Clark County Robot?

[joescanner]

Listening to the Clark County system this afternoon, and hear a computer generated voice dispatching fires on 48464.

Don't seem to correspond to anything actually happening (i.e. listening to the normal TAPOUT, FIRECOM and OPS channels).

Something new this way cometh?

 

[DickH]

Listening to the Clark County system this afternoon, and hear a computer generated voice dispatching fires on 48464.
Don't seem to correspond to anything actually happening (i.e. listening to the normal TAPOUT, FIRECOM and OPS channels).

Something new this way cometh?

They may be testing the Locution Systems, Inc. "CADVoice Radio" automated dispatch system, similar to the system used in Seattle and some other cities.
I just heard a test dispatch on talk group 48464 and it sounded very good. Much better than the Seattle system. Like all things electronic, constant improvements are being made.

When I first heard an automated Seattle dispatch I was disappointed because it sounded so robotic (to borrow Joe's term). The test I heard today is much improved and sounds nearly completely natural, except for some very short pauses.

Having given it considerable thought, I think it is a good advancement. The Locution company touts the savings in dispatch time, while others say it is done mainly for cost savings. My opinion is quite different and it is based on more than 50 years of monitoring radio transmissions, both professionally and as a hobby. So often, dispatchers pronounce words poorly and may speak too softly or too fast, etc., but the locution system leaves little doubt as to the information being given. Every word is pronounced exactly the same every time, at the same speed and volume.

 

[K7MRT]

Locution will go live in Clark County sometime after May 10th.

 

[n7lxi]

Interesting to note that there are some things that Locution does that the average radio listener doesn't pick up on.

For example, the locution house overhead speakers in each station are usually NOT fed by the radio. Instead, they sound immediately when the station is tripped. So, even if there is another call being dispatched on the radio, the house overhead will announce the call before it's heard on the radio. The radio dispatch message will go in the queue, and will transmit itself as soon as the previous message is finished. Which is why you may hear two or three dispatches for Seattle run one right after another on 4A, then on the Ops channel, you hear the apparatus responding before the locution is finished. Of course, the rip and run printers are also a tip off, as they start printing usually before the house overheads trip.
(The "zzzzzzz...zzzzzzzz...zzzzzzzzz" of the dot matrix printer is like an instant alarm clock.)

 

[DickH]

Interesting to note that there are some things that Locution does that the average radio listener doesn't pick up on. ...

When I first heard it (over the telephone from a friend's scanner) I thought it was terrible - too robotic. But as I mentioned in my previous post, now I think it is very good and the Clark county system sounds much less "robotic" than Seattle.

Since you have been hearing Locution for a while now, what is your opinion overall?

 

[n7lxi]

I hear Locution both on Seattle Fire and Norcom... and I like it. The standardized dispatch format is nice, the clear and precise speech is nice and the speed of the dispatch message, at least in Seattle, is nice. (I think the East side stuff is awfully fast.) Good system. I like it.

 

[K7MRT]

It lives!!

Locution is now up and running on LIVE CALLS in Clark County!! Dispatchers monitor the tap outs (TG 43248) but once the call is released to Locution, there is no stopping it. Corrections to any errors made on the automated tapout are corrected by the dispatcher via radio or on their MDC.

 

[n7lxi]

In Seattle, when the Locution System sends a call erronously, the dispatcher will often just key the mic over the top of the the canned message and tell the responding units to code green, then keep the mic keyed while the dispatch message drones on in the background...

 

[Rom-Rom]

It appears locution is now gone-- at least for the past few days. TAPOUT has been back to human dispatch, although they seem to be using the newer format still (e.g. using "Priority One" instead of "Delta Response" and they don't appear to sending pre-alerts like they often used to). I had noted a lot of frustration from the dispatchers and Fire/EMS responders with the computer generated dispatches. Whether they have the system down for re-tooling, or simply have stopped using it at alltogether, I guess we'll see.

73,

-Scott, KD7KIP

 

[K7MRT]

Retooling...Locution it seems, doesn't like multiple Zetron paging tones on the same call.