Audible alerts for E911 call

Our security department is alerted when anyone in the company dials 911.  They're configured in the NotificationUri (CsLocationPolicy.)

Is there some way to configure/associate an audible alert so that the security desk will "hear" that someone dialed 911?  As it stands now, a Lync window opens up on the security desk PC stating that someone dialed 911, but with no sound.

The problem is that they're not staring at the PC 100% of the time, and so they might miss a 911 call.  I've gone through all the Lync events (Control Panel --> Sound --> Sounds tab --> Program Events) in Windows 7 on the Security PC, but none of them seem to correlate specifically to a 911 alert event.

Has anyone dealt with this before?

Thanks in advance.

November 30th, 2012 12:03am

Is there no sound on the PC? If not, maybe you should have a dedicated phone device so you are sure to hear the ring. You could even have an overhead ringer (like snom pa1 configured to ring a loudspeaker).

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
November 30th, 2012 12:13am

There is sound on the PC.  In fact there's some big-ass speakers attached to it as well.  I assigned every Lync program event to a very loud obnoxious sound.  Things like "call ended", "howler", "incoming delegate call", and all the rest of the Lync events listed in the Sounds/Program Events screen have that loud obnoxious sound assigned to it.  When we test with the local 911 authority though, the pop-up the guard sees doesn't play any sound.  It just pops up sliently.

November 30th, 2012 12:30am

Just to clarify, here's the program events i'm referring to..


The audio alerts do work for the known events i've assigned sounds to, but there isn't a specific entry for a "911 Has Been Dialed" event.   I was hoping one of the generic events listed would cover that.

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
November 30th, 2012 5:12pm

No, unfortunately there is not a specific sound event for 911 calls.

You could possibly write an client side tray app that would detect an emergecy call and play an obnoxious noise, but not bui

November 30th, 2012 5:18pm

Ugh, not good.

Has anyone else dealt with this issue before?  Maybe there's a third party app that can accomplish this?

Thanks Matt!

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
November 30th, 2012 5:29pm

i suspect any solution will be overkill for the small peice you are looking for. ;-P

for lync and 911, these guys might be able to help:

-AtHoc IWSAlerts Integration with Lync
-also
http://www1.911enable.com/solution-briefs/e911-solution-for-microsoft-lync

if focusing on the the alert security officer of IM, checkout supertoast pro, you can configure it based on who sent IM whichmight work in your case:
http://www.modalitysystems.com/software/super-toast/

November 30th, 2012 5:52pm

what's "athoc IWSAlerts"?  is that part of 911 enable?  911 enable is something we've looked at for an overall e911 solution, but that's overkill for what we're trying to accomplish in the short term.  i'll check on supertoast, but from what i can see it just does visual reminders on the screen, not audio alerts.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
November 30th, 2012 6:33pm

Really sounds like the solution is a tray app that plays a loud sound when an IM comes from 911 alert. Use the Lync client API and write it...

or get us to. ;-) we have a vb.net app we wrote called "Lync call pop" that does something/anything on an incoming IM/call that could easily be modified for your wishes. ;-P

Do you know: is there a unique Subject, unique content in the IM body, or what users is that 911 IM sent from? if there is something unique the tray app can scream at your security guard. ;-)

November 30th, 2012 6:42pm

This is what the alert looks like..

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
November 30th, 2012 6:57pm

what subject does the IM have?
and what lync user does it show coming from?

(i've never been on recieving end of one of these ;-P

November 30th, 2012 7:00pm

No subject apparently.  The Lync user being shown is whoever dialed 911.  That's what was erased from the screen capture.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
November 30th, 2012 7:07pm

that IM has a body/message that says "METHOD: Manual"

does that come with each IM?

November 30th, 2012 7:09pm

so far anyway.  i'm assuming it just means that somebody manually typed 9-1-1 in the Lync client.  not sure what other ways there would be to dial 911.  maybe a pre-programmed 911 hotkey or something?  if it's possible, i think the word "emergency" appearing in a yellow box would be the event to trigger off of.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
November 30th, 2012 7:12pm

except that message may not be available to api, not sure.

i suspect "METHOD:" would work.

I think depends how you config the location policy the IM also shows the emergency triggering users' location.

Matt

November 30th, 2012 7:15pm

so what might be a rough cost for a modified version of lync call pop?  it would only be for one PC at this point.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
November 30th, 2012 7:21pm

let's take this offline. email us:

sales at landiscomputer.com

thanks

December 1st, 2012 10:17pm

You could have a look at "Lync E911 Desktop Alert" from Event Zero. It does what you need, and a lot more too.

http://www.eventzero.com/Tools/LyncE911DesktopAlert/?view=Overview

-I work for Event Zero-

Dave

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 23rd, 2013 2:32am

This topic is archived. No further replies will be accepted.

Other recent topics Other recent topics