Creating a Notification in SIREN

The SIREN Create Notification Edit page looks similar to the Callout Create Callout Edit page, with a few notable differences. The SIREN Create Notification Edit page has a Callout Definition table that includes the callout type, description, Custom Message, and Notification-appropriate attributes such as the Blast Call option and for some companies, the option to e-mail notifications either in addition to or instead of calling employees and contacts. The Override Section of the Callout Definition table shows that all schedules are overridden (ignored). Buttons are present for invoking an available Picker, either the Roster Picker used with regular crew callout or the location-based, All Hands Picker. Once created, the Sub-Callout table includes the classification/workgroup selected, or the query-by type, number of available contacts, and the number of requested contacts. The Manual Bypass table lists contacts for the sub-callouts above that may be selected or deselected.

Not all companies use all of the options discussed in this procedure. Your Notification page may look slightly different than the page described here.

Note: If a user does not have access to a callout attribute—Blast Calling, Pager Delay, J/A Rule, and/or Future Run Time—and the default of the attribute is enabled, the attribute will be turned off when the callout is created by a user without security access to the attribute. For some companies that attribute will remain at its default.

To Create a Notification

1. Click the Create button on the SIREN tab. The Notification Edit page displays.

   

2. Select the desired notification type from the Type dropdown.

3. Enter a description of the Notification in the Description field, if desired.

4. Select a Custom Message from the Custom Msg dropdown. See the Wave to Web Module for more details about Custom Messages - OR -

Click the Enable Wave2Web/TTS link under the Custom Msg dropdown , if available, to create a new custom message. See below to learn more.

 

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Creating a Custom Message from the Create Notification Page

1. Click the Enable Wave2Web/TTS link under the Custom Msg dropdown, if available, to create a new custom message.

     2. Click the Record button to record a new custom message, go to step 3, - OR -

Click the TTS button to create a new custom using the Text-to-Speech functionality. The page readjusts and a textbox displays in the Custom Msg section. Skip to step 7.

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Text-to-Speech

Text-to-Speech uses the existing Wave to Web functionality and allows users to create custom message without a microphone and without the worry of the recording being too quite on the call.

To Create a Custom Message via Text-to-Speech

1. Click the Custom Msgs button on the Callout Tab.
2. Check the Only display messages for (current location) checkbox, to view only custom messages available in current location.

Note: All Custom Messages are available to all ARCOS users throughout the same URL, no matter who recorded them. Deselecting the checkbox displays every Custom message recorded in ARCOS within the URL.

Note: Not all customers have the checkbox mentioned above, therefore all custom messages are available for use when creating/editing a callout.

3. Select Custom Message from the Please select message type dropdown.
4. Click the Record New Message button. - OR –

Click edit link next to the message to modify an existing message.

Note: You may receive a security pop-up for the custom message applet. Check the Always trust content from this publisher checkbox and click run. This will allow the applet to run automatically whenever you access the Message Detail page.

5. In the Recording Console header, you will see the Flash icon and the Use Flash Audio/TTS link will be available.
6. Enter the custom message description in the Description textbox.
7. Type the message in the Text-to-Speech (TTS) textbox, at the bottom of the page.

Note: A maximum of 1,000 characters can be used for Text-to-Speech.

8. Select the gender of the voice, male or female, from the Voice dropdown.
9. Select the speed from the Speed dropdown, Medium usually works the best.
10. Click the Convert button.

Note: If Custom Message Text is used on the Callout Create page, a pop-up will appear asking if the Text-to-Speech text should be copied to the Text (for e-mail) field. Click OK to copy the text or Cancel to not copy the text.

11. Click the play button to verify the information. Repeat steps 6-10 until satisfied with the recording.
12. Click the Upload button, above the Text-to-Speech (TTS) textbox, when satisfied with the recording.

Click here for a video tutorial on Creating and Saving Custom Messages.

Note: If the text entered in the Text to Speech field was more than 500 characters, the text in the Text (for e-mail) field will need to be shortened to less than 500 characters before the file can be uploaded.

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3. Speak the message into the input device.

4. Click Stop when finished.

Note: The maximum recording time is 90 seconds. The recording console automatically stops at that point.

5. Click Play to listen to the Custom Message.

6. Repeat steps 2 through 5, to re-record the message. Skip to step 12.

7. Type the message in the textbox in the Custom Msg section, below the Custom Msg dropdown.

8. Select the gender of the voice, male or female, from the Voice dropdown.

9. Select the speed from the Speed dropdown, Medium usually works the best.

10. Click the Convert button.

Note: If Custom Message Text is used on the Callout Create page, a pop-up will appear asking if the Text to Speech text should be copied to the Text (for e-mail) field. Click OK to copy the text or Cancel to not copy the text.

11. Click the play button to verify the information. Repeat steps 7-10 until satisfied with the recording.

12. Click Upload when you are satisfied with the message. A pop-up will appear asking for a message description.

13. Click OK on the pop-up.

14. Enter a description for the new custom message where the Custom Message dropdown was.

15. Click the OK button next to the textbox. The page will refresh with the new custom message being selected in the Custom Message dropdown.

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5. Enter the e-mail text in the Custom Msg Txt field, if available. See below for more information on Custom Message text limitations.

 

Custom Message Text Limitations

Some cellular phone carriers limit the number of characters that can be sent in a text message. For example, Verizon limits text messages to 160 characters. These limitations can result in employees receiving truncated messages in ARCOS notifications and e-mails. To allow more of the custom message text to be delivered to text pagers, test your condensed e-mail templates. We recommend the following format for the condensed e-mail template:

• Include the Custom Message Text first.

• Include the Callout reason (if applicable) after the Custom Message Text.

• If your company does not modify the Callout Description from the default, then do not include it in the message. The default Call out Description includes information that will not really give any additional information to the lineworkers and is usually over 55 characters.

6. Click the Blast Call checkbox to enable Blast Calling for the notification.

Blast Calling

The ability to simultaneously call all devices for an employee. For example, an employee's cell phone, home phone, and pager will all be dialed at the same time. The employees are, however, still called in business rule order.

Note: Call All: Yes means that the number requested equals the maximum number of contacts.

8. Click to select E-mail Only if you want ARCOS® to only send e-mails for the notification.

E-mail Devices

A table on the Employee Add/Modify page that allows you to enter up to three e-mail addresses, allowing employees to be notified of callouts via e-mail device. Each e-mail address includes a checkbox (Enable) specifying whether or not the e-mail address is to be active for callout/notification. Allowing the storage of unused e-mail addresses, but in order for the employee to receive e-mails for callouts, notifications, alerts, or reports the Enable checkbox must be selected.

When a callout is created with e-mailing enabled, ARCOS will send the employees an while calling their enabled devices. The Callout Detail Report displays an "e" on all sub-attempts that were made via e-mail. E-mail sub-attempts are listed before attempts to devices because e-mails are sent out before phone calls are made.

For companies that use e-mail templates, there is an additional column on the e-mail table labeled "Condensed." When selected, this feature allows the employee to receive an e-mail in a condensed format, suitable for text pagers. E-mail templates that are used in conjunction with this feature can be created or edited in the Sys Admin tab on the E-mail/Alerts page.

Note: If your company has E-mail capability , the E-mail checkbox is selected by default. This option sends an e-mail to all employees on the selected list in addition to calling them.

9. Select any overrides that are applicable.

10. Click Save. The basic notification information is saved.

Note: Clicking Save is an optional step. ARCOS automatically saves the information in the Notification Edit page when you select a roster from the Roster Picker table.

11. Click the Add Location(s) button to select an entire location to send the notification to - OR-

Click on roster to include them in the notification in the Roster Picker table. The selected roster title background turns pink to indicate it has been selected. - OR -

Click the Loc Selector button on the Roster Picker table to switch to a list of rosters from a different location.

12. Click the 'avail? link' if you wish to see how many contacts/employees are in the selected list. The Avail? link does not display in the Location Picker.

    • The avail? link queries the database and counts the current number of available and existing employees for each class/workgroup in the list.

    • For example, 2/4 means that there are two employees available for the callout and there are a total of four employees in that class or workgroup.

13. Click the Submit button. The Sub-Callout and the Manual Bypass Section tables display.

14. Make any necessary changes.

15. Click the Initiate Notification button. ARCOS takes you to the View Open Callouts screen.

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*Note: ARCOS documentation is a living document. For inconsistencies or missing features, contact ARCOS Support. Not all companies have all items in the Online Help.