Vocal Server

When a voice telephone call is established, following an incoming or outgoing call, ALERT first plays a greeting message. This message can be used to identify the site of the correspondent and invite him/her to identify himself/herself. It can be repeated cyclically until identification of the correspondent. If there is no greeting message configured, a welcome beep is emitted.

The greeting can be recorded (either locally or by telephone) or, if the text-to-speech option is installed, synthesized from text. This text may include pre-recorded voice messages and tag values (See Configuring the voice server).

In standard operation, ALERT then waits for the user code. This user code is the one that is displayed in the "ID" field of the property dialog box of the user. In the event of an error, press the "*" key on the telephone keypad to cancel the entry and then enter the code again.

As soon as a key is pressed, ALERT stops playing the greeting message, allowing you to identify yourself immediately without waiting for the message to end.

When the code is entered and acknowledged, a 3-tone acknowledgment beep is emitted. Otherwise, an "invalid code" message prompts the user to enter the code again.

If the "Authentication" option is enabled, ALERT then waits for the user password. The cancellation and acknowledgment procedures are the same.

At the end of the identification phase (with possible authentication), and if there are service messages intended for the user or unacknowledged or active alarms, the corresponding messages are played. Otherwise a message informs the operator that there are no alarms.

If there are more than 10 alarms pending for the online operator, only the first 10 messages (in decreasing order and reverse chronological order of the alarms) are played. The maximum number of alarms announced (10 by default) is set in the "Vocal.MaxAlarm" option.

When all the messages have been played, a vocal guide can be automatically transmitted, informing the user about the possible actions. Automatic transmission of this vocal guide is optional.

The user then has access to the following commands.

• Key 0: Listen to the first 10 unacknowledged or active alarms concerning the user, in decreasing order of priority and reverse chronological order, the alarms acknowledged but still activated at the end.

• Key 1: Record a message or a voice report (see below).

• Key 2: Listening to the recorded message or voice report.

• Key 3:

  • If the message recording is active, storing the recorded message ("MTXXXX.WAV in "MESSAGE" directory)
  • If the explicit call acknowledgment option is enabled (see Vocal server configuration), the call is accepted (call acknowledged)

• Key 4: Listening to service messages intended for the user (mailbox).

• Key 5: Deletes messages from the user's mailbox.

• Key 6: Callback request, valid for incoming call only. The request is acknowledged by a message, and then the call is triggered after the user has released the line.

• Key 7: Listen to the unacknowledged alarms concerning the user, one by one, in decreasing order of priority and reverse chronological order. Each time the "7" key is pressed, the next alarm message is played. A message indicates the end of the list. Pressing "T" after the last message returns to the top of the list.

• Key 8: Acknowledgment of the last alarm transmitted by pressing the "7" key. The acknowledgment is indicated by a message. If no alarm was to be acknowledged, or if the "Acknowledgment of alarms by telephone" option was unchecked (see Vocal server configuration), or if it was an incoming call with the callback option forced, a message is played indicating that the acknowledgment has been denied. A second press of key "7" causes the acknowledgment of all alarms of the group of the acknowledged alarm. Optionally, acknowledging an alarm can be controlled directly by pressing key 8 followed by the alarm identifier code to be acknowledged (see Vocal Server Usage).

• Key 9: Line released (not mandatory, the hang up of the user being automatically detected, but in a longer time). If the "Explicit call acknowledgment" option is enabled (see Vocal server configuration), the call is rejected and a new call is immediately reiterated to a relief user. Optionally, pressing the "9" key may mean rejecting the call.

• Key *: 1st command after connection: identification of an answering machine. Following commands: listening to the vocal guide

Note:

The expected user identifier can be reduced to 1 or 2 digits. It can even be suppressed (zero length), in which case ALERT no longer supports identification procedure (vocal server open to any public).

By default, the call acknowledgment meaning that the user has been notified is implicit (automatic acknowledgment on user identification).

If the "Explicit call acknowledgment" option is enabled (see Vocal server configuration), the call must be acknowledged explicitly, either by pressing "3", indicating acceptance of the call, or by pressing "9", indicating a call deny and a request to forward the call to a relief user. If none of these actions are performed during the call, the call will not be acknowledged and will be automatically reiterated to the user.

Recording a message or report by telephone

The built-in vocal server allows you to record voice messages or spoken reports over the phone.

During normal operation, the recording procedure produces oral reports which can be listen to in the logbook and which are automatically cleared after a configurable delay.

To record voice messages by phone (alarms, home, guide), the software must first be set to recording mode. To do this, select the Record messages by telephone entry from the Configuration menu. The "RECORD" indication is displayed in the fault indicator of the alarm status bar. After having recorded the messages, you will need to select the same command again to return to normal operation.

To record a message (or report) by telephone, after the telephone connection is established (after identification and listening of any messages):

1. Press the "1" key and wait for the acknowledgment beep to signal that the application is ready for recording. Express the message to be recorded, avoiding silences. Recording stops automatically if a silence greater than the duration set in the voice driver configuration (2 seconds by default) is detected. A new acknowledgment tone indicates that the recording is complete. This beep can be emitted independently of the user if the recording is aborted (overflow in reception).

2. Press the "2" key to listen to the recorded message. If the quality of the message is not correct, start again a new record by pressing the "1" key.

3. Press the "3" key to confirm the recorded message. The message is then stored under the name MTxxxx.WAV in the sub-directory "MESSAGE" of the application's data directory, "xxxx" being an automatically incremented order number for each new message.

In the case of a report recording, the storage is automatically carried out in the "REPORT" sub-directory of the application's data directory at the end of the telephone communication. It is not necessary to press the "3" key.

Note: The silence at the end of the recorded message can be deleted by editing the wave file (see Recording a voice message)