Amazon Key Now Compatible With Ring

Amazon announced this week during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas that it would be expanding its Amazon Key program, which lets packages get delivered inside houses for Prime members, according to VentureBeat.

The addition of Key for Garage will include certain third-party smart devices like Schlage’s Encode Smart Wi-Fi Deadbolt and Chamberlain’s MyQ line of smart garage door openers, both of which will support the new offering.

Prime members who live in one of the participating areas will be able to select “in-garage delivery” during checkout. They’ll get notifications on delivery day through the Key app for every step of the delivery process, all the way up to when the garage door opens for the driver. If a user has an Amazon Cloud Cam, they can watch the delivery in real time, according to the company.

The new services will be in line with Amazon’s Key In-Car, which is a few months old and lets the company make deliveries in select GM and Cadillac cars, in 37 cities so far.

Also in the works from Amazon is Key for Business, a smart fob made for delivery drivers who bring packages to commercial and residential properties.

“For the past year, we’ve been thrilled to see how customers have benefited from Key by Amazon,” Rohit Shrivastava, general manager of Key by Amazon, said in a statement. “We started with the idea of in-home package delivery and quickly learned that our customers found peace of mind and delight from the control Key gives them over their most important place — their homes — even when they weren’t there themselves.”

Allegion, Schlage’s parent company, said the Encode deadbolt should be available this week, but the company hasn’t released the price point.

“Even with all the advancements in the category, we recognized there was still a gap in simple, secure, high-performance and cost-effective, all-in-one access solutions,” said Lee Odess, vice president of Allegion’s solution providers business. “Schlage Encode was designed to provide homeowners with one trusted device — no gateway or hub needed – that could make keyless entry simpler and more convenient than ever before.”

Amazon also announced compatibility with the Ring app, a mobile doorbell app owned by Amazon. Inside the app, a shortcut will allow owners to unlock a connected deadbolt from any location with their phone. Amazon expects to debut the new integration in Q1.

“Giving customers the ability to lock and unlock their Key-compatible locks directly from the Ring app is a no-brainer,” said Jamie Siminoff, chief inventor and founder of Ring. “Ring’s customers already regularly use two-way talk on Ring devices to scare off would-be thieves or other bad actors. With the integration of Key, they’ll also be able to use the Ring app to open the door to neighbors, family and service providers they do want coming and going, no matter where they are.”