Utilizing Motion Detection with your Ring Video Doorbell 2

Question: What are Motion Zones?

Answer: Motion Zones allow you to define a specific area that you want your Ring Video doorbell 2 to cover while ignoring everything outside that area. By selecting your motion zones to exclude frequently accessed areas such as public paths and roads, you can reduce the number of "false positive" motion alerts, such as cars driving by, and greatly increase the effectiveness of your Ring.

This article and video will help you set up your Motion Zones and give you some tips in making them more effective. 

Configuring Motion Detection Settings

The way that you configure Motion Zones is the same for all Ring devices. If you want to find out the specific name of your Ring smart doorbell or security camera, click here to find out how. 

Open the Ring app

• Tap the three lines on the top left of the screen
• Tap Devices
• Select your Ring Video Doorbell 2 (or whatever device you want to configure)
• Tap Motion Settings
• Tap Edit Motion Zones
  • Add a Zone
  • Then Save
• Use the blue arrow on the top left to navigate back to the device dashboard. 

Additional Notification Settings

You can find additional notification settings in the Ring app. 

• Tap the three lines on the top left of the screen
• Tap Devices
• Select the device you want to adjust 
• Tap Device Settings
• Tap Notification Settings
• Select
  • Rich Notifications - see what's going on outside without opening the app
  • Notification Preferences - select the type of notifications you want
  • App Alert Tones - choose specific tones for a device
  • Linked Chimes - select the kind of alerts you get from your Chime.

Pro Tips: Making the Most of your Motion Settings

• Refine your Motion Zones: When creating your Motion Zones, note the potential paths people take to approach and redraw your Motion Zones to exclude areas where you very rarely see people such as behind locked gates, hedges, or walls.

• Be sure to have at least one active Motion Zone: You must create at least one active motion zone or you will not receive any motion alerts. 

• Get familiar with the Motion Settings control in your Ring App: In addition to the Motion Zones control, there are two other tools there that can help you adjust the number of Ring Alerts you receive:

• • • Motion Scheduling: The Motion Scheduling control will allow you to schedule brief interruptions in alerts triggered by regular occurrences. For example, if you know your garbage always gets picked up between 7:30 and 7:45 AM on Tuesdays, you can schedule your motion detection to turn off during that time.
      • Important: During the time that motion alerts are disabled due to motion scheduling, you can’t turn on motion alerts manually without canceling the motion schedule.

• • Optimizing motion detection: Motion detection can sometimes trigger false alerts because of large heat sources such as cars, the rising or setting sun or reflections off a shiny object. To reduce the number of false alerts, you need to look at your Motion Zones the way your Ring does. That might mean removing shiny objects or angling the Ring itself to avoid the sun or using a wedge kit to angle the camera away from the street. Ring accessories are customized for different devices, so make sure to get the correct accessory for your model of doorbell. To see a complete list of accessories, click here.

• • Mounting your Ring device at the correct height: Your Ring device has a very broad field of view. It is not necessary to mount the Ring at eye height in order to catch faces. Your motion detection system, on the other hand has a much narrower field of view. Ideally, you should mount the ring about 48 inches from the ground. If you're still having trouble detecting people walking up to your door, you can try a wedge kit to angle your camera down.

Click here to learn more about proper positioning for your Ring Doorbell 2.