Now Ring applies the 'always home' mantra to apartment intercoms

Amazon-owned Ring’s doorbells are a regular feature of residential streets, but a lot of us don’t live in homes where we have complete control over our own front door – apartment blocks, for example.

Ring previously introduced its Peephole Cam/Door View Cam for doors with, well, peepholes, but it didn’t solve the fundamental issue of many flat dwellers; the fact the front door can be a long, long way away.

Now though, at IFA 2022, the company is introducing the Ring Intercom. It’s a rechargeable battery-powered, Wi-Fi connected add-on for the normal type of audio intercom systems, enabling you to add it to the Ring app and provide remote unlock should you wish to – for delivery people or other people coming to your property.

It’ll be available on 28 September for £120 – you’ll also be able to get it as a bundle with a spare battery and a charger for an additional £30.

Just like for its doorbells, the activity log in the Ring app will provide an overview of missed and answered intercom calls and will show each time Remote Unlock has been used. And, naturally, there’s also full Amazon Alexa compatibility so you can have hands-free control. And, if you want to add a camera, you can easily do so with a device like Ring’s Indoor Cam.

You can also share Ring Intercom with others to grant access to flatmates or family members via the app as well as grant auto-access to verified Amazon delivery drivers within a certain timeframe. In the same way, you’ll also soon be able to auto-verify guests by granting them a ‘virtual key’ just as you can with many smart locks. This feature is coming soon, says Ring.

“We’re constantly inventing based on customer feedback and one of the most common requests I get from customers in Europe is for simple, affordable security options for apartments,” said Jamie Siminoff, Founder and Chief Inventor of Ring. “Ring Intercom is the natural next step in Ring’s mission to make neighbourhoods safer, for everyone, regardless of home type.”

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About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website. Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.