Topics in this article include:
- Console Usage
- Mobile App
- Policies
- External Inputs
- Unregistering
- Helpful Links
- Contact Support or Sales
Console Usage
Enable Audio Listening and Recording
After registering the audio gateway the first action to take within the console is to enable audio listening and recording.
1. Navigate to "Settings" -> "Account."
2. From there you will want to scroll down to "Preferences" and toggle the "Allow Audio Listening & Recording."
Assign Enterprise License
To allow the Audio Gateway to record audio and utilize cloud archiving, you need to enable the Audio Gateway Enterprise license for the applicable device(s).
1. Navigate to the "Settings" and click on the "Manage Features" button under the "1. Licenses & Features" section.
2. From there you will see the "Audio Gateways" tab in the upper left next to "Cameras."
3. Once here, you need to apply the Enterprise license to the desired device(s) by clicking the blue "Manage" button in the "Enterprise" area of the "License Summary" section. Once selected, hit "Assign."
4. After that, click the "Manage" button on the far right of the device you just added a license to.
5. When the modal pops up, toggle the "Audio AI Analytics" and "Included Cloud Archiving" (or any additional cloud archiving) buttons and hit "Save.
Note: If you do not see Enterprise licenses in your account, please contact your Rhombus sales representative or our support team (support@rhombus.com).
Timeline
On the device's page, you can listen to the audio capture synced with the assigned camera footage. You can dive into audio events at the bottom of the footage by clicking on the seek points in the timeline (below in teal and red).
Device Settings & Details
At the bottom of the device's page, within the "Settings & Details" section, you have many options to edit and adjust the device.
1. As boxed in pink below, you can edit the Audio Gateways's name.
2. As boxed in green below, you can change the address assigned to the device or refine its placement on the map.
3. As boxed in brown below, you can assign a policy to the device. If it has already been assigned a policy, you will be given the option to update it.
4. As boxed in black below, you can unregister the device and remove it from your console.
5. Lastly, as boxed in blue below, you can update the license, feature, and storage assignment for the device.
Changing Audio Settings
Clicking on the "Audio Controls" button within the device player view (below) will bring up the audio settings that you can adjust.
Note: If you are using external hardware (i.e., TOA horns, separate microphones, etc.), you will want to set your mic and/or speaker sources to "External" within this modal.
Acoustic Echo Cancelling (AEC)
AEC is a filter based on an adaptive algorithm that changes this filter to model the acoustic path. The filter's output is then removed from the acoustic path signal to create a “clean” signal output. Any echoes in the calling environment are released.
Note: AEC only works with internal mic and speaker.
Noise Suppression
Noise Suppression removes as much noise as possible while causing minimum distortion to the speech of interest. Works best with a single foreground human speaker.
Audio Equalizer
After clicking the 'Show Audio Equalizer' button, you will be able to adjust the low shelf, three separate peaking levels, and the high shelf. All of these can be changed from +15db to -15db.
Note: We recommend making these adjustments while listening in to get immediate feedback regarding the impact of your selections.
- "Low Shelf" frequencies typically refer to the range of frequencies below a certain point that is boosted or cut using a low-shelf EQ filter. Examples of this could be reducing the booming of a room by cutting frequencies below 150 Hz or adding more sound to a person's voice by boosting frequencies below 120 Hz. Low Shelf: center freq 150 Hz
- The three "Peaking" filters allow all frequencies through and add a boost (or attenuation) to a range of frequencies. The first has 2000 Hz as the center frequency, with the other two at 4000 Hz and 8000 Hz as their respective center frequencies. Peaking (1): center freq 2000 Hz, Peaking (2): center freq 4000 Hz, Peaking (3): center freq 8000 Hz
- "High Shelf" frequencies typically refer to the range of frequencies above a certain point that is boosted or cut using a high-shelf EQ filter. Examples of reducing the hiss and noise in a recording are by cutting frequencies above 16 kHz. High Shelf: center freq 16000 Hz
Changing Assigned Cameras
In the upper right corner of the player view, select the drop-down next to "Assigned Cameras."
From here, you can select what cameras you want to associate the device with. This will allow the footage for the selected devices to be showcased on the Audio Gateway's device page and will allow for the Audio Gateway sound to be heard on the corresponding cameras' device pages.
Listening in to the Device
Selecting the audio button (below in pink) will allow you to adjust the device's listening volume. Clicking on the speaker icon will automatically turn the volume off or to full, and dragging the blue dot will allow you to select a middle volume. Make sure your machine's volume is up before trying to listen in!
Speaking Through the Device
Selecting the microphone button (below in pink) will allow you to speak through the device. Click and hold this button to then talk through it. Ensure the internal speaker volume is up so people around the Audio Gateway can hear what is said.
Note: In order to speak through the device you will need to be in "Live Realtime" and not "Live Buffered."
Playing Audio Through the Device
Selecting the "Play Audio" button will open a drop-down menu of audio files that you can choose from. On the left side of the audio file's name, you will see a play button. Once that play button is selected, the device will play the content of the audio file.
Mobile App
To navigate the audio gateway, select the gateway from the devices tab (far left icon) and choose the gateway of interest. Below is a demonstrative GIF of this process:
Below is the main screen of an audio gateway. Here you can enable the ability to listen to the gateway on your mobile device by toggling the "Playing/Muted" button on the top left below the name of the device. Additionally, you can speak through the gateway by pressing and holding the "Press and Hold to Talk" button, similar to a walkie-talkie. You can also assign the gateway to a different camera and listen to the audio events captured by the gateway by tapping on seek points in the timeline.
Policies
To create a policy for the A100, navigate to Settings -> Policies -> Audio Gateway device tab. For more information on policy creation, please see our related article hyperlinked here.
Loud Sound
You can create loudness policies (below) to be alerted when the Audio Gateway detects a high audio level.
Tamper Alerts
The A100 is equipped with an onboard accelerometer, so you can set up alerts if it is ever hit or tampered with.
Glass Break (Beta), Smoke Alarm (Beta), Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Beta)
With our A100, you can create Glass Break, Smoke Alarm, and Carbon Monoxide Alarm alerts whenever the device hears an associated noise. We recommend that the A100 be facing or sideways and pointed to the glass window or corresponding alarm areas, and we recommend that the distance between 6-20ft be the most accurate.
Note: This feature is in beta mode. Please contact Rhombus support at support@rhombus.com if you receive any false positives during your experience.
To assign the policy to an Audio Gateway, click on the "Assigned Sensors" tab to the right of the "Audio Gateway Alert Settings" seen in the screenshot below. Once there, you can add a device by clicking the "Add Device" button and then selecting the device you want to add the policy to.
Note: LUFS are units of audio loudness. The acronym stands for Loudness Units Full Scale. It is a standard way of measuring audio that blends the perceived loudness from human hearing and the intensity of an audio signal.
External Inputs
Below are the connection points for the A100. Connections include:
- External Speaker Input
- External Microphone Input
- PoE Input
Unregistering
To unregister an Audio Gateway, navigate to the Audio Gateway's device page (Devices->Audio Gateways->one of interest), and click the "Unregister" button on the bottom in the "Unregister Gateway" section.
Next, follow the prompts, type "DELETE" in the text box, and then click the "Unregister" button.
Helpful Links
- Creating and Assigning Alert Policies
- A100 Audio Gateway Setup
- Broadcast with A100
- Audio File Management
- Features
Contact Support or Sales
Have more questions? Contact Rhombus Support at +1 (877) 746-6797 option 2 or support@rhombus.com.
Interested in learning more? Contact Rhombus Sales at +1 (877) 746-6797 option 1 or sales@rhombus.com.
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