Ring Alarm Smart Lock with Alexa

Latest update (resolved): Ring’s Alexa skill updated in the last couple of days, did not work at all until Disable and Enable again, and after that my two smart locks are working properly with Alexa. Hopefully they’ll stay working and I won’t have to do another Disable/Enable.

Original message follows: Is this the place to reach support for Ring’s Alexa skill, and is there a change log/known issues somewhere to help support myself?

I have Ring Alarm and Kwikset SmartCode 888 (Z-Wave) which works fine in the Ring app. It also initially worked fine in Alexa (several days ago).

However, today and yesterday the lock does not work with Alexa; the Alexa app says “Server is unresponsive” (also an orange-ish circle with triangle exclamation mark and “There is a problem” text saying Please check on your lock).

I’d like to know if this is a bug in Ring’s Alexa skill, or some temporary server issue, or something else such as my misunderstanding. I wondered about similar names of devices, for example a lock named “Front Lock” vs the contact sensor named “Front Door” but hope those are okay since I can’t think of better approach.

Hopefully someone can verify status of Ring Alarm with Kwikset Z-Wave and Alexa, rather than some less-informed response such as re-detecting devices, deleting/adding the skill, or deleting/adding the app (unless such step is known fix for issue of my system installed last week).

Earlier Update: A couple hours after writing this, I installed a second lock (Kwikset 914) and it has the same problem - works fine in Ring app but not in Alexa (Server is unresponsive). My apps are Android, if that matters.

HI @DougHo, Thank you for sharing your experience with the Alexa skill and your Smart Locks with the Community. How are you enjoying the Alexa integration with your Smart Locks and Alarm?

Security concern - If I integrate Alexa with my smart lock and Ring alarm, and an intruder outside simply shouts “Alexa, unlock front door” loud enough, will they be successful in gaining access to my house? My echo dot is pretty sensitive and even processes commands that are whispered. Obviously I’m assuming that the door is named “front door” among the related products but c’mon, I’m not going to name it Cheeseburger just to avoid this scenario…

Hi @angelamanzo. Thanks for sharing this concern. This sparked my curiosity and I actually tried to activate my Alexa device from the outside. My Alexa is about 15 ft. from my front door and even when yelling as loud as I could, I was unable to activate my Alexa device from outside. Also, I’ve assigned a pin number for my Alexa device to switch to Disarm Mode for an added layer of security. I hope this helps!

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This is helpful, thanks. I still see the voice command issue as a problem in temperate climate times when windows are open. There is a learning curve here that I think we all need to be aware of to understand new features that weren’t present in traditional systems. Looks like I can just disable the voice command when the weather is nice.