Amazon’s Alexa can tell you when there is someone or something at your door. Amazon’s voice system can announce when there is someone at your video doorbell or security camera. With Amazon’s new API, other brands might be able to add the feature to their video doorbells and security cameras as well.
In addition to Ring video doorbells and cameras, Amazon is planning to roll out people detection for Google Nest Cam Outdoor, Nest Cam Indoor, Nest Cam Floodlight, Nest Doorbell (Battery), Abode IOTA, and Abode Outdoor Camera soon. Also, you can trigger an Alexa Routine based on the new detection features, such as turning on a porch light, controlling a smart lock, or setting off the sprinklers in case of an intruder.
Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 and Ring Video Doorbell 2020 are the first to offer package detection, along with Abode’s IOTA and Outdoor cameras, but not the Google Nest cameras, even though the Nest doorbells do have package detection. Amazon has released a new Object Detection Sensor API that will allow camera manufacturers to add this feature to their devices.
Many video doorbells that integrate with Alexa can announce on connected Echo speakers when someone presses the doorbell, and Ring doorbells can display a live feed on an Echo Show or Fire TV. Some security cameras can even announce motion events. However, these new features also give you the ability to perform all these functions for people and packages.
To enable the feature, you’ll need to:
- Make sure you have people and packet detection enabled on your compatible camera (this is how Ring devices do it).
- Open the Alexa app and navigate to the camera or doorbell settings.
- You’ll find a new section called Camera Events where you can enable either or both options and modify the settings.
The new features are still not visible on our devices, and it may be some time before they are available for everyone.
Source: https://developer.amazon.com
