Understanding Professional Monitoring and Self-Monitoring

Make an informed decision whether to self-monitor your Alarm system or opt in to professional monitoring¹ that comes with the Ring Protect Pro plan. The type of monitoring you choose is extremely important. It needs to fit your lifestyle and keep you and your loved ones safe.

¹A compatible Ring Protect subscription is required to enroll in the Ring Alarm professional monitoring service. Professional monitoring service is available only within the U.S. (all 50 states, but not U.S. territories) and in Canada (excluding Quebec). Ring does not own its own professional monitoring center. Smoke and carbon monoxide monitoring is not available for commercial properties. See Ring Alarm licenses at: ring.com/licenses. 

Learn about professional monitoring for your business.

Professional monitoring

Professional monitoring¹ is a service that monitors Ring Alarm for alarm signals, and can notify emergency contacts and request emergency dispatch the authorities. The Ring monitoring center is a team of trained agents in a secure location who monitor all Ring Alarms 24/7.

Security monitoring is keeping surveillance on a home alarm. If alarm sensors are triggered to indicate a burglary, smoke or carbon monoxide in the home or other types of threats, then the residents and their circle of trusted friends need to be alerted* quickly, and emergency services should be sent to the home quickly.

*Ring Alarm and all Ring Alarm accessories require a subscription for digital notifications, in-app features, digital arming/disarming, and integration with other Ring, Echo, and third party products. Subscription sold separately. View ring.com/protect-plans for pricing and details.

How does this work?

The Ring Alarm or Alarm Pro Base Station monitors the sensors in your home and sends a signal to the Ring monitoring center when a threat is detected. It also sends an alert to your phone,* as well as the phones of all Shared Users. When the monitoring center receives a signal, they make a phone call to see if there is a genuine threat. If there's an emergency, they can dispatch emergency services to your home.

*Ring Alarm and all Ring Alarm accessories require a subscription for digital notifications, in-app features, digital arming/disarming, and integration with other Ring, Echo, and third party products. Subscription sold separately. View ring.com/protect-plans for pricing and details.

Self-monitoring

Self-monitoring is when you monitor the Ring Alarm yourself. You can self-monitor with a Ring Protect subscription or without a subscription. If you choose to self-monitor your Ring Alarm, your Ring Alarm siren will go off, but you’ll need to call for emergency responders yourself.

With a Ring Protect subscription

You can self-monitor your Alarm with a Ring Protect Basic, Plus, or Pro subscription. When the Alarm Base Station detects a threat, it will send an alert* to your phone and the phones of your Shared Users. If you have email notifications turned on, it may send an email* as well. You and your Shared Users can call emergency services if there is a genuine threat, such as a fire, break-in, or another emergency at the home.

Without a subscription

You can also self-monitor your Alarm without a Ring Protect subscription. You can arm or disarm your Alarm from the Ring Keypad only. If your Base Station detects a threat, it will start alarming but will not request emergency dispatch or send you digital notifications like email or app alerts.*

*Ring Alarm and all Ring Alarm accessories require a subscription for digital notifications, in-app features, digital arming/disarming, and integration with other Ring, Echo, and third-party products. Subscription sold separately. View ring.com/protect-plans for pricing and details.

Important Information about professional monitoring

If you decide to sign up for professional monitoring, there are a few important details you should know.

• Permits:

  In some areas, local laws require homeowners to get a permit or registration for all home alarms with professional monitoring.¹ You can call your local police department, town hall, or municipal offices to find out about laws in your neighborhood.
• A valid address:

  It’s very important that you use a valid address and cross-street in your Ring app. During the Alarm setup process, you will be asked to enter your address and a cross street. It is vital that this address is accurate. Only verified addresses can be enrolled in professional monitoring.¹

  Changing the address in your Ring app

  is easy if you have made a mistake or move. 

• Emergency contacts:

  You will need to provide the names and phone numbers of at least two people (you can be one of them) who can answer calls from the monitoring center in an emergency, get to the home if requested by emergency services, and handle emergencies at the location of the Ring Alarm. Some areas require three contacts. In an emergency, the monitoring center will call the primary contact, and if no one answers the phone, they will call the next contacts.
• Verbal password:

  A verbal password is a word or number that the monitoring center will use to verify the identities of your emergency contacts to make sure they're speaking to someone you trust. Choose a word or number (no symbols or spaces) that you’ll remember, and share it with all of your emergency contacts and anyone who lives in your home. If the monitoring center calls, you’ll need to give them the verbal password to confirm who you are. Make sure your other emergency contacts know your verbal password. You can set up and change your verbal password anytime using the app, but the app does not store the verbal password for security reasons.
• Practice mode:

  Discover features, tweak settings, and

  arm and disarm your Ring Alarm

  without the worry of

  false alarms

  or accidental dispatches when in practice mode. When you sign up for a Ring Protect Pro plan or subscription trial, you can toggle practice mode anytime (US/CA only). In practice mode, learn how to use your Alarm system by experience an alarming event and go through an automated call from the Ring Monitoring center. Exit practice mode by changing your practice mode settings from the Monitoring Settings screen and enter practice mode to refresh your skills at any time.

Changing your monitoring type

You can exit practice mode at any time, by changing your monitoring status. To change your monitoring status:

1. In the Ring app.
2. Tap the

   menu

   (≡)

   .
3. Tap

   Settings

   .
4. Tap

   Monitoring

   .
5. Tap

   Monitoring Type

   .
6. Choose the new type of monitoring you want.
   • If you enable professional monitoring, you will be prompted to choose a primary and secondary contact and a verbal password.
   • If you are in practice mode, you will need to exit practice mode and confirm that you want to exit.
   • If you are enrolled in professional monitoring¹ and want to change to self-monitoring, tap

     Self Monitoring

     and confirm that you want to end professional monitoring.
   • If you are enrolled in self-monitoring and want to change to professional monitoring, tap

     Professional Monitoring

     ¹ and confirm that you want to enable professional monitoring.

¹ A compatible Ring Protect subscription is required to enroll in the Ring Alarm professional monitoring service. Professional monitoring service is available only within the U.S. (all 50 states, but not U.S. territories) and in Canada (excluding Quebec). Ring does not own its own professional monitoring center. Smoke and carbon monoxide monitoring is not available for commercial properties. See Ring Alarm licenses at: https://www.ring.com/licenses.