Understanding Alarm Calls (formerly Assisted Monitoring)

Alarm Calls¹ (formerly Assisted Monitoring) is an optional feature of Ring Alarm that notifies your emergency contacts via an automated call when a security issue is detected.

This means you’ll always be notified of a security issue detected by your Ring Alarm, regardless of where you are and whether or not your cellphone data is turned on. 

On top of this, trusted family members, friends or neighbours can respond appropriately in the event of a security issue.

View a list of countries where Alarm Calls is available.

After subscribing to Ring Home Standard or Premium, you can set up Alarm Calls by agreeing to the service’s terms and conditions, and adding emergency contacts via the Ring app. Alarm Calls (and a Ring Home Standard or Premium subscription) requires no long term commitment, and users can easily opt in or out of the service.

How does Alarm Calls work? 

The Ring Alarm Base Station monitors the sensors in your home and sends a signal to the Alarm Calls system when your alarm is triggered. 

Burglar alarms - when Ring Alarm is armed, a security event, such as opening a closed door or window, or walking past a Motion Detector, will trigger the alarm to sound the siren.  

When you add Alarm Calls, the Ring Alarm Base Station will also send a signal to the monitoring service. The monitoring service will call emergency contacts, one at a time, until someone answers or until the system is disarmed. 

If the alarm is not disarmed, and any emergency contact acknowledges the call: 

• The monitoring service will wait 10 minutes. 
• After 10 minutes, if a new sensor security event occurs (such as a different Motion Detector detecting movement), the monitoring service will begin calling emergency contacts again. 
• This will continue every 10 minutes each time a new security event is detected. 
• After 3 consecutive calls are answered in a row, the monitoring service will stop calling. 
• Repeated calls will list the most recent security event.

During the call, your emergency contacts can accept the notification by pressing number 1 on their keypad; they should then be able to appropriately respond to the notification. If your first emergency contact doesn’t answer the call, the system will continue dialling through the list of emergency contacts until the call has been answered and the notification acknowledged.  

Once a notification has been acknowledged, the system will remain in an alarming state. 

If the alarm is not disarmed, and none of the emergency contacts answer the call: 

• After 5 minutes, if a new security event occurs (such as a Motion Detector detecting movement), the monitoring service will begin calling emergency contacts again. 
• Messages with details about the most recent Alarm security event will be left on each emergency contact’s voicemail, if available.
• After a 5-minute wait, if there is a new security event detected, a new cycle of calls to emergency contacts will begin. This will continue each time a new security event is detected after the 5-minute wait, and will stop when no more alarm events are detected. 

When Ring Alarm is disarmed, automated calls will stop.

Panic alarm - In the event of a panic alarm, the monitoring service will call all three contacts immediately at the same time. 

Emergency contacts 

When setting up Alarm Calls for your Ring Alarm, you will be asked to provide the contact details of up to three emergency contacts (this can include you as the owner). These should include trusted family members, friends or neighbours who can respond appropriately in the event of a security issue. As the owner, you don’t have to be assigned as an emergency contact.

Remember, if you want to receive an automated call, make sure you add yourself as an emergency contact.

We recommend that emergency contacts are registered in your Ring app as Shared Users or Guest Users. This will allow your emergency contact(s) to disarm your Alarm system when they respond to a security event.²

Alarm Calls and Ring Home Standard or Premium

In order to benefit from Alarm Calls, you’ll need to subscribe to Ring Home Standard or Premium.

In addition to receiving Alarm Calls, subscribing to Ring Home Standard or Premium means you’ll get cellular backup³ in case your internet connection goes offline.

Self monitoring

Out of the box, Ring Alarm offers self monitoring security. When Ring Alarm Base Station detects an issue, it will send notifications to your phone and / or email address (if you’ve enabled email notifications). If you have set up shared users in your Ring app, they’ll also receive notifications to their mobile device. Self-monitored users do not get the benefits of Alarm Calls, including notification calls to the list of emergency contacts. With Ring Home Standard or Premium, you can switch between self monitoring and Alarm Calls from the Ring app at any time.

To switch your monitoring type using the app:

1. Open the

   Menu
2. Tap

   Settings
3. Tap

   Monitoring

You will see the monitoring type listed - either Self, Alarm Calls or Sign Up (if you have not yet signed up for monitoring). Tap the desired type, and you’ll see the option to change your monitoring service. Follow the steps to complete the monitoring setup.