RING: A Doorbell You Answer from Your Smartphone

I’m happy to say that my children are all finally at an age where they can be left at home unsupervised. Just think of the hundreds of dollars I’ll be saving in babysitter’s fees. Yet the recent spate of burglaries in our town has me thinking about worst-case scenarios whenever I leave the house for more than a quick errand. I’ve always instructed my kids not to answer the door if they are home alone, but I worry now that a lack of response might encourage a bad guy to try to break in. Paranoid? Perhaps. But I was thrilled to recently discover the RING. It’s an ingenious, doorbell slash video camera that lets you answer your door from wherever you are with your smartphone.

Picture this: someone rings your doorbell, your smartphone buzzes, and with a tap, you can start a videochat with the visitor. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the laundry room, at Whole Foods, or away on spring break. You can talk to them and see them. They can hear you, but they can’t see you. If it’s a delivery guy, you can give him instructions on where to leave the package. The Ring Video Doorbell also has motion detection and will alert your phone when someone walks near your door. The HD camera is equipped with night vision, too, and will record video and audio of anyone poking around outside of your house, even if they don’t ring your doorbell. The videos are stored in the cloud for later review.

The units are $200 and are easy to install yourself. No, really. No need to call in the handyman. All the necessary tools are included. They even come in four colors so you can coordinate with your decor.

I hope that I’ll never need to depend on the Ring’s capabilities to keep my family safe, but it’s nice to know that watchful eye is there if I do.

Good news! Here’s a discount code to get $20 off through the end of the year: 22RING558