Digital Alert Systems Upgrades DASDEC Software

Digital Alert Systems, a division of Monroe Electronics, will soon release a major software upgrade to the DASDEC platforms for advanced Emergency Alert System and Common Alerting Protocol messaging compliance.

The new software, version 3.0, features dozens of functional and operational improvements, including Alert Agent, an enhanced and powerful way to selectively process alert messages from a variety of sources to reduce compliance complexity. Version 3.0 will help ensure compliance with new FCC rules that become mandatory in July.

“Version 3.0 represents a major step forward for EAS/CAP compliance and management,” said Bill Robertson, VP of business development at Digital Alert Systems. “Our new Alert Agent and Alert Node tools provide the most powerful controls for customers to handle any conceivable EAS issue. Over the years, customers have brought us a wide range of different scenarios, and we’ve tested them all to create the ultimate solution, with a level of alert processing that is unmatched in the industry.”

Alert Agent streamlines the way alerts are set up and configured, eliminating an intricate series of menus in favor of a simple, easier-to-use interface. The tool consolidates many settings under simple Alert Nodes, which provide powerful controls for selective message-handling for each source, event, and originator — enabling more selectivity than basic incoming-alert filters to cover all possible alert scenarios.

An unlimited number of Alert Nodes define specific actions based on event parameters and use a simple visual stacking order. While other systems require a separate program to create and edit their filters, Alert Nodes are managed directly within the browser. Once configured, the system can be operated in a very familiar fashion. 

With Alert Agent, facilities can better manage and control actions of the EAS system, including how to react to very specific conditions. This specificity can significantly improve workflow by allowing certain alerts to forward automatically while holding others back for added scrutiny. For example, when monitoring the National Weather Service for important weather information, users can stipulate that a tornado warning should hit the air immediately rather than having to be sent to an operator for review or being delayed for playout. Meanwhile, different properties can be assigned to other alerts and executed in a user-defined order.

In addition to Alert Agent, version 3.0 supports Triveni Digital’s SkyScraper for data integration, while optional PureCAP and OmniLingual alert modules expand the system’s range of languages and capabilities. Among its many other new features, version 3.0 also has a new integrated lexicon editor that allows users with any premium text-to-speech voice module to directly edit the lexicon. Such users can listen to and adjust various words, sounds, and playback parameters — and even share the changes with other DASDEC users.

The version 3.0 software upgrade will be available in late April for $495 per unit.