Why is Alexa not announcing my Ring Doorbell

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Have you ever missed a visitor because Alexa or your Ring Doorbell didn’t announce their presence? Annoyingly this is a common issue, but it’s one that can be fixed with some simple troubleshooting steps.

Ring makes some of the best home security cameras, and as they’re owned by Amazon, come with a deep integration into Alexa-powered devices.

That integration includes your Alexa devices announcing a press of the doorbell or more granular announcements about motion being detected. Screen-equipped Alexa devices can even show the video feed on command.

That’s great when everything is running smoothly, but what happens if Alexa stops announcing visitors?

We’ll walk you through some simple troubleshooting steps to get your smart devices talking again.

Basic troubleshooting steps

Here is a short list of basic troubleshooting tasks to rule out external issues with Alexa or your Ring Doorbell.

• Make sure both devices are working by checking their apps.
• Check if there is an Internet outage in your area with a tool like Down Detector.
• Next, make sure no Alexa-related issue is reported on the Ring Status Page. If yes, let them fix the issue while you wait it out.
• Make sure both devices (Amazon Echo and Ring Doorbell) can access strong Wi-Fi signals from the same network.
• Your Echo device must have the Communication and Announcement features enabled and not be in Do Not Disturb mode. 
• Ensure that you are receiving alerts on the Ring app.
• Reboot your router.
• Ensure that there is no power issue with the Ring Doorbell.
• All devices should be running on the latest firmware. If not, update the firmware.
• Make sure both your Ring and Amazon accounts are linked to each other and not another account.

Most of the time, working through this list will get your doorbell and smart speakers working in harmony.

If Alexa still isn’t announcing when someone is at your front door, it’s time to reset a few things.

Reboot the Ring-Alexa-Echo connection

Sometimes, unlinking Ring from Alexa and setting the link back up again is all you need to do to fix your missing doorbell announcements.

Think of it as a clean slate. Remember how well they worked together the first time you set everything up? We’re doing the same thing here.

Start by disabling Alexa’s Ring skill, and removing both the Ring Doorbell and the Echo device from the Alexa app.

Next, restart the Echo device, and connect it to the Alexa app. 

Next, connect your Ring Doorbell to your Alexa account. Make sure to enable the Doorbell Press Announcements toggle.

Select your Echo speaker(s) within the Announcement Devices section.

That should have your Echo speakers working as intended whenever you have a visitor.

Factory reset both your Ring Doorbell and Echo device

As a last resort, you can reset both devices and set them back up as new. Here are our guides to resetting Ring Doorbells and factory resetting Echo devices.

You could also try removing your Ring Doorbell from the Ring app, which automatically wipes it back to factory settings.

The problem here is that it might not be easy to set it back up, so try our guides first.

You should now be hearing Ring announcements on your smart speakers

Having your Alexa devices announce that someone’s at the door is great. You can have smart speakers in every room and never miss an important visitor.

The next time someone comes to your front door, you should get an Alexa announcement that they’re there.

If not, contact Ring customer support. They can help get your devices working together again, or get you a replacement if it turns out to be faulty.

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Why is my Ring Doorbell flashing white
• How to view a Ring doorbell on TV
• How to reset a Ring Camera
• How to hard reset a Ring Doorbell