Employees of Zonoff, a former home technology developer in Malvern, and their current employer, Ring, have found their new home in e-commerce giant Amazon, writes Joseph DiStefano for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Amazon acquired California-based Ring for $1 billion, securing the futures of the company’s home-automation engineers at Ring Solutions in Malvern. The situation is a welcome reversal from last year, when employees had no idea of their fate, which was dependent on business and investor decisions made far from its local office.

Amazon already owned part of Ring through its Alexa Fund. Amazon watchers believe it is planning to use Ring’s doorbell cameras and other home automation products to improve its Amazon Key delivery-access program.

This would help protect Amazon deliveries from thieves and any delays that could be crucial in future grocery deliveries, after Amazon’s recent purchase of Whole Foods.

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Ring also fits with the online retailer’s plans to play a larger role in homes and businesses with its Amazon Echo smart speakers.

“Alexa can be the brains on the inside, with Ring as the eyes on the outside,” said Stacey Higginbotham, an Internet of Things watcher.

Read more about the purchase in the Philadelphia Inquirer here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of Zonoff here.