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Product development: A variety of voice annunciator / autodialer systems were developed between 1980 and 2006. These systems operated as both stand-alone units as well as models that interfaced with PLC and communications links.
The earliest systems used the robotic-sounding Votrax voice-to-text technology. The phoneme-based speech generator allowed voice messaging with single board microcomputers having a total of 8K ROM/RAM memory. Later systems used Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation (ADPCM) to play back phrases (and sounds) from a pre-recorded library. Entries in the library could be strung together to form a user-programmable message for each input and alarm event. The voice systems eventually leveraged the inherent record-play capability of Windows operating systems without any need for message preplanning.
The stand-alone devices interfaced with public address and telephone/radio systems to provide local and remote voice announcements. The units were controlled by touch tones sent via phone or radio, and also by networked communication using Modbus, Data Hiway, and other open architecture protocols. The interfaced units operated with RS-232, RS-485, parallel ports, BDC digital inputs, and Modbus RTU Protocols.
In addition to many "one off" projects, the voice systems were produced as standard products such as the Halmar / Seekirk A1800 & A2000, TEST LB-100 and Talk-Box, and the SCADAware Host Voice System.
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