Expecting Holiday Packages? You Need a Video Doorbell!

Even with the holiday rush, delivery companies have processes in place to keep packages safe from the moment the shipping label is created to when they drop the packages on a porch, but after that, things are out of their hands. If you are expecting any holiday packages, you will want to make sure the package stays safe between when the driver leaves it on your porch and when you bring it inside. Using a video doorbell is a simple but effective way of doing this. If you don’t already have a video doorbell, here are five reasons why you need to add one to your shopping cart today.

1. Porch Pirate Prevention

Package theft is on the rise. In one survey, 43 % of respondents reported a stolen package in 2020, a 7% increase from 2019. Most porch pirates look for quick, easy targets. If they see you have a video doorbell—a way of getting filmed and caught—they are more likely to walk past and look for an easier target.

If seeing that your home has a video doorbell doesn’t deter them, you can take matters into your own hands. Upon receiving a notification that your video doorbell has detected someone at the door and you see someone stealing your package, you can try scaring them with the video doorbell’s two-way audio feature like the Ring Doorbell users featured here. If that fails, having video footage will increase the chances of identifying the culprit and getting your package back.

2. Be in the Know

Better yet, a video doorbell can help you prevent porch pirates from having a chance to consider your holiday packages as targets.

Not all delivery companies require their drivers to knock or ring the doorbell. Some even discourage it based on a history of customers complaining or even yelling at drivers for disturbing dogs or waking babies. (Calm down, Karen. Yelling at the driver isn’t helping your baby get back to sleep.) Without a knock or ring, you won’t know if the package has been delivered until you check outside or refresh the tracking web page after delivery. Some delivery services offer text updates, but these sometimes come well after the delivery already happened, making them not the most reliable source. They also can’t help you if the package is a surprise gift you don’t have any tracking information for.

A video doorbell, on the other hand, doesn’t require any page refreshing, and notifications are always real-time. You’ll receive a notification to your phone when the delivery driver comes to your door, and if you have a video doorbell that can detect packages, you can specifically get a notification that a package was delivered. This enables you to bring the package inside faster. Plus, if it’s an early delivery from the North Pole, you can get it inside and tucked away without the kids finding it first on their way home from a friend’s house or school.

3. Be in the Game

If you’re not home when you receive a notification that there’s someone at the door and you find it’s the delivery driver, you won’t be able to quickly bring the package inside, but there are still things you can do to protect it. Using the two-way audio feature, you could ask the driver to hide the package behind one of your yard decorations to help keep it safe until you get back. If you have smart locks with remote locking capabilities, you could even unlock your door from your phone, ask the driver to put it directly inside your house, and lock the door again when they’re done.

4. Food Deliveries

Video doorbells aren’t just useful for package deliveries. If you use food delivery services, you can have all the same benefits as with package deliveries with the added peace of mind that no one will be able to sneak a few fries without you knowing.

5. Help Your Neighbors

If your neighbor across the street is out of town, you can watch for when their holiday packages are delivered. Their porch won’t be in range for you to get notifications, but you might be able to see packages lying on the steps with your video doorbell’s live stream. Then, if you’ve made arrangements with your neighbor, you can bring the packages into the safety of your home and give them to your neighbor upon their return.

Bonus: Make Someone’s Day

Even with the recent push for contactless delivery and the rise of drivers not knocking upon delivery, it’s not a line of work with no customer contact. Sometimes, the driver will need to wait for a signature, or they could cross paths with someone leaving home, coming home, or working in the yard. Where there is customer service, there will inevitably be rude customers, but you can use your video doorbell to give your delivery driver a good customer interaction. When they are delivering the package, you could chime in over the two-way audio and give them a simple thank you. It doesn’t seem like much, but a few kind words can go a long way, especially this holiday season when they are under more pressure than any other time of year.