Arlo Video Doorbell Chat with Neal Skura, Sr. Product Manager Thursday 12/05 at 11 a.m. PT

[JamesC]

Last week we launched the all new Arlo Video Doorbell. This week, we’re hosting a live chat in the Arlo Community with Neal Skura, Senior Arlo Product Manager. Please join us at 11AM PT this Thursday 12/05/19 as he discusses and takes your questions about the all-new Arlo Video Doorbell.

If you can’t make it during the scheduled live chat, we will leave this thread open until the end of the day Thursday 12/05/19 to allow you to post questions for Neal.

Neal Skura is a Senior Product Manager with Arlo Technologies, responsible for the Arlo Video Doorbell, Arlo Go LTE camera, and Arlo wired cameras, including Arlo Baby and Arlo Q. With over 17 years of experience in the consumer technology industry, Neal has held a variety of roles across product management, engineering management, embedded software development, and quality assurance. Fueled by his genuine passion for technology and technological curiosity, Neal is excited to bring new consumer products to market. Neal has earned an MBA in Management of Technology, complementing his Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering.

We look forward to having you join the conversation!

Thank you!

[GuntherKern]

The cameras work well and battery life is good. What is not working is geofencing. Good to see a doorbell being developed. Please specify if it can be integrated into an existing Arlo system for a ArloPro2?
Thanks

[kellydavid]

Is there a way to power the doorbell of a wall plug?  I have no existing doorbell power.

[Neal_ArloPLM]

Hi Everyone,

I'm Neal Skura, Senior Product Manager with Arlo, responsible for the Arlo Video Doorbell.  I'm online now and happy to dive into your questions.

Thanks for participating and keep the questions coming.

Neal Skura

[Kami9a]

I have had issues with geo fencing, it doesn’t realize I’m home. But my SmartThings (Samsung) works great and unlocked doors, but Arlo still thinks I’m “Away”

[GT500]

Will a full wireless video doorbell be made? One that you do not need to use existing doorbell wiring to hook up?

[Neal_ArloPLM]

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@Whatarussh wrote:

The Arlo community is fed up with the lack of support to resolve the ongoing and repeated issues with Geofencing. Why should anyone buy new or legacy products from Arlo when the company demonstrates such incompetence and lack of customer support? 

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@Whatarussh  We hear you - Geofencing remains a priority for us to resolve, we're aware of issues and making continual improvements.  Specifically, Arlo is working closely with our partners to improve the overall experience.

[Jeezell]

I would like to echo this question, CVR would be very useful, is it possible?

[Kami9a]

Another question about the door bell, any chance it can be hard wired for power? It is annoying to constantly be going though AA batteries on your current doorbell and battery life is not good on the current doorbell. I can’t imagine how bad it will be with the addition of a camera.

[ndeason123]

I have had similar issues with the cameras and zones. ignoring the created zones and picking up everything else all the time.

[fmanda]

I'm especially interested in HomeKit support. What is the timeline for adding that to the Video Doorbell? Will the new Secure Video feature be available?

While the HomeKit support for the Baby Cam took some time (during a spec transition on Apple's end), I was blown away by the support that did eventually come for all the sensors, and it's by far been my favorite HomeKit cam to date (I also have the Logo Circle 2 and the D-Link Omni). 

[Space-Force]

The biggest issue with Arlo stuff is you still can’t change the default notification sound you get in iOS when motion is detected. You only get the standard (and totally useless) default iOS sound and cannot change it. It works on Android and I had to buy an android tablet to use at night as there is no way the default iOS tone is sufficient.

When are you going to finally fix this?

[Neal_ArloPLM]

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@Danny_87 wrote:

If I buy a doorbell can I add it to my pro system? I have 5 pro cameras and no subscription plan right now, will I have to subscribe for the doorbell? Do I need another base station or can I use the one I have now?

Thanks!

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The Arlo Video Doorbell doesn't require a base-station, it connects directly to your 2.4GHz WiFi but uses the same app and offers the same Arlo experience as your existing cameras.  As for a subscription plan, the Arlo Video Doorbell also come with a 3-month Arlo Smart trial - which includes cloud storage and access to the complete Arlo Smart feature set, such as Rich Notifications, Activity Zones, e911, and Person, Package, Vehicle and Animal detection.  After the 3-month trial, you can continue to live-stream, receive doorbell calls and instant motion detected notifications without a subscription.  In order to continue with the same experience you receive during the trial, you would need to subscribe to an Arlo Smart plan.

[sandibluegrass]

will the speaker allow real time conversation or will there be a lag time like the speaker on the cameras

[Neal_ArloPLM]

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@mmcipdn wrote:

when will arlo fix the issue of cameras not connecting to the Alexa devices with the arlo app?  This problem of not connecting to arlo devices with video began when arlo updated their app to version 2.11.0-12.

Thank You

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Our team is aware that some users are experiencing issues and we are working diligently with our technology partners to resolve this as soon as possible.

[Mgoblue33]

Doorbell needs other cosmetic options........... looks like putting a Chevy emblem on Cadillac. Also have have several issues with night vision in Pro 2 cameras and no problems with my Pro 3 cameras. Asked to pay difference to upgrade all to Pro 3 and was told that is not possible! So I guess you just keep replacing the Pro 2 cameras that obviously have a night vision problem.

[Kfia]

Will this work more reliably than the Arlo Baby? Because so far I cannot get the app to work continuously overnight either on the echo show or my phone and wake up every night to find we have not be monitoring the baby at all because the app disconnected at some point.. not impressed and hesitant to buy another Arlo product..

[AncientGeek]

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@MadRC wrote:
Hi Neal, I recently reviewed and tested the Arlo Pro 2 system on my YouTube channel and overall I was really impressed with how the system works And like the look of this massively.

How well does the new Arlo doorbell integrate with the Pro 2 base station and is a separate subscription required for the bell and the Pro system cloud storage ? .

Secondly and something that is important is how fast will users receive notification of a button press on their phone via this system as I have found many of the other smart doorbell systems to be too slow in giving the user notification of someone at the door. Ultra low latency is very important as many delivery drivers won’t hang around when parcels can’t be left.

Finally is this supported in the UK as well?

Thanks

Ian
MadRC

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Did you really mean Pro 3?  The Pro 2 has been out for a few years.  I have the original, Pro, Pro 2, Q, Q Plus and now Pro 3.  I can say the Pro 3 hardware very similar to the Ultra, is a very nice improvement.   Too bad they all use the same buggy software that feels like it is maintained by very inexperienced and undisciplined coders.

[ndeason123]

The camera version of the doorbell is hardwired.

[Neal_ArloPLM]

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@Lbessin wrote:

One of the reasons I have not bought a Ring video doorbell is because of privacy concerns.  For example, Ring turns the video over to law enforcement without consent of the consumer. What protects will you have in place to protect personal privacy with this new product?  https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-11-20/ring-doorbell-video-data-privacy

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Arlo takes Privacy and Security very seriously, and we are committed to the privacy of our customers.  Arlo does not expose user information to any third party for marketing or promotional reason.  All data collected is protected from public exposure by various technological and procedural mechanisms.

[Mclamara]

This is great! Received notice of this 3 hours after it started.
I have tried to get support by live chat and I could never get connected to it.
Tried email support and call I kept getting in a loop go here then click here right back to where I started.
Very disappointed in service and product.

[bosshog33]

Where is the live video feed?

[Charlif761]

I used to love my Arlo cameras. I had a lot of peace of mind after having my front door kicked in and burglarized. I could be home or away and feel confident that I was going to be alerted to anyone near my home. Most good things never last..and the same can be said for Arlo. For WEEKS two of my cameras have been going offline randomly. Of course, I have no way of knowing until people show up at my door unannounced, or I continually and obsessively look at my Alo app. Not really handy when I am away from home and no longer have the security of my watchful Arlo cameras. They have effectively been rendered junk and no matter how many times I go through resetting, they go back offline. Before Arlo tries to blame my internet, I have had them successfully installed for a VERY long time..this happened after the last firmware update. Now you want me to buy another Arlo product? If this isn't fixed, I will be going to Blink!  

[Neal_ArloPLM]

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@dashmonkey wrote:

Before I bought the Arlo system I had a Ring doorbell. The problem was that my front door faces the street and there isn 't a way to attach a doorbell type device that doesn't face the street. I live on a fairly busy street so it picked up every single car that went past. Even on the lowest sensitivity setting it still went off every time a car went by. How will Arlo be any different?

I returned the Ring and now have the Arlo camera on my porch. I have it anchored above and to the side giving me a pretty good image of anyone on my porch but not a direct face shot. I wish I could use a door bell type device but I don't want to go through the same issues I had with the Ring. 

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The Arlo Video Doorbell offers a few solutions to this challenge.  First, we offer motion detection sensitivity settings that helps to reduce the amount of triggers and notifications.  More importantly, with Arlo Smart, you can create "Activity Zones" to capture videos only when motion occurs in the desired area.  Finally, our Smart notifications allow you to ignore vehicle detection, so that you can get more of the notifications that you care about and less of those that you don't.

[Kami9a]

I haven’t had the same problems as Kfia with the Arlo baby monitor but I have noticed I get a notification but the associated video doesn’t exist ie. Notification at 2:10am “motion detected” then I check the library and nothing was saved for that time. This happens 4-5 times a week and sometimes twice or more in one night.

I question associated with this issue will be because it is like the baby monitor not needing a base will these detections without recordings translate to doorbell presses without calls? Or non recorded conversations?

[Fasteralex]

Why is the new Arlo Video doorbell not compatible with Homekit from apple? Is there a plan to make it compatible like the Arlo pro 2 cameras? Why when an Arlo product is launch can it be compatible with all 3 major Smart Home Hubs (Alexa, Homekit, google Home)?