Understanding Assisted Monitoring

Assisted Monitoring¹ 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 Assisted Monitoring is available.

How does Assisted Monitoring work? 

The Ring Alarm Base Station monitors the sensors in your home and sends a signal to the Assisted Monitoring 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 Assisted Monitoring, 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 phone calls will list the most recent security event.

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.

In addition to receiving notifications and emails when your Ring Alarm is triggered, Assisted Monitoring automatically calls your list of emergency contacts to notify them of a potential security issue.

During the call, your emergency contacts can accept the notification by clicking number 1 on their phone keypad; they should then be able to appropriately respond to the notification. If your first emergency contact doesn’t answer their phone, the system will continue dialing 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. 

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 Assisted Monitoring 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 phone call, don’t forget to 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.

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 Assisted Monitoring, including notification phone calls to the list of emergency contacts.

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, Assisted, 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.