Innovating an Industry – Celebrating 10 Years of Smart Home Security.

It’s been ten years since I created “Doorbot”, taking a familiar device that we all knew—the doorbell—and turning it on its head to be more useful and practical. With that first invention, Ring was born. Since then, we haven’t stopped building on our commitment to deliver more convenience and peace of mind by pushing the boundaries of innovation and changing the way customers see home security.

This year at CES I found myself looking around our booth in awe of how far we’ve come as a company. What started as a single product has turned into an offering of 7 different video doorbell models, including Ring Door View Cam, which we reintroduced to customers last week at CES. We reimagined traditional security systems, with easy-to-install, affordable devices like Ring Alarm and indoor and outdoor security cameras, so that customers could avail of simple home security solutions regardless of their home setup and budget. We also launched Ring Intercom just last year, offering apartment-dwellers added peace of mind and convenience through the reinvention of the traditional intercom handset.

We’ve expanded to 50 devices across 5 categories in 30 countries, and bring tens of millions of customers peace of mind every day. As we continue to innovate into the future, improving and expanding our offerings, there are several core elements of our innovation process that define the Ring experience and help us work towards our mission to make neighbourhoods safer.

Motion Detection
More and more we are bombarded with alerts on our smart phones—many of which we automatically ignore. One of our core philosophies is to provide the information our customers need, when they need and want it. But also blend into the background when they don’t. This all starts with motion detection. Motion detection is core to a home security system, allowing a homeowner to know what’s happening the moment a motion sensor is triggered, letting them take action and leverage features like Two-Way Talk and Live View. We raised the bar for motion detection, providing Advanced Motion Detection and leveraging radar sensors in our devices with 3D Motion Detection, and are constantly refining our capabilities to be more precise, specific and more customisable.

Computer Vision and AI
As our customers’ needs evolve, we want our devices to evolve with them. We leverage the latest in AI to bring to life helpful, intuitive features such as Bird’s Eye Zones and Knock Detection in certain doorbells. Devices like Video Doorbell Pro 2 offer Package Detection which allows customers to create a specific zone, such as their front porch or walkway, and receive an alert when a package is detected. Applying this kind of advanced Computer Vision and AI to our features creates a more tailored, personalised experience for customers to get the information they want.

Central Control and Accessibility
The Ring app is central to all of our devices. It’s where the real magic of Ring comes to life. When we built the app, it was important to me that customers could easily access all of their devices in one spot, and tailor each one of them to its exact space and use. The seamless interface not only makes it easy to check in on Live View, quickly access Two-Way Talk and even change Modes to arm a Ring Alarm system so devices will respond based on the corresponding mode—like not sending motion alerts when in Home mode. It also serves as a central place for customers to link their Ring devices, so they can react together to protect as a team.

Power and Connectivity
We’ve also learned that our customers want options when it comes not just to what their devices do, but also how they are powered. When we created our first video doorbell, I knew focusing on a battery-powered option would bring the greatest value to the largest number of customers, but since then we’ve added options for hardwired and even solar to provide more choices. But those doorbells and security cameras won’t do much good if they don’t stay connected to the customer’s network.

With our first video doorbell we saw that when it was placed outside of the home, often far away from the router, there was a latency issue with the wifi connection. We solved for this when we added a wifi extender with the Chime Pro, keeping a Ring Video Doorbell or Security Camera running even when the router is on the other side of the house. The focus on connectivity and power options allows us to give our customers the best solution for their particular home, and trust that Ring will continue to bring them peace of mind.

Privacy is Foundational
Privacy and security are foundational to everything we do. From being one of the first home security companies to make Two-Step Verification mandatory, to rolling out video End-to-End Encryption, our customers’ privacy is one of the first things we think of when building new features and services. This includes the ability to turn audio on and off with Audio Toggle, customise Motion Zones to only detect motion in specific areas, and Privacy Zones to exclude areas from the camera view that may not be pertinent.

The Next Ten Years
When I think about how Ring has changed people’s lives, I think about other everyday appliances like an oven, or refrigerator. People didn’t know how helpful these could be until someone took an existing invention, and made it better, and now they are commonplace. We don’t think twice about having them in our homes. A decade ago, the idea of a video doorbell was a foreign concept and today its typically one of the first smart home devices people buy. I’ve loved hearing how Ring has helped find lost pets, prevent burglaries, and even serve as a way for family members to stay in touch while thousands of miles away.

While I’m excited about how far we’ve come the last 10 years, I’m even more excited about what’s to come. We’re always thinking big, not only when it comes to the devices we’re shipping, but also to how we can keep the Ring experience consistent for our customers regardless of the device they are using. I can’t wait to see where we go next.