By will-buy
Alexa includes a new feature that enables the voice assistant to do the function of a doorman. People or deliveries spotted by connected video doorbells and security cameras will now be announced by Alexa, including live video on Echo Shows and Fire TVs. A brand new object detection API released simultaneously permits the feature to work with Google Nest and Abode devices, in addition to Amazon’s Ring brand, with more brands to follow along with.
Doorman Alexa
The Alexa announcements take advantage of the pasive observance from the camera in video doorbells and video security cameras. Alexa already sends an alert and pulls up live video when someone pushes the button of a Ring doorbell. This just anticipates the event and extends to package deliveries. The feature is available with any Ring device already. The setting needs to be activated for the camera, then started up within the Alexa app within the same settings menu for motion detection and doorbell announcements.
Nest and Abode camera option while using new Object Detection Sensor API will unveil soon. The API allows any manufacturer of relevant cameras to include the Alexa announcement, however, there may be payment required for the feature. For example, Ring’s person detection requires a $3 a month Ring Protect plan, while Abode’s security subscriptions start at $7 a month. Any device certified within the Works with Alexa program can embed the API within their device. Whatever the camera, users could make the alert part of an Alexa Routine, so the porch lights come on once the alert is sent, or locking the door if it occur in the center of the night time.
“We are using the Alexa Object Detection Sensor API to allow our customers to extend the capabilities of the Abode cameras, and become notified when they are in their houses when an object of interest is identified,” Abode CTO Scott Beck said. “We have always had the ability to notify customers with notifications on their own phones, but this API permits us to extend this functionality in to the house so customers can hear when a package continues to be delivered or see and speak with the person identified in their door.”
