Message Scheduler

	EIGER SOLUTIONS LIMITED

Message Scheduler

Product details

The Software provides a Message Scheduling Interface for the Bosch Praesideo System and the Ateis LAP-G2 Controllers. It will also work as a basic Scheduler for a systems that has no Controlling System but does have an audio Input that can be connected to the audio from a PC. The programme has the following features:

Up to 128 Zones can be displayed on the screen
Up to 16 Group buttons can be displayed which makes Zone selection easier.
There can be up to 12 Zone Selection Screens each with a different background image so that the Zone/Group buttons do not all have to be on the same screen. Different areas can have their own screen.
Each Schedule can have multiple messages set with no limit on the number of messages. Of course each message can be a single word or several sentences long. They are played in sequence with a small delay between each message. The delay is alterable to make the total message more acceptable.
Can have up to 300 Schedules set or up to 300 messages available to play. There are three ways a message can be controlled:
- A Schedule can be set so that the message is played at set intervals.The interval can be set from 5 minutes to 4 hours. The Schedule can also be set to play only once at the same time each day. It is capable of being played at any time by pressing the PLAY button. The days that the Schedule is to play is fully selectable. The zones are preselected when setting the Schedule.
- A message can be set without a schedule but with pre-selected zones so that it can be played at any time just by pressing the PLAY button.
- A message can be set but without pre-selecting any zones. the zones are then selected before pressing PLAY.
Scheduled Messages can be delayed, if for instance a train being late, and then played at the correct time when the train is due.
It is possible to stop Scheduled messages and restart the Schedules if any maintenance work is to carried out.
If more than one Scheduled Messages are to be played at the same time then depending on the option set they can be:

Stacked: Messages are played one after the other with a small gap between them.
Not Stacked: All messages can be played at the same time if they are stored in the Controller. But messages stored in the PC can only be played one after another with the first one starting at the same time as the ones stored in the controller.

Zone and Group buttons can now be colour coded so that it is easier to see which zones are grouped together
The programme can also be used as a Call Station using a microphone connected to an Audio-In of the main controller.

Current versions include the following

The Bosch Praesideo version has all the above features but messages can be stored either in the Bosch Praesideo Controller or the PC. Obviously with the ability to handle up to 300 schedules, which can be with 300 different messages, then the best pace to store them is in the PC as they can easily be altered or new ones added as the programme interrogates the Messages Directory to get a list of the available messages when setting a schedule.

If a schedule is set and the message is then deleted then an error message will be displayed on the screen. The message stored in the PC can be changed at any time but must keep the same name as set in the schedule or the schedule must be altered to match the new name of the message.

If more than one schedules want to play a message at the same time then, if Stack Messages is set, there is a priority set up whereby the messages are played in message number order. All Messages are put into a queue and are played in sequence with a short delay between each message.
However, as the Praesideo controller can handle up to 32 calls at the same time, several calls can be started at the same time if the messages are stored in the controller. The programme will display the status of each call that it has started. It cannot display the status of calls started by another PC or call station (yet).

If the same zone is to be used by several Schedules the the first call started will not allow any other call to use that zone unless a priority system is in use - at present there is not one within the programme - or an emergency call is started.

The border of a Zone button is normally blue but can change color to indicate the status of the zone whether it is in use or faulty.

The Message Scheduler programme can be run on more that one PC but care should be taken that schedules do not overlap as two PCs trying to start a message at the same time in the Controller will have unexpected results.

The display gives information about the progress of all Calls or Messages playing and also allows the user to stop a message.

Messages can also be delayed if required and played later.
They can also be set to not play if required.

A NEW feature is the ability to add a schedule for Background Music. The Schedule can alter Zones and Volume at upto 3 times a day with a different schedule for each day of the week.

There is also an indication of faults occurring within the controller with the ability to Acknowledge and attempt to Reset them.

If full fault analysis is required then it can be added if required but is not part of the Schedule Programme at present as the Bosch Praesideo Logging Server/Viewer programme gives full fault information.

There is automatic switching to Secondary Controller in a Primary/Secondary controller setup. the programme will also detect when the Primary Controller is back online and attempt to switch back to it. This can also be done manually by pressing the Use Primary button.If a controller fails in a multi Controller system then a screen is shown which indicates which Controller has failed. The programme will attempt to reconnect automatically. If the reconnection fails then the Programme will delay the reconnection attempt and will eventually time out completely in order that the programme can continue without delays.

When the Controller is repaired or replaced then the user can do a manual reconnect.The programme can be altered to do all of what the programme does ifrequired. Please contact me to discuss your requirements.

I am in the process of writing a Client/Server version so that there would be no conflicts between Client PCs trying to start messages at the same time and as many Client PCs as required can be added to the system. Please contact me if you have a requirement for a Client/Server system so that I can add the required functionality.

The Message Scheduler Programme can act as a basic Call Station as well as long as a separate microphone is attached to a Controller Audio Input.

If you have a requirement for the programme to work with another system that can be controlled by a PC then please contact me.

The Bosch Praesideo Version, on start-up, can show the Message Scheduled Screen as below. This shows which schedules have been set.
If desired it can go straight to a Zone Selection Screen on startup.


The Schedule Screen showing schedules set for messages 1 to4 and a Message Only set for message 5 message 5
Setting a Schedule
The Call Screen also showing the first page of the schedule.

The Ateis LAPG2 version is virtually identical to the Bosch Praesideo version except there is no fault detection of the system. However if IDA4 are connected then there is the possibility of detecting faults and displaying them on the screen.

The programme uses Third Party Commands set up in the Ateis LAPG2 controller to connect the inputs to the outputs. This has to be set up in the LAPG2 controller and the commands entered into the programme. If a command is entered that is wrong then the LAPG2 controller does not respond and the programme detects an error. Also the LAPG2 controller does not respond to Third Party Commands if it is connected to an Ateis IDA4.

Therefore it is imperative that everything is set up properly or there will be problems.



Setting a schedule wth the Ateis LAPG2 Message Scheduler version.

PC Only version is also the same as above except the messages are all stored in the PC. The Audio Out of the PC is connected to an Audio In of the Amplifier. Any schedules are then routed via the amplifier to whichever zones are connected. There is no zone selection.