Speaker Configuration Options

Three different settings mention speakers or audio, and they do three different jobs. Choosing the wrong one is the most common reason talk-down does not work on a site.

Start here

Find the row that matches what you want to happen on site.

The three settings in detail

Audio on the camera

In Configuration, open the Sensors tab, edit the camera, and use the Audio toggle.

• What it is: A toggle that turns on two-way audio through the camera's own microphone and speaker. Nothing else is attached.
• Use it when: The camera has audio hardware and you want to talk to whoever is standing in front of it.
• You need: Nothing beyond the camera itself. No addresses, no credentials.
• Watch for: The toggle only has an effect if the camera model supports audio. If it does not, the control never appears in Video Viewer no matter how the toggle is set.

The screenshot below shows this: opening a camera's Edit Sensor form reveals a row of four toggles at the bottom — PTZ, Thermal, Audio, and 360. Switching Audio on here is the entire setup; there is no separate address or credential field to fill in.

Some camera models have more than one audio output. Where that is the case, Video Viewer adds a small picker so you can choose which output you speak through.

Speaker as a sensor

In Configuration, open the parent device under Devices, go to its Sensors tab, click Add New, and set the Type to speaker.

• What it is: A speaker that belongs to a device already in the system. It sits in the sensor list alongside that device's camera channels, because it reaches the network the same way they do.
• Use it when: The speaker is wired to, or reached through, a recorder, gateway or panel you have already added as a device.
• You need: The parent device added first. Then a name, location and zone, exactly as for a camera channel.
• Watch for: This is the same form you use to add cameras. The type you pick at the top is what makes it a speaker, so set that before filling anything else in.

Genesis Audio device

In Configuration, go to Devices, click Add New, and choose Genesis Audio as the device type.

• What it is: A network speaker added as a device in its own right, reached over SIP rather than through any camera or recorder.
• Use it when: The speaker stands alone on the network: a mast speaker, a horn, a PA speaker covering a yard or car park.
• You need: Just a name — GCXONE discovers the device and generates its SIP credentials (Username, Password, SIP Domain) for you. Open the device afterward to read them off and hand them to whoever configures the physical speaker. A Sip Server option on the same form lets you register a SIP address you already have instead of letting GCXONE discover one.
• Watch for: These speakers are not tied to one camera. Once added, they are available to operators across the site, which is the point of setting them up this way.

For steps on how to initiate an audio call, refer to Speaker and Audio Routing & Conference Mode.

What operators see in Video Viewer

The setting you chose determines which control appears over the video, and the two behave differently enough to be worth knowing before you train anyone.

• Camera audio gives a microphone button. The operator talks to that one camera and nothing else. If the camera has several audio outputs, they pick one first.
• Network speakers give a speaker button that opens a panel listing every speaker available on the site. The operator ticks one or several, then either talks live or plays a recorded message through all of them at once.

Recorded messages

Open Configuration, then the Audio tab — this holds the message library. Files uploaded there become available in the speaker panel in Video Viewer.

1. Open the Audio page and upload your audio file.
2. Give it a name operators will recognize under pressure, and assign its language.
3. Confirm it appears in the speaker panel on a camera at the site.

The library is held once per service provider, so every site underneath it draws on the same set of messages. Upload once, not per camera.

When something is not working

No audio control on a camera at all Check the Audio toggle on that camera first. If it is already on, the camera model does not support audio and no setting will change that. Add a separate speaker instead.

Speaker button appears, but the list is empty No speakers have been added for that site yet, or they were added under a different site. Check the device and sensor lists for the site the camera belongs to.

A colleague has the microphone button and you do not This is a permission, not a setting. Live audio and the message library are granted separately, and both are set per role. Ask your administrator to check your role rather than re-checking the camera.

Talking works, but recorded messages do not play The message library is empty for your service provider, or you do not have permission to view it. Confirm the file appears on the Audio page before testing again in Video Viewer.

At a glance

If a speaker is already on site but you cannot tell which of the three it should be, the question to ask the installer is simple: does it have its own network address, or does it plug into something else? That answer decides it.