Algo Visual Notification

Visual Notification

While audible alerting is more common for mass emergency notification systems, notifications and announcements can also be effectively delivered using visual notification devices, such as strobe lights or screen displays. Often used to complement a PA system reliant on audible alerting, visual notification provides users with an opportunity to reach a greater audience and can bring more awareness to alerts in situations where environments are noisy. With Algo IP Endpoints, voice paging and audible alerting can easily be paired with visual flashing lights, text, or a combination of visual cues for increased visibility and noticeability.

Algo has a variety of visual notification solutions to increase awareness in different settings, including manufacturing, healthcare, and education. Any of Algo’s visual notification devices will offer brightness and pattern settings, allowing lights to be used to display specific codes or symbols applied to them. Algo IP Endpoints are 3rd-party, SIP-compliant devices that seamlessly operate in most leading UC systems. Algo devices are also PoE-powered and multicast-capable.

Visual Alerters

Algo IP Visual Alerters are LED strobe lights that provide an additional means of communication to ensure notifications, voice paging, and alerts are effectively delivered to a broader audience. Visual alerting is typically delivered using strobe lights, often installed for flash and/or multi-color patterns. Several Algo devices have embedded strobe lights; however, where required separately, Algo IP Visual Alerters can be installed to bring customized alerting functionality to any location and for any situation.

Visual alerters are particularly effective in environments that are noisy, rendering audible communication difficult to notice on its own. They are also deployed in soundless environments where silent communication may be required.

In noisy or loud environments, such as a garage, manufacturing facility, or warehouse, visual alerting tools and relied upon to ensure safety messages are communicated. The flashing of a visual alerter can easily bring attention to workers that a voice page is being played or that a call is coming in.

Algo’s IP Visual Alerters include:

• 8128 IP Visual Alerter – a single-color strobe light with customizable flash patterns
• 8138 IP Color Visual Alerter – a four-color strobe light that could flash in a solid color or with a combination of the available colors (red, green, blue, amber)

Visual Displays

Algo IP Visual Displays are SIP-compliant endpoints for visual alerting and notification. IP displays are high-visibility notification devices that deliver visual information in large environments. Algo IP displays can meet the needs of a variety of solutions and come in several variations that may include embedded speakers, LED flashers, and clock faces.

Algo IP Display Speakers typically comprise three core components – a 15.6″ LCD screen, high-intelligibility speakers, and high-visibility LED flashers. Together, these elements create a highly flexible and effective visual and audible communication tool. The combined functionality of the screen, speakers, and flashers enables the device to deliver effective communication in several formats, including informational, emergency, and notification.

Algo’s Display Speakers include:

• 8410 IP Display Speaker – a single-sided display speaker that can be wall-mounted and is ideal for classrooms
• 8420 IP Dual-Sided Display Speaker – a two-sided display speaker that can be wall- or ceiling-mounted and is ideal for hallways and large, open spaces

Visual Notification Applications

Emergency Notification

Different flashes and color patterns can alert an audience to various incidents in the workplace. Depending on the pattern, workers can be made aware of any kind of incident, from lockdown, medical emergency, or evacuation, and allow them to react appropriately.

Ring Detection

Audible alerting can be paired with visual alerting for attention-grabbing applications to effectively reach all audiences in almost any environment. The combination of Algo IP Speakers and Algo IP Visual Alerters can ensure that a telephone ring is noticed even if hearing protection is heard or ambient noise is extremely high.

IP Paging

Paired with visual alerters, audiences can be made aware a voice page is actively playing. Visual alerters can also notify an audience in advance when a voice page is about to be played and can give them a few moments to turn off heavy machinery or relocate to another area in order to hear the page.

With visual displays, messages can be displayed in a variety of formats in addition to being played over audio. The LCD screen in the display speakers is fully customizable and can allow for images, scrolling text, or written messages to be displayed.

Visual Notification by Vertical

Education

In education, visual alerters can be installed in classrooms or common areas and can be used to provide guidance on emergency exits during critical events. Displays are often deployed in classrooms or common rooms to ensure that building occupants are kept up to date on school events, be shown the local time, receive important weather or safety alerts, or be made aware of day-to-day announcements.

Manufacturing

Visual alerters are often installed to assist with loud ringing or inform when a page or alert is being played. They can also be used to alert when heavy machinery is in use. IP displays can alert workers of events through the flashers or the LCD can display important information regarding emergency announcements, such as “proceed with caution” or “machine in use”.

Healthcare

A common communication requirement in a hospital is code call. Using the color visual alerter or the flashers from the IP displays, codes can be delivered easily and effectively as soundless notification devices or paired with audio where required. Relevant information can be shared on displays, including where to find certain wings or updates on vaccines.

Multicasting an Emergency Alert

Visual alerting can easily be scaled across any size building with multicast. Any Algo IP Visual Alerter can be activated via multicast or can be preprogrammed to be either a multicast sender or receiver. Specific flash or color patterns can be configured to play upon receiving a multicast broadcast. Visual Displays are typically set up as multicast receivers and are often preconfigured with specific screens for multicast notifications and alerts. As with any Algo device, visual alerters and visual displays can be set up by zones.

With multicast, a call can be made to initiate an emergency alert extension which simultaneously launches a multicast to any number of Algo IP endpoints, such as speakers, visual alerters, and paging adapters, as well as to multicast-supported IP telephones.

Multicast-configured receivers require no SIP registration.

Monitor and Manage Your Visual Notification Devices

When deploying Algo IP endpoints for emergency alerting, managing devices is as simple as logging into the web interface of each individual device. However, in large deployments where hundreds of devices are installed, organizations typically like a single pane view to manage devices. In such cases, using a tool to manage and monitor all devices in a single place is the preferred option for usability, simplicity, and time efficiency. Algo’s devices are designed to seamlessly integrate into both small- and large-scale environments and have the management tools and capability to operate easily in either.  

Algo has three solutions for device monitoring and management:   

• using the web UI for individual device monitoring,   
• using the 8300 IP Controller for on-premises device monitoring,
• and using the Algo Device Management Platform (ADMP) for cloud-based device monitoring from any location.