Acknowledging alarm-calls
Once an alarm is triggered by the Davicom, an Alarm-Call Sequence (ACS) is initiated. This ACS uses the Alarm-Call List (ACL) associated with that alarm, and it becomes the Davicom’s top priority to notify recipients according to their sequential order in the ACL. The Davicom will keep notifying recipients until the alarm is acknowledged (or until the ACS has been executed up to the number of times specified without anybody acknowledging the alarm). Refer to Section 1 of this article for more details.
Any user connected to the Davicom and in control of it at the time an alarm is generated will first get the alarm message and will be asked to acknowledge it. This situation might also occur if the user is able to connect and gain control in-between two alarm calls.
The Davicom will accept acknowledgement by any valid Davicom user, except for viewer-level users.
If they occur, multiple alarms will be grouped according to their ACL, and each group will require an independent acknowledgement. Groupings are presented in the MAJ1 to MAJ8, MIN1 to MIN8 order, not chronologically. But in each group, alarms are presented in a chronological order (most recent first).
Note: Unless the alarms must be sent faster, we recommend you set delays to a minimum of 30 seconds for both the alarm and return-to-normal signalling. This ensures glitches and short annoyance alarms are filtered out. It also ensures that you aren’t advised of a return-to-normal condition without having previously received an actual alarm.
Section 2 below explains the consequences for a Davicom user when acknowledging an ACS. Section 3 describes the procedure to acknowledge alarms using DavLink. Section 4 describes the procedure to acknowledge alarms using a touch-tone telephone.
Understanding the acknowledgement of alarm-calls
Any Davicom user in control of a Davicom unit that generated alarms can acknowledge one or more ACSs, and that user has 30 seconds to decide whether to acknowledge an ACS before being disconnected by the Davicom. When an ACS is acknowledged, the ACS is instantly terminated. By acknowledging one or more ACS’s a user must be aware that he is taking responsibility for the Alarm(s) that were generated by the Davicom.
Acknowledging using DavLink
DavLink allow users to acknowledge alarms generated by a Davicom unit. The procedure is slightly different for Major and Minor alarms.
Major alarm acknowledgement
Events related to Major Alarms are grouped by ACS according to their ACL. Each ACS related to a MAJx ACL is acknowledged in the MAJ1 to MAJ8 order using an Alarm-call Sequence Acknowledge (ASA) command. Image below shows a typical Major Alarm acknowledgement window.
Clicking Yes acknowledges and terminates that ACS. Clicking No instantly disconnects you from the Davicom so that the unit can try to reach other recipients. If you do not take any action, the Davicom will automatically disconnect you after 30 seconds and call the next recipient.
Number (#) – This is a simple line number, #1 being the most recent event.
Note: Only the 10 most recent events are displayed. The ASA command acknowledges all events related to the ACS, including those not shown.
Date-Time – The date (yyyy-mm-dd) followed by the time (hh:mm:ss) at which the event occurred. Note that the date and time displayed are those configured in the Davicom unit. The time takes into account any Delay Before Action that might have been configured.
ID – Input that caused the event, displayed in the xZyyy format.
Note: Only the inputs with the Signalling On Alarm box checked will be displayed upon alarm.
Event – Since each ACS has its own acknowledgement window, you will either see the ACL related to the ACS, or NORMAL indicating a Return to Normal.
Description – Depending on your language selection, the long Unicode or short ASCII description for the input that generated the alarm will be displayed. For inputs with different descriptions for the active (alarm) and inactive (normal) state, the description related to the event will be displayed. Refer to Section 1.6 of this article for more details.
Level – The value of the input. This value represents the first Davicom reading once a limit is reached, not the current, maximal or any other value.
If you configured inputs with the Signalling On Return to Normal, you will also have to acknowledge Return to Normal messages related to major alarms. The Return to Normal messages for a specific MAJx ACS might be combined with alarms also related to that ACS, or might appear in a separate window. Return to Normal after major alarms are acknowledged exactly the same way as for Major Alarms.
Minor alarm acknowledgement
Once all Major Alarms, and their Returns to Normal (if applicable), have been acknowledged, DavLink will display Minor Alarm acknowledgement windows in the MIN1 to MIN8 order.
Each ACS related to a MINx ACL is acknowledged using an OK confirmation command. Clicking OK acknowledges and terminates that ACS. If you do not take any action, the Davicom will automatically disconnect you after 30 seconds and call the next recipient. Refer to Section 3.1 above for a complete description of the fields.
If you configured inputs with the Signalling On Return to Normal, you will also have to acknowledge Return to Normal messages related to minor alarms. The Return to Normal messages for a specific MINx ACS might be combined with alarms also related to that ACS, or might appear in a separate window. Return to Normal after minor alarms are acknowledged exactly the same way as for Minor Alarms.
Acknowledging using a touch-tone telephone
Davicom units allow users to acknowledge alarms using a touch-tone telephone.
Tip: When multiple alarms occur, the Davicom vocal message can be rather long (up to 10 events). Pressing the star (✱) key one or more times will stop the message (as soon as the tone is heard within the small interval between two spoken words). Some telephones provide a constant tone sound. In such a case, you can keep the star (✱) key pressed until the message stops. This allows you to quickly acknowledge without having to hear the entire message.
Important: You must wait for the Davicom voice response system to complete its sentence before entering your touch-tone commands. Any touch-tone command entered while the Davicom is speaking will not be considered.
The procedure is slightly different for Major and Minor alarms.
Major alarm acknowledgement
Vocal messages related to Major Alarms are grouped by ACS according to their ACL, in the MAJ1 to MAJ8 order. When a Davicom unit calls a recipient of a MAJx ACL to report a major alarm, the Davicom voice response system will say for example: “Major Alarm One, Digital Input Zero Six, Please enter ASA command” and will wait 6 seconds for an acknowledgement.
Each ACS related to a MAJx ACL is acknowledged using an Alarm-call Sequence Acknowledge (ASA) command. Pressing 272# (representing the letters A S A on the telephone keypad) acknowledges and terminates that ACS. Pressing 99# will disconnect you from the Davicom unit, allowing the Davicom unit to try to reach other recipients. Refer to this article for the complete list of touch-tone commands.
If you configured inputs with the Signalling On Return to Normal, you will also have to acknowledge Return to Normal messages related to major alarms. The Return to Normal messages (for example “Normal Status, Digital Input Zero Six, Please enter ASA command”) for a specific MAJx ACS might be combined with alarms also related to that ACS, or might be mentioned in a separate message. Return to Normal after major alarms are acknowledged exactly the same way as for Major Alarms.
If you do not take any action during the 6-second delay following a message, the Davicom voice response system will repeat the same message a second time and will wait another 6 seconds for an acknowledgement. Finally, the Davicom voice response system will repeat the same message a third time and will wait 6 seconds before disconnecting you in order to call the next recipient.
Minor alarm acknowledgement
Once all Major Alarms, and their Return to Normal (if applicable), have been acknowledged, the Davicom voice response system will mention Minor Alarms in the MIN1 to MIN8 order. When a Davicom unit calls a recipient of a MINx ACL to report a minor alarm, the Davicom voice response system will say for example: “Minor Alarm One, Analog Input Zero Three, Press one and pound key to confirm, or star and pound key to abort” and will wait 6 seconds for an acknowledgement.
Each ACS related to a MINx ACL is acknowledged using a confirmation command. Pressing 1# acknowledges and terminates that ACS. Pressing ✱# will disconnect you from the Davicom unit, allowing the Davicom unit to reach other recipients. Refer to this article for the complete list of touch-tone commands.
If you configured inputs with the Signalling On Return to Normal, you will also have to acknowledge Return to Normal messages related to minor alarms. The Return to Normal messages (for example “Normal Status, Analog Input Zero Three, Press one and pound key to confirm, or star and pound key to abort”) for a specific MINx ACS might be combined with alarms also related to that ACS, or might be mentioned in a separate message. Return to Normal after minor alarms are acknowledged exactly the same way as for Minor Alarms.
If you do not take any action during the 6-second delay following a message, the Davicom voice response system will repeat the same message a second time and will wait another 6 seconds for an acknowledgement. Finally, the Davicom voice response system will repeat the same message a third time and will wait 6 seconds before disconnecting you in order to call the next recipient.
