as it wouldn’t be for a single building, or even a single street address? I would dread having to prove to Ring that I am the verified building authority for 86 separate street addresses (even though I am!)

I look forward to whatever information you can provide on the Auto-Verify “algorithm”. Hopefully you can also feedback the information I have provided above in case my street addressing situation is not currently supported.

Many thanks!

@neilm-uk I checked in with my teams on this question regarding your address type and how that works with Auto-Verify, and we have a team you can reach out to specifically for Ring Intercom support here. That team can review this in more depth in order to get you more specifics on the Auto-Verify feature and how it may work with your address. I’d also recommend asking them about the process in place for when a building manager requests that the Auto-Verify feature be disabled for a building, and what sort of information they would need. I hope this helps. :slight_smile:

Hi @Caitlyn_Ring - thanks, I’ve dropped them an email. This would be the second time I’ve queried how Auto-Verify works via that email address, the first time I don’t think the person I dealt with understood how it worked at all (they told me to setup neighbours as Shared Users) so fingers crossed I’ll have more luck this time! :smile:

I’ll post back once we’ve hopefully got a solution/final answer.

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I had a reply from Ring, and to be honest it amounted to nothing more than “trust us, we know what we’re doing”.

The thing is, there is no way to tell if Ring has determined the correct addresses within a “complex building” - you just have to hope that they have, and it could take weeks, months, years or maybe even never to know that they haven’t.

There is nothing on record (to my knowledge) which identifies my that address is within the same physical building as my neighbours… the only way you would know this, is if you visited the building or looked it up on Google Streetview.

I did reply to support asking them to confirm a couple of different addresses to test that the information they have on file is correct, but I’ve not had a reply in 4 days. So maybe they’ve gone silent, or they’re still looking it up.

So far, the lack of transparency is really troubling - both for Ring, and for end-users that are left in the dark. Who knows, Amazon delivery drivers may be trying to use my Ring Intercom to get inside the wrong building - I certainly have no idea, and likely never will. :man_shrugging:

I think it’s really important that Ring lists within the Ring app the other addresses that Ring believes are accessible by my Intercom with Auto-Verify, so that users can take comfort that Ring has determined addresses correctly, and also provide a link so that users can immediately contact Ring if the addresses are identified incorrectly.

I really can’t see a downside to providing this information, it’s a win/win for everyone.

@neilm-uk I do not believe support is going to be able to confirm and verify information for someone else’s address as there are privacy concerns to consider, but that would need to be handled with support. Amazon may notify Amazon account holders in your building that Auto-Verify has been activated, and the driver will always follow the delivery instructions as provided in their Amazon account. Your neighbors can update their delivery instructions at any time in their Amazon account.

Unfortunately, I don’t have anything further I can provide on my end with this question. I also recommend directing future technical or address-related questions to our intercom support team since the Community handles more general questions. Thank you for your continued feedback. :slight_smile:

Hi @Caitlyn_Ring OK fair enough on the privacy considerations, I get that.

The issue is, while I can (and probably) will ask neighbours if they see any reference to Auto-Verify, I’m a bit wary of setting expectations that then don’t materialise. I don’t want to tell them Auto-Verify is enabled, only for them to set a direction and then of course their parcel isn’t delivered because Auto-Verify isn’t actually functioning for this building etc. :man_shrugging:

Do you have any idea how or where they should see this Auto-Verify activation notification? Perhaps an example screenshot that shows where and how it appears? That might be nice, even for everyone else here to see (not just me, or my neighbours!)

I don’t see any Auto-Verify activation notification on even my own Amazon account - but maybe that’s to be expected? Unfortunately I’ve no idea.

And if I do ask my neighbours to look for the Auto-Verify activation notification and to let me know if they find it, if Auto-Verify has not been activated for my neighbours (because Amazon/Ring do NOT understand this complex building) then they’ll be looking for a VERY long time for something that doesn’t exist, and out of respect for my neighbours I really don’t want to waste their time unnecessarily! :smile:

I also appreciate this is a bit of an unusual technical request, and I had hoped to be able to document the process/algorithm in public, if only for the benefit of any other resident with a “complex building” that is wondering the same thing but has no visibility on what addresses are being covered.

I’ll try to continue to post whatever useful info I find out as it may still help in the long run… :smile:

@neilm-uk I do understand where you’re coming from and I can appreciate your consideration for your neighbors’ time and privacy. However, I don’t have any additional information that might be helpful for what you’re looking for. The Community team is definitely geared more towards general information and troubleshooting, which is why we typically direct more advanced inquiries towards our support teams. If you have time available, you can reach out to the Intercom support team via phone so you can ask these questions directly. That way you can easily clarify your questions in real time. With that said, feel free to post any useful information that may help other neighbors, we always appreciate that! :slight_smile:

Thanks @Caitlyn_Ring. Actually, support came back to me earlier today to inform me that they’ve forwarded my questions “to the relevant team” and they hope to hear back on Monday, so fingers crossed. :crossed_fingers:

Maybe there needs to be a better level of communication/marketing regarding the benefits of Auto-Verify, and to clearly inform Amazon-but-not-Ring-Intercom users so that they recognise when Auto-Verify has been enabled for their address (they may be completely unaware if they don’t talk to their neighbours - sadly, not all do!)

I realise it’s still early days, and we’re early adopters, but maybe a marketing blitz will occur at some stage… or it just needs someone to write a blog somewhere with all the pertinent details. :smile: