[1] After contacting American songwriters and record producers Sean Garrett along with Rodney Jerkins, Rich Harrison, and Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean,[1][2] Knowles rented Sony Music Studios to begin working on her second solo album B'Day.

[7] A blaring siren is used as the song's introductory sound, setting an aggressive tone,[11] which is augmented by Knowles' throaty mezzo-soprano growl.

[11] Tim Finney of Pitchfork described her vocals as "thrillingly sharp with anxiety and paranoia",[12] and Tom Breihan of The Village Voice commented that she sings with "a frantic intensity".

[6] Her strong shout vocal styling is meshed with the grooves, and enhanced with echo and shimmer, which overlap with one another, creating a neo-warm vibe.

"[15] "Ring the Alarm" features Knowles as the female protagonist impersonating a threatened woman involved in a love triangle.

[17] Frances Romero of Time magazine noted that Knowles' anger is due to her man's wandering eye, her desire to leave, and the thought of having to give him up to some unworthy woman.

[18] Tamara Coniff of Billboard magazine noted that the verses of "Ring the Alarm" resemble those of Aretha Franklin's songs.

[7] As the song opens, she tells her lover, "I can't let you go", and that she will not allow another woman to take everything she owns,[19] including the chinchilla coats and the house on the coast.

[20] Knowles screams the refrain[7]—"Ring the alarm, I've been doin[g] this too long / But I'll be damned if I see another chick on your arm"—"through a thick fog of distortion", as noted by Jody Rosen of Entertainment Weekly.

[20] Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe added that she chants the lines with grit and urgency,[9] while Breihan wrote that she sings them "with a frantic intensity".

In June 2006, Knowles invited Tamara Coniff of Billboard to a New York recording studio where she played "Ring the Alarm" and "Freakum Dress" (2006) for the prospect of the next US single,[5] and she also had plans for "Green Light" (2007) and "Get Me Bodied" (2007) to hit international markets.

[7] As commented by Tom Breihan of The Village Voice, Knowles took advantage of "[people's] sympathy and unleash[ed] a burst of public rage in the form of ['Ring the Alarm']".

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which had previously confronted her after she used furs for her fashion line's clothing design, contacted a biologist who wrote a letter to Knowles, "As a specialist in reptile biology and welfare, I'm concerned about your posing with a terrified baby alligator for your new album cover.

"[29] "Ring the Alarm" received polarized responses from contemporary music critics, who noted that it was a marked departure from Knowles' previous material.

[30] The Boston Globe's Sarah Rodman noted that it finds Knowles in "full hell-hath-no-fury mode", singing with grit and urgency that feel genuine.

[9] A critic of Billboard magazine viewed "Ring the Alarm" as a memorable release even though he wrote that it is not as good as Knowles' 2003 single "Crazy in Love".

[31] Jody Rosen of Entertainment Weekly called "Ring the Alarm" torrid, and wrote that Knowles "sounds positively horrified by the prospect of relinquishing the luxury goodies her boyfriend has bought her".

[20] Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone stated that she sings with "enough frantic, quavering intensity to make you believe she really is crazy in love".

described "Ring the Alarm" as a "shrill tantrum of green-eyed monsterdom",[34] and Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times described it as a "canny display of emotional vulnerability".

[7] Spence D. of IGN Music commented that the best examples of Knowles vocal stylings come on "Ring The Alarm", adding that it is one of the few tracks on the album where she goes for a throaty growl.

"[8] Chris Richards of The Washington Post defined Knowles' character in the song as a "jealousy-crazed ex", and expressed his disappointment that it could not manage a "more convincing refrain".

[36] Tim Finney of Pitchfork Media wrote, "the siren-assisted caterwaul of second single 'Ring the Alarm' sounds genuinely (and marvelously) incoherent.

[37] Vibe ranked "Ring the Alarm" at number forty-eight on its list of the Top 60 Songs of 2006, complimenting the vocal distortion and the way Knowles shouts on the chorus and the hook.

[40] Jody Rosen from The New Yorker credited the jarring timbral and tonal variations on the song for giving a new musical sound that didn't exist in the world before Knowles.

[7] Blogger Roger Friedman of Fox News called it a "bizarre video depicting a wildly angry and unappealing Beyoncé telling off someone (maybe Jay-Z?)

[67] Knowles performed "Ring the Alarm" at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards on August 31, 2006, wearing a flowing trench coat, a corset and hotpants.

[74] "Ring the Alarm" was included on Knowles' set list for her The Beyoncé Experience concert in Los Angeles, and I Am... World Tour venues.

[75] During a performance of "Ring the Alarm" in Orlando, Florida on July 26, 2007, Knowles fell down a flight of stairs on stage and was videoed by several fans.

"[77] Knowles performed "Ring the Alarm" on August 5, 2007, at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan,[77][78] wearing a long red overcoat.

[77] Jon Pareles of The New York Times praised her performance, stating: "Beyoncé needs no distractions from her singing, which can be airy or brassy, tearful or vicious, rapid-fire with staccato syllables or sustained in curlicued melismas.