Motion Announcements

When you activate the Blink SmartHome Skill, Alexa can announce Motion Alerts and provide camera views for Blink Video Doorbell, Outdoor, Indoor (gen 2), Mini, and XT2 cameras.

This feature is currently available for English language Alexa devices.

Alexa motion announcements are not triggered for the following:

• Cameras recording directly to Local Storage‍ (Sync Module 2 with USB drive).
• Systems that do not use Cloud Storage or Local Storage.
• Cameras with "Motion Recording" set to "Off".
• Indoor (gen 1) and XT camera events.

Motion Announcements is an Alexa Routine we made to connect a Blink system to Alexa speech services. When a system is armed, and cameras have the "Motion Recording" setting "On", any motion alerts are sent to Alexa.

Alexa uses the camera name you set in the Blink app to announce the following: "Motion Detected at the <camera name>." 

If you tap the alert that appears, a Live View session is started from the camera that sent it.

To receive Alexa spoken alerts as soon as motion is detected by a camera, tap the Camera Settings icon in the Blink app, then set "Early Notification^Beta" to "On", as shown in the image below.

By default, the motion alert is sent after a motion clip completes recording. If "Motion Recording" is "Off" the clip is zero length, and the alert is sent right away. 

You can change the Clip Length, and the pause afterwards (Retrigger Time), in the Camera Settings screen. 

Click to learn how motion detection works‍.

Notice the following are enabled for the best experience:

• Motion Detection
• Early Notification
• Motion Recording

To receive spoken alerts of camera activity from Alexa

1. Enable the Blink SmartHome Skill in the Alexa app:

• Click for the Alexa Setup and Troubleshooting Guide.
  

2. Enable Motion Announcements in the Alexa app:

• Tap the “Devices” icon on the bottom right corner of the screen to reach the Devices screen, then tap the "Cameras" icon on the upper left.
  
  
  
• On the CAMERAS screen, tap the Blink camera you wish to use for Alexa interaction, and enable the “Motion Announcements” toggle on the settings screen. Also make sure you have an Announcement Device visible to perform spoken alerts.
   
  
  If the toggle is not visible, update camera settings by asking: "Alexa, discover my devices." This will result in a response of "No new devices discovered." but the settings should update.
  
  

Tap the back arrow "<" (upper left corner of the screen) to return to the Cameras list.

Now, when the camera system is armed, motion alerts from the selected camera activate the Alexa device to announce "Motion Detected at the [camera name]." For greater convenience, you can also say: "Alexa, ask Blink to arm the [Blink system name]." You can use the same method to disarm a system when desired. To disarm, Alexa will request the PIN that you created when the Blink SmartHome Skill was enabled and connected to your Blink app. 

How to disable Motion Announcements in the Alexa app:

1. Tap the “Devices” icon on the bottom right corner of the screen to reach the Devices view, then tap the "Cameras" icon on the upper left.
    
   
   
2. Tap a Blink camera that you are using for Alexa interaction, and disable the “Motion Announcements” toggle on the settings screen.
    

Tap the back arrow "<" (upper left corner of the screen) to return to the Cameras list.

Alexa Routines

Alexa devices now support Routine Triggers for the Blink SmartHome skill when used with Blink Video Doorbell, Outdoor, Indoor (gen 2), Mini, and XT2 cameras.

Routine Triggers are currently available for English language Alexa devices in the North American (US and Canada) region.

A Routine Trigger connects your Blink device to Alexa so that motion alerts can start a Routine. Routines consist of an event, and an action to be performed. You choose the device supplying the event (in this case a Blink device), the action to be performed like "Turn on Walkway Lights", a schedule when the action is available ("Today until 11pm"), and the device where the result of the action is sent ("Walkway Lights"). In this way, when motion is detected by a Blink camera, Alexa will turn on the SmartHome lights on the walkway, and it is active until 11pm.

Blink cameras supply the Trigger event through the Blink SmartHome Skill, which must be enabled before you create a Routine. Enable the Blink SmartHome Skill in your Alexa app by following these instructions. Be aware that trigger events are not provided to Alexa when you use Local Storage to record clips directly from camera, or when you have no storage option active.

Blink has already created a useful Routine to announce camera activity. When motion is detected on a properly configured camera, your Alexa device says "Motion detected on the _______ camera." filling in the name of your camera using text to speech. The Motion Announcement Routine is available on the Camera Settings screen of the Alexa app. Learn how to enable Alexa Motion Announcements.

To receive Alexa spoken alerts as soon as motion is detected, rather than after the motion clip recording is complete, set Early Notification to "Enabled" in the Blink app - for each camera that interacts with Alexa.

Note: The Blink Video Doorbell always has Early Notification active.

Attention: To receive motion announcements from Alexa, your Blink Video Doorbell, Outdoor, Indoor (gen 2), and Mini cameras must have the "Motion Recording" Camera Setting in the "On" position. Click to learn about the Motion Recording setting.

To create a Routine Trigger from Blink device activity:

1. Within the Alexa app, tap the Curtain Menu at lower right, then select "Routines".
    
   
   
2. Tap a Plus sign to create a new Routine.
   
   
   
3. Tap "Enter Routine Name", provide a name, and tap "Next".
    
   
   
4. Tap "When this happens" to view the available triggers screen, then tap "Smart Home".
    
   
   
5. On the Choose Device screen, when you select a Blink camera to provide the motion alert triggers, you are sent to the choose a trigger action screen.
   
   
   
6. Choose whether the trigger is an action being "Detected", or "Not Detected" - for a set amount of time after an initial event. If "Not Detected" is chosen, select an amount of time to wait after the initial event, to send the Trigger. If no new alert arrives within that time, the Trigger is sent.
   Tap "Next".
    
   
   
7. The New Routine screen displays the name you entered, and describes the trigger action.
   You can tap "Anytime" to create a schedule for when the Routine is active.
   If you do create a schedule, save and complete the schedule by tapping "Next".
    
   
   
8. Tap "Add Action" and select which supported action you wish to trigger.
   
   
   An example would be to tap "Alexa says" then create a customized response by tapping "Customised" and then provide a phrase to be spoken when the Routine is triggered, such as "Someone is at the front door."
    
   
   After you enter the phrase, tap "Next" to save and continue to a confirmation screen where you tap "Next" to return to the New Routine screen.
    
   
   
9. Tap "Choose Device" to select which Alexa device will make the announcement.
   Choosing a device returns you to the New Routine screen.
    
   
   
10. From the New Routine screen, tap Save to complete the procedure, and you are sent to the main Routines screen where the new routine is visible.
     
    

You should see a temporary confirmation banner at the top of the screen confirming actions taken on Routines.

If you followed the example procedure in Step 8, the result of a motion detection is that your chosen Alexa device emits a chime and announces "Someone has entered the front door."

If you instead hear: "Motion Detected at the Mini, Someone has entered the front door." you can deduce that the Motion Announcements feature is active for the camera named "Mini" in addition to the routine that was just created.
Learn more about Motion Announcements here.

How to edit a Routine:

1. Within the Alexa app, tap the Curtain Menu at lower right, and select "Routines".
    
   
   
2. Tap the Routine that you wish to edit, make changes from the Edit Routine screen then tap the back arrow "<" (upper left corner) to save and return.
    

How to disable a Routine:

1. Within the Alexa app, tap the Curtain Menu at lower right, then select "Routines".
    
   
   
2. Select the Routine you wish to disable, then tap the Enabled toggle at the upper right of the Edit Routines screen.
    
   
   
3. Return to the Cameras list when you tap the back arrow "<" (upper left corner).
   
   

You should see a confirmation banner at the top of the screen confirming actions taken on Routines.

How to delete a Routine:

1. Within the Alexa app, tap the Curtain Menu at lower right, then select "Routines".
    
   
   
2. Select the Routine you wish to delete and enter the Edit Routine screen.
   
   
   
3. Tap the three dot menu icon at the upper right of the screen, then tap Delete Routine.
    

You should see a confirmation banner at the top of the screen and be returned to the Routines screen.

Example Routines:

Here are four basic examples of possible Routines to get you thinking about how you would like to use this feature.

1. A custom Motion Announcement for the camera named "Front Door".
   Trigger: Motion is detected by the camera
   When: Any time (unscheduled)
   Action: Alexa could say: "intruder detected at the front door"
   
   
2. Turn on Front Porch smart light when motion is detected.
   Trigger: Motion is Detected by the Front Door camera
   When: All days of the week, between 7pm and 5am
   Action: Front Porch smart light is turned on (it remains on until turned off)
   
   
3. Turn off Front Door smart lights when no motion is detected for 30 minutes.
   Trigger: Motion Not Detected for 30 minutes on Front Door camera
   When: Any time (unscheduled)
   Action: Front Door smart light is turned off
   
   
4. Alert me if no activity on Dad's kitchen camera by 10am.
   Trigger: Motion Not Detected on Dad's Kitchen camera for 10 hours.
   When: All days between 8pm and 10am
   Action: Alexa says: "Check on Dad."