Elk Voice Announcements Over Panasonic Intercom

[blafarm]

Hi Spanky,

Is there any way to single-fire an Elk message that is not documented?

I would really like to leverage the paging functionality of Panasonic PBX's in order to notify occupants of window & door openings and closures with plain English spoken language. The advantages of this approach are many; the phones are already typically installed in every location you'd want and the cordless functionality can't be beat, there's a built-in local muting function in the form of "Do Not Disturb" and the paging volume can sometimes be locally adjusted -- meaning; no new wires, no new speakers and no new local volume controls. It's actually the perfect delivery mechanism.


As one might expect, occupants will quickly tire of repeatedly hearing a paged message until it times-out -- or having to push keys to acknowledge the message. It would be great if a single-fire mode was available in the panel itself -- but, frankly, I'd be happy to deploy an external option (as mentioned earlier in this thread) if it could provide this functionality.

Thanks for your response.

 

[me2]

Great idea! My ELK is right next to my 624. I never even thought of using them together. Talk about overlooking the obvious.

 

[upstatemike]

Not to dredge up 2 year old discussions of Elk vs Stargate but I have to say this is one of the best automation features in my house. For certain things like a doorbell, or mail in the mailbox, I really want the announcement to go all through the house because I could be anywhere when those events happen. Phone system paging has worked perfectly for this. The ideas that "dialing out is just for emergency notifications" is a limitation that has haunted the M1 for quite awhile.

 

[Spanky]

What is the amount of time on your PBX telephone systems from the end of the telephone number like 33* until the audio amp comes on for the voice announcement. I understand 1 1/2 seconds on a Panasonic system.

HoHoHo! Santa is coming!

 

[AnotherOne]

I'd say it's about 2 seconds - you type 33* (or 34* on some systems) and then hear a "tone" for about 1/2 second a second or two later. I did it about 5 times and it's hard to time it.

But my elk is right next to my 1232, so I can't wait!!!

 

[gcimmino]

What is the amount of time on your PBX telephone systems from the end of the telephone number like 33* until the audio amp comes on for the voice announcement. I understand 1 1/2 seconds on a Panasonic system.

HoHoHo! Santa is coming!

Hey Santa! Does this have anything to do with the TWA?

I have an old Pana 616 and am looking for options to distribute announcements between two interconnected buildings.

Looking forward to it!

 

[Spanky]

This feature request has been squeaking the wheel for a long time. The solution will be a optional method to dial a phone number and deliver a single voice message into PBX Telephone systems with a paging output.

Example: Dial number A33*, wait two seconds, deliver single voice message, hangup. The 'A' as the first character in the telephone number instructs the M1 dialer to deliver a single voice message instead of the 3 round repeated message that currently happens when delivering a voice message through the telephone line.

We need to know if a two second delay after dialing the number will allow all PBX paging amplifiers to turn on before the voice message is sent from the M1.

 

[upstatemike]

This feature request has been squeaking the wheel for a long time. The solution will be a optional method to dial a phone number and deliver a single voice message into PBX Telephone systems with a paging output.

Example: Dial number A33*, wait two seconds, deliver single voice message, hangup. The 'A' as the first character in the telephone number instructs the M1 dialer to deliver a single voice message instead of the 3 round repeated message that currently happens when delivering a voice message through the telephone line.

We need to know if a two second delay after dialing the number will allow all PBX paging amplifiers to turn on before the voice message is sent from the M1.

Panasonic PBX paging through the phones is internal so there is no amplifier to turn on but it does broadcast a splash tone when paging is accessed. I checked my stargate macros and I have my delay set to 3 seconds which seems to work well.

There is a paging output for an external amp but no paging control so you can assume the amp is already on. If there is speaker switching or amp powering to be done then it should be handled by an Elk M1 relay and should be programmed to activiate before dialing the paging access code.

 

[gcimmino]

We need to know if a two second delay after dialing the number will allow all PBX paging amplifiers to turn on before the voice message is sent from the M1.

How about a global setting numeric value to allow folks to customize the delay to their pbx/paging system's requirements?

 

[blafarm]

How about a global setting numeric value to allow folks to customize the delay to their pbx/paging system's requirements?

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly!

If possible, it would be optimal if the user could select the delay that is appropriate for their PBX. The delay on my Panasonic 624 is 1-1/2 seconds and, although it might seem rather insignificant, I'd rather not have to wait 3 seconds to begin an announcement. That small extra delay will likely become rather annoying over time -- especially with announcements being made throughout the day indicating activity and status around the house.

Individual global delay intervals would be best -- however, if they were too difficult or impossible integrate, I gladly settle for a delay interval code that needed to be inserted before the letter "A" in the dial stream.

 

[upstatemike]

How about a global setting numeric value to allow folks to customize the delay to their pbx/paging system's requirements?

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly!

If possible, it would be optimal if the user could select the delay that is appropriate for their PBX. The delay on my Panasonic 624 is 1-1/2 seconds and, although it might seem rather insignificant, I'd rather not have to wait 3 seconds to begin an announcement. That small extra delay will likely become rather annoying over time -- especially with announcements being made throughout the day indicating activity and status around the house.

Individual global delay intervals would be best -- however, if they were too difficult or impossible integrate, I gladly settle for a delay interval code that needed to be inserted before the letter "A" in the dial stream.

I'll test a shorter delay when I get a chance but I think the 3 seconds is based on time for the splash tone to get your attention so you hear the whole message. If it is too quick then people tend to miss the beginning of the message resulting in constant questions to me asking "what did it say?" Could be that 2 seconds is enough but the delay needs to include 3 things:

PBX activates page circuit when code is dialed

PBX plays splash tone

Short pause between splash tone and message so they don't run together (doesn't sound necessary when you describe it but in practice it turns out to be important).

 

[blafarm]

Short pause between splash tone and message so they don't run together (doesn't sound necessary when you describe it but in practice it turns out to be important).

Yes, I agree, a short and natural pause interval is essential to increase intelligibility and provide a human feel.

It would be nice if a one-size-fits-all approach could work. However, I do believe that a user-selectable delay will allow for better integration of various PBX models which might have differing "reaction times" -- as well as accommodate individual tastes regarding the timing of announcements for specific applications.

Although it has not been said, let me express sincere gratitude for all of Spanky's efforts in spearheading this upgrade. This feature will add significant value to an already great product. Thanks again Spanky.


Edit: Syntax

 

[AnotherOne]

This is pretty cool, but in my case I don't think I can use it since I have the ELK connected to the phone lines BEFORE the PBX. This rules out another point of failure - the PBX battery backup is in minutes not hours like the ELK. This prevents the problem of a alarm not be reported out in the event of a power failure. I would assume this is the common way to do this to make the security system as reliable as possible.

 

[johnnynine]

Speaking of Elk M1 voice announcements...

Has anyone noticed that when the Elk M1 says the word "Back" it missed the "ck" sound in the word? Whenever we open my back patio door we hear "Baaa patio door."

I have the Elk broadcasting announcements through a GreyFox/On-Q/Legrand intercom system, works great!

[sub](I hope this isn't too far off topic.)[/sub]

 

[BadDog]

Has anyone noticed that when the Elk M1 says the word "Back" it missed the "ck" sound in the word? Whenever we open my back patio door we hear "Baaa patio door."

Same here...found that adding a pause (200ms Silence) after "Back" gives her enough time to speak her mind.