1. SmartPTT Sound System Settings
Hello, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Anton, and I will lead today’s webinar about sound settings of SmartPTT software.

2. SmartPTT – Integrated MOTOTRBO™ Solution
SmartPTT BASIC
local systems
SmartPTT ENTERPRISE
distributed systems
Standard features
Radio dispatch
GPS tracking
Event and
voice logging
Data transmission and storage
SmartPTT comes in two variants.
SmartPTT Basic is a solution for small local radio networks, where control station is used to dispatch the system.
SmartPTT Enterprise allows dispatch and control over complex Motorola MOTOTRBO networks, such as IPSC, CAP+, LCP, CON+. Dispatcher software gives opportunity to control and log the flow of data and voice in radio network, request location of subscribers, and monitor the state of repeaters.
SmartPTT connects to MOTOTRBO networks directly via IP, including Cap+ and LCP over NAI for both voice and data transmission. Cap+ networks can also be monitored and logged via IP connection without NAI but in this case to have ability to send data into network and make calls, control stations are needed.
Also SmartPTT gives a set of software tools, such as Web Client and FileTransfer software, which increase radionetwork usability and functionality.
SmartPTT has functionality that allows it to connect to PBX and give subscribers the ability to use PBX interconnection from radio network as well.
Optional features
Monitoring
Telephone interconnect
IP repeater connection
Web client
Radio network bridging service
Simulcast support

3. Contents Technical requirements for sound system
Supported equipment – Motorola accessories, Imtradex, Tipro
Dispatcher workspace organization
Advanced audio output settings
Real-time sound settings
Recording sound settings
Sound panel – channel sound control, group muting, smart mute, selected subscriber sound control
Main issues with sound and how to resolve them
Today’s webinar will go as following:
First part will give some information about hardware requirements and recommendations.
Further, I will tell how to organize dispatcher workspace, and how to configure the sound system up to your needs.
Finally, I will tell about main issue sources and ways to resolve them.

4. Technical Requirements for Sound System
Sound board with microphone and speaker lines for Dispatcher application
Sound board with microphone and speaker lines for control station connection
Each control station needs a separate channel
Up to 8 control stations can be connected simultaneously to one radioserver via one 8-channel sound board
Professional dispatch microphones with noise filtering are preferred. Studio recording music microphones are not acceptable for dispatch.
To use sound options, end user must have a sound board installed on dispatcher PC, and at least one sound channel per control station connected to the radioserver.
Please note, that for most sound cards two same cards in one PC are not going to work properly.
SmartPTT supports independent access for left and right channels of stereo device, that gives ability to connect 2 control stations to PC even with standard stereo microphone input and speakers output. Also it means that any stereo input/output on any sound card could be used for two control stations
SmartPTT supports ASIO drivers for sound cards as well.
It’s recommended to use professional microphones with noise cancelation. Musical (studio) microphones are not acceptable for dispatch, as they try to pick up as much noise as possible. Microphones adjusted for voice recognition work good for dispatching as well.

5. Supported Equipment MOTOTRBO accessories Imtradex equipment
Tipro equipment
Any DirectInput microphones or
headsets with PTT buttons
SmartPTT has an integrated support for Motorola accessories, equipment from Imtradex and Tipro.
Tipro equipment can be used without a console, as a standalone device.
Virtually any device that supports DirectInput can be used as external hot key and PTT.

6. Recommended Equipment
Sound boards
Delta 10/10LT multichannel sound board (8 channels, dicontinued)
MAYA 44 xte PCI multichannel sound board (4 channels)
ICON Digital Cube Pro USB Audio Interface (4 channels)
PCI v2.1 Asus Xonar DS 7.1 (2 channels)
Microphones
Imtradex TM3 Microphone
Buddy DesktopMic 7G
Here is a list of equipment tested with SmartPTT.
Please note, that Delta 10/10LT sound board is discontinued, however it is still available in some shops.
To connect a set of control stations to radioserver you will need a multichannel soundboard installed in radioserver PC.
It is not possible to use two similar soundboards simultaneously.

7. Dispatcher Workspace Organization
Next slides will describe common problems with organizing dispatcher’s workplace.
Here you can see incorrect dispatcher workplace organization.
Dispatcher is not speaking to the microphone, instead, his microphone is beside him, and his voice is not directed to the microphone.
However, sound from speaker is going right into the microphone, causing only echo to be heard by radio users when dispatcher is trying to say something.

8. Dispatcher Workspace Organization
Here is an example of correct organization.
Speakers are moved towards dispatcher, and are not heard by microphone anymore.
Dispatcher is speaking directly into microphone.
Sound from speakers can still be heard behind the dispatcher’s voice, however dispatcher will be heard incomparably better.

9. Dispatcher Workspace Organization
In case if workspace cannot be organized in the way which will exclude echo, it is recommended to use a headset.
We could suggest to use wireless headsets for dispatchers if they don’t want to deal with wires.
Commonly wireless headsets are using BlueTooth technology. It will cause slight degradation of sound quality, however it is possible to find professional level wireless headsets, which use a set of radio channels to transmit sound.

10. Dispatcher Workspace Organization
In case of multi-dispatcher environment, some additional restrictions must be taken into account.
Situation when speakers of one dispatcher are heard by another dispatcher’s microphone must be avoided in all possible ways.
Dispatchers should not sit back-to-back. The best option is side by side with some free space between them.
Dispatchers sitting face-to face across their tables is also an option.

11. Advanced Audio Output Settings
SmartPTT will allow user to select different sound output devices to be used for different sound sources within radio network.
It means for example that sound from one group can go through left speaker when sound from other group goes through the right one.
Using the Add button you can create a list of presets to be used as output devices.
After that you can specify which sound source will use which sound preset.
“Inherited” means it will use the settings as specified for parent device.

12. Real-time Sound Settings
When setting up the dispatcher, you will need to setup the sound devices to be used for sound interface.
Also, you can select which codec to use for voice transfer over IP connection between radioserver and dispatcher.
It will affect overall quality of sound transmitted both ways.
Each codec is different in quality and bandwidth usage. If your network will not allow you to transmit all needed voice information, it may become corrupted, delayed or broken.
If your bandwidth is limited, you may decide to use lower quality codec, which will allow you to use less bandwidth.
When selecting the codec you will be able to see a bandwidth that is going to be used by this codec in brackets near the quality settings.
If you are experiencing issues with sound quality due to low bandwidth, try to use lower requirements codec.

13. Recording Sound Settings
All voice calls can be recorded and stored in MP3 format on the HDD.
Recording quality settings allow you to decide how much bandwidth you are going to use for voice storage per second.
It is possible to change volume of recording for dispatcher voice. If you think that dispatcher is too quiet on recordings, just increase the level for outgoing calls.
If you are going to move the audio storage somewhere (including network storages) you can specify the path to previous records in the list at the bottom. It will allow dispatcher to use click-and-play feature from event log even when records are actually stored in a separate folders.
Also, you can specify truncation parameters, to automatically delete records that are older than specified age. It will allow you to keep audio records in some specific size limits.

14. Sound Panel
The Sound panel is a specific view within SmartPTT interface, made specifically to simplify sound control in the system.
You can mute and unmute channels here with one click.
You can mute groups on specific channels as well.
It is also possible to set different volume levels for different channels.

15. Sound Panel
There is an option to increase a sound level for selected subscriber.
In this specific case If two subscribers – Chris and Boris make a call simultaneously, dispatcher will hear both of them.
As long as Boris is selected in subscriber tree, Sound from Boris will be enhanced, and played twice as loud as sound from Chris.
Dispatcher can use selection to listen for specific calls when there is more than one.

16. Sound Issues
Disable Echo cancellation and Noise suppression features of your sound board.
Following slides are describing common sources of sound issues.
First two possible sources are Noise suppression and Echo cancellation options.
Sometimes usage of this options leads to decrement of signal-to-noise ratio, making sound unrecognizable, corrupting the quality.
If you experience problems with sound quality, check if these options are disabled.

17. Sound Issues Next issue source is Microphone overload.
It might be caused by Mic Boost enabled or too high gain value from microphone.
It is not recommended to use microphone boost I any case, because it is making microphone catch more noise than always, causing the sound to clip and corrupt.
If you hear dispatcher with some buzzing noises over specific letters in speech, or sound from dispatcher is getting better when dispatcher is not speaking directly to microphone, decrease microphone gain.

18. Sound Issues Make sure hardware is working properly
If you cannot hear anything on dispatcher, or radio subscribers cannot hear dispatcher, check if equipment you use is working properly.
Stop SmartPTT, and check the speakers and microphone using embedded windows test system.
If the equipment is not working in Windows OS properly, there is no way for SmartPTT to use it correct way.

19. Sound Issues Check if all related software is OK
Some additional software can cause sound modification or corruption.
Please check if firewalls allow you to transfer sound data over specified network interfaces and ports. (18500 and are default ports for SmartPTT to use voice traffic)
Sometimes, outdated sound driver may cause sound corruption. Please check if you have latest drivers for your sound board installed.
There are some specific sound driver settings which can lead to sound issues. Please check that all special options for sound control are disabled (especially voice modification, pitch control and advanced software sound quality control options).

20. www. smartptt. com www. elcomplus. com info@smartptt. com support
support.smartptt.com
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