[EAS] Action Required by April 23 - TTS on DASDEC/OneNet

[Ed Czarnecki]

Thank you Gary for the timely reminder.  It seems unlikely that the FCC
would administratively be able to change the TTS prohibition in the short
term, whether or not they desire to overturn the decision.  For this reason,
it is important to look at your EAS and CAP EAS equipment to ensure that any
Text to Speech options are disabled by the time this prohibition comes into
effect as law on April 23rd, 2012.

For any users of the DASDEC from Digital Alert Systems, we have issued a
brief instruction on how to disable the text-to-speech feature on the
DASDEC.  This application note can be downloaded from the Digital Alert
Systems webpage (www.digitalalertsystems.com) or directly at
http://www.digitalalertsystems.com/pdf/apndas-0128.pdf . 

Disabling text to speech is a very simple action on the DASDEC.  Go to Setup
> Net Alerts > CAP Decode> uncheck the box labeled "CAP Text Message to
Speech when CAP alert audio not available".  Then click "Accept Changes."
TTS is now disabled.

For any users of the One-Net from Monroe Electronics (mainly in the cable
and IPTV industries), these same simple instructions apply.

If the FCC amends their prohibition on TTS in the future, then TTS can
simply be re-enabled by checking the "CAP Text to Message to Speech"

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Ed

Edward Czarnecki
Senior Director - Strategy, Development. & Regulatory Affairs 
Monroe Electronics, Inc. / Digital Alert Systems
www.monroe-electronics.com
www.digitalalertsystems.com

-----Original Message-----
From: eas-bounces at radiolists.net [mailto:eas-bounces at radiolists.net] On
Behalf Of Gary Timm

Broadcasters and Cable Operators,
As regular readers of this list are no doubt aware, the FCC has prohibited
the use of text-to-speech (TTS) technology in CAP/EAS units at broadcast and
cable facilities.  Be mindful that this ban takes effect on April 23, the
date that the EAS 5th Report and Order becomes law, not the later June 30th
date when CAP/EAS equipment becomes mandatory.  You must take action to
disable the TTS feature in your CAP/EAS unit by April 23 in order to stay
legal with FCC rules.  For those heading to the NAB Convention next week,
you may want to address this issue sooner rather than later.  For more
details on this story, please see my AWARE post:
http://www.awareforum.org/2012/04/broadcasters-must-turn-off-text-to-speech/
 
Gary Timm
WI SECC

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