Make Alexa Echo Show Announce & Display Camera Without Ringing Phone

[KachinaShadow]

Anyone know a way to have the Alexa Echo Show, when doorbell is pressed, announce, display the camera & ring the chime without ringing the phone.

I found this post (link below) which is three years old and yet nothing has been done to resolve this issue.
https://community.arlo.com/t5/Partner-Integrations/I-want-Arlo-doorbell-to-chime-on-Alexa-but-not-ri...?

Also found this online...

• Enabling Silent Mode in the Arlo app disables incoming calls, but it also disables the traditional doorbell chime. Some users have expressed a desire for the option to disable calls but keep the chime.
• Some users have reported that enabling Silent Mode in the Arlo app might affect Alexa announcements as well. However, Amazon staff have indicated they are looking into feature enhancements to address this.

[KachinaShadow]

@BrookeN @ShayneS 

Here's the last thing posted (pic below) by Arlo Moderator @ShayneS  in the community discussion titled "I want Arlo doorbell to chime on Alexa but not ring my phone (as I had it set for months)" which is the discussion referenced by the link in my first post (above) and is now three years old, so I'm wondering what ever became of the request to change this 🤔

After reading that discussion, it would appear that prior to 2022 there wasn't this problem so I'm wondering why it was ever changed in the first place. So now, the instructions tell you (after you've done the setup to link Arlo and Alexa) that if you want to have Alexa notify you and automatically turn on the doorbell live video, you need to turn off "Silent Mode" in Arlo which allows the link to Alexa along with the doorbell chime but unfortunately it also allows calls to your phone and there's no way to shut off the calls...very annoying.

It would seem to me since currently, when you have "Silent Mode" on, you have the ability to turn on or off "incoming calls" or "traditional chime" then why not have the same options available when "Silent Mode" is turned off...I'm no programmer but it seems like it would be a fairly simple thing to implement.

Hopefully one of the moderators will find out why this hasn't been done in the past three years since both Arlo & Amazon tout this as a feature of Alexa. 

[StephenB]

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@KachinaShadow wrote:

It would seem to me since currently, when you have "Silent Mode" on, you have the ability to turn on or off "incoming calls" or "traditional chime" then why not have the same options available when "Silent Mode" is turned off...I'm no programmer but it seems like it would be a fairly simple thing to implement.

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I'm confused by this.   It sounds like you want to simply remove "Silent Mode" and put the two controls in the root of the device settings.

Are you getting the right behavior when "Silent Mode" is on, with "Incoming Calls" off, but the "Traditional Chime" on?

[KachinaShadow]

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@StephenB wrote:

I'm confused by this.   It sounds like you want to simply remove "Silent Mode" and put the two controls in the root of the device settings.

Are you getting the right behavior when "Silent Mode" is on, with "Incoming Calls" off, but the "Traditional Chime" on?

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Exactly! ...and yes, when silent mode is on, it works as it should but also disables whatever communicates with the Alexa device. 

Both Arlo & Alexa say that silent mode needs to be off in order for Alexa to announce the doorbell & automatically show the video when the doorbell is pressed and that is true...it works like they say but the trouble is that when silent mode is off, which allows the chime to work and Alexa to announce the doorbell & show the video, it also places a call to your phone, which there's no way to eliminate.

So, it doesn't make sense to have the option to toggle silent mode on (with a choice of options to enable or disable) or toggled off (with no control of anything) when you should just have the two options ("in the root of the device settings") to toggle on or off both "incoming call" or "traditional chime" therefore being able to create a total silent mode or whatever custom version of silent mode that you'd like...or, at the least add the two toggles to still show when you toggle silent mode off.

Hope that all makes sense.

[StephenB]

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@KachinaShadow wrote:
when silent mode is on, it works as it should but also disables whatever communicates with the Alexa device. 

Got it.  

So the problem really is that there is a missing setting (to silence Alexa or not).

[KachinaShadow]

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@StephenB wrote:

Got it.  

So the problem really is that there is a missing setting (to silence Alexa or not).

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Yes...so apparently silent mode (without any additional toggles) would silence everything, but since the two toggles that appear allow you to silence, or not, both "incoming call" and "traditional chime", then ideally a third toggle to silence, or not, whatever function notifies Alexa (announcement & video) would be what's needed.

Pretty much, there doesn't even need to be a "silent mode" toggle if there were the three toggles to silence, or not, whatever combination you choose.

[StephenB]

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@KachinaShadow wrote:
there doesn't even need to be a "silent mode" toggle if there were the three toggles to silence, or not, whatever combination you choose.

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The toggle does provide a convenient way to turn silent mode off, and I think it does make sense to put these controls in their own menu.

[KachinaShadow]

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@StephenB wrote:

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@KachinaShadow wrote:
there doesn't even need to be a "silent mode" toggle if there were the three toggles to silence, or not, whatever combination you choose.

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The toggle does provide a convenient way to turn silent mode off, and I think it does make sense to put these controls in their own menu.

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Agreed!

Now it's just a matter of who can get someone to get that accomplished @ShayneS @BrookeN since it appears that @JamesC was going to try and get this resolved back in 2022 when something was changed that changed what had worked prior to that...see link below
 I want Arlo doorbell to chime on Alexa but not rin... - Arlo Community

[KachinaShadow]

@ShayneS @JamesC @BrookeN 
Here's yet another Axela/Arlo issue...
While working on the Alexa/Arlo doorbell notification issue I thought I'd try a workaround by creating an Alexa routine (which is something they say Alexa and Arlo are capable of) where the Arlo camera (which shows the walkway leading to the door) upon sensing motion, triggers the doorbell and displays the doorbell video on the Alexa Echo Show...although this wouldn't announce the doorbell (the chime already does that) it would also not ring my phone, which is the goal here.

While setting up the routine, I was able to select that camera (from a list of all cameras/lights) along with "when motion is detected" then...and here's where the problem lies...the list showing all of the cameras, to display the video, is grayed out with every camera showing "This device is not currently supported". So, here's yet another Alexa/Arlo touted feature that does not work!

I did some research and found the following...
"It seems you're encountering an issue where Alexa routines are not recognizing your Arlo cameras or show them as unsupported devices within the Alexa app, specifically when trying to set up routines that are triggered by camera activity like motion detection"
"This is a known issue reported by multiple users in the Arlo Community forums. The problem seems to lie within the integration between Arlo and Alexa, where motion events from Arlo cameras are not properly triggering Alexa routines"

Is there anyone who this could be sent to that can fix these known issues (one from as far back as 2022)? They either need to be fixed or Amazon & Arlo need to quit showing them as features.

[KachinaShadow]

@ShayneS @JamesC @BrookeN 

Any suggestions, updates or encouragement on a solution to this issue?

[BrookeN]

@KachinaShadow I did add this as a feature request. I do not have any updates as of now. 

[KachinaShadow]

@BrookeN 

Thank You 😊

[KachinaShadow]

Just tried going into my phones app permissions for Arlo, and changed the Phone Permission from "Allow" to "Don't Allow" thinking that it might prevent Arlo from calling my phone when silent mode is off and the doorbell is pressed but, even with that set to "Don't Allow", it still calls my phone when the doorbell is pressed. ☹️

[KachinaShadow]

@ShayneS 

I moved the text (at bottom in italics) down from message 9 of this discussion thread. It has to do with being unable to set up a routine in Alexa to display video on the Alexa Echo Show 5 when the doorbell is pressed or any selected camera detects motion.

I found the following discussion (link below), which you were involved in back in 2022, that shows "resolved" but the resolution (message 25) is blank, so whatever was resolved seems to once again be an issue...

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Partner-Integrations/Alexa-echo-show-routine/td-p/1873026?cid=us-arlo-...

Maybe you could visit this issue again and get it resolved since both Arlo & Alexa tout the fact that Alexa is able to display video when the doorbell is pressed or when any selected Arlo camera records video.

Here's what I move down from what I wrote in message 9 of this discussion...

While working on the Alexa/Arlo doorbell notification issue I thought I'd try a workaround by creating an Alexa routine (which is something they say Alexa and Arlo are capable of) where the Arlo camera (which shows the walkway leading to the door) upon sensing motion, triggers the doorbell and displays the doorbell video on the Alexa Echo Show...although this wouldn't announce the doorbell (the chime already does that) it would also not ring my phone, which is the goal here.

While setting up the routine, I was able to select that camera (from a list of all cameras/lights) along with "when motion is detected" then...and here's where the problem lies...the list showing all of the cameras, to display the video, is grayed out with every camera showing "This device is not currently supported". So, here's yet another Alexa/Arlo touted feature that does not work!

I did some research and found the following...
"It seems you're encountering an issue where Alexa routines are not recognizing your Arlo cameras or show them as unsupported devices within the Alexa app, specifically when trying to set up routines that are triggered by camera activity like motion detection"
"This is a known issue reported by multiple users in the Arlo Community forums. The problem seems to lie within the integration between Arlo and Alexa, where motion events from Arlo cameras are not properly triggering Alexa routines"

Thanks,

Paul

[KachinaShadow]

I was actually able to create a couple of Alexa routines where when the doorbell was pressed or when it detects motion, Alexa then displays the doorbell video. Both worked with each routines test, in the app, but when actually doing a real-world test Alexa was unable to find the doorbell to display the video...note that Alexa will always display the video (or any Arlo camera video) when manually asked to do so.

It all goes back to the first seven messages of this discussion, whereas the Arlo/Alexa doorbell function actually works with the suggested settings, but it calls your phone every time...get the phone so you can independently turn it on or off and the doorbell problem is solved although the Arlo/Alexa integration still has some flaws with devices interacting with each other while including Alexa in the mix.

[KachinaShadow]

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@KachinaShadow wrote:

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@StephenB wrote:

Got it.  

So the problem really is that there is a missing setting (to silence Alexa or not).

---

Yes...so apparently silent mode (without any additional toggles) would silence everything, but since the two toggles that appear allow you to silence, or not, both "incoming call" and "traditional chime", then ideally a third toggle to silence, or not, whatever function notifies Alexa (announcement & video) would be what's needed.

Pretty much, there doesn't even need to be a "silent mode" toggle if there were the three toggles to silence, or not, whatever combination you choose.

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@StephenB 

This may be wishful thinking but, what does Arlo actually send to the phone to make it ring when the doorbell is pressed and might there be a way, on the phone (Android), to block or silence calls only from that source?

Or might it be better to hope that Arlo might actually implement the feature that we've been discussing? 

[StephenB]

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@KachinaShadow wrote:

This may be wishful thinking but, what does Arlo actually send to the phone to make it ring when the doorbell is pressed

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It is an "over the top" SIP phone call.

I haven't tried blocking the call (or changing its ring tone) using the normal phone block list, but there was at least one other poster who did get that to work (some years back).

• https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Video-Doorbell/Video-Doorbell-How-Do-I-Stop-the-Calls-But-Keep-th...
   

[KachinaShadow]

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@StephenB wrote:

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@KachinaShadow wrote:

This may be wishful thinking but, what does Arlo actually send to the phone to make it ring when the doorbell is pressed

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It is an "over the top" SIP phone call.

I haven't tried blocking the call (or changing its ring tone) using the normal phone block list, but there was at least one other poster who did get that to work (some years back).

• https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Video-Doorbell/Video-Doorbell-How-Do-I-Stop-the-Calls-But-Keep-th...
   

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Looks like they were able to do that on an iPhone...I found where some Androids will show SIP calls in "Call History", unfortunately mine doesn't but at least it gives me some idea of what to look for to possibly block the SIP calls from Arlo.

Note that I also tried setting the Arlo app permissions to not allow phone calls but that didn't stop it from calling when in silent mode.

[KachinaShadow]

The more I mess with the Arlo/Alexa integration, the more I find things that just don't seem to work.

When I ask Alexa to show any of my Arlo cameras, regardless of what resolution (2K, 4K, 1080 etc.) they come up almost instantly, except for the doorbell camera...if it's set to 1080 x 1080 it will not connect with Alexa but if it's set to 1536 x 1536 there's no problem.

I found this after trying various scenarios to not have the phone ring when the doorbell is pressed and found that when set at 1536 x 1536 the live video will not connect (although everything else works fine) on the phone call (circle just keeps spinning) but if I change it to 1080 x 1080 it connects immediately...just the opposite of what Alexa does.

I feel like I'm on some kind of acid trip 😲 😬 🙄 😉

[KachinaShadow]

After more messing around with the Arlo/Alexa integration I’ve found the following…

After writing, and testing, some successful Arlo/Alexa routines, for both “when doorbell detects motion” & “when doorbell is pressed” (both are default Alexa triggers) I find that you either get recorded Arlo video (when the Arlo routine is set to record) or you get the live video displayed on Alexa (when the Arlo routine is NOT set to record)...but not both.

The one exception to this is when using the Alexa “doorbell is pressed” routine and with silent mode off (where there is still the issue of not being able to turn the phone ring off), you then get the live video showing on Alexa and, only if you answer the call from Arlo, the live video on your phone which is then saved in “Feed” as “Accepted”.

The other thing I find with having the phone ring and answering the call (which also displays on Alexa) is that, if the Arlo routine for the doorbell is set to record then the live video on the “accepted” call from Arlo just has the spinning “busy” circle and never shows live video but when the Arlo routine is NOT set to record, you then get both the Alexa live video along with the live video on the “accepted” call from Arlo, which is saved to “Feed” as “Accepted”.

In other words...even if you get the ring to go away, you still have to accept the call to be able to see, on Alexa, who’s at the door and then have a video saved to “Feed”...otherwise there’s NO WAY to have Alexa show a “live” view or have a saved recording with either the “when doorbell detects motion” or “when doorbell is pressed” routine.

Looks like the only way to have Alexa show a “live” view of who’s at the door, while Arlo still does it’s thing and has a saved recording, is to add a camera...either an Arlo Essential, that’s triggered by motion but NOT set to record (so that it will show on Alexa) or some other Alexa compatible wireless camera, that’s triggered by an Alexa compatible motion sensor, to do nothing but show activity at the front door almost instantly on an Alexa device without having to have your phone ring or having a (delayed) push notification sent to your phone.