A WIRELESS DIGITAL PUBLIC ADDRESS WITH VOICE ALARM AND TEXT-TO-SPEECH FEATURE FOR DIFFERENT CAMPUSES

56
A WIRELESS DIGITAL PUBLIC ADDRESS WITH VOICE ALARM AND
TEXT-TO-SPEECH FEATURE FOR DIFFERENT CAMPUSES
*
Mark John P. Lado
Paper Received: 06.04.2021 / Paper Accepted: 27.04.2021 / Paper Published: 28.04.2021
Corresponding Author: Mark John P. Lado; Email: markjohnplado@gmail.com; doi:10.46360/globus.mgt.120211009
Introduction
A public address system (PA system) is an
electronic system comprising microphones,
amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment [8].
Presently, digital PA systems have been broadly
adapted in numerous places, such as sports arenas,
public transportation vehicles, offices, shopping
lobbies, campuses, manufacturing plants, air
terminals, and intelligent buildings.
The existing PA systems of the two campuses of
Colegio de San Antonio de Padua (CSAP) are not
linked together. Each campus has an independent
or standalone PA system. Thus, when there is a
need of disseminating a public address, it consumes
much time and effort to relay the concerned
information. For the aforementioned reasons, this
study aimed to develop a wireless communication
prototype tool that addresses the gap of the current
condition of the broadcasting system of CSAP and
also that will help the school community to
disperse a message from the main campus to the
satellite campus simultaneously using wireless
technology.
In other words, this study aimed to develop a
wireless digital public address with voice alarm and
text to speech feature that is capable to transmit and
receive radio signals over a long distance. It will
ensure to amplify in a wide range of audience with
the consistency and accuracy in terms of the tone,
pronunciation, diction with the help of the TTS
feature. This study also aimed to develop a
prototype that has control software that can able to
set the date and time of the pre-recorded messages
for loop broadcasting and also recognize inputted
text and convert it into speech. The additional
feature for the proposed prototype is that the
control software has a sentence fragment checker
for grammar corrections to ensure the quality of
service. This study also determined the
applicability, usability, and efficiency of the system
in terms of its function and purpose.
In addition, emergency broadcasting is also the
major considered functionality for modern digital
PA systems [4]. With that point of view, by the
help of this proposed prototype, many lives will be
saved from any form of shortcomings and
catastrophic circumstances wherein the pre-
recorded messages will be dispersed to guide on
Globus An International Journal of Management & IT
A Refereed Research Journal
Vol 12 / No 2 / Jan-Jun 2021 ISSN: 0975-721X
*Northern Negros State College of Science and Technology, Sagay City, Philippines.
Abstract
Adaption of the new technology is a prerequisite
for the business's survival and to meet the
quality standard. The public address system is
widely used in all areas of living; it helps the
host speaker to easily disperse the desired
messages. This study aimed to develop a
wireless digital broadcasting with voice alarm
and text-to-speech (TTS) feature that can
wirelessly transmit audio signals from the main
campus to its satellite campus over long
distances. Also, the prototype has a TTS feature
that can offer high-quality and stable speech.
The main campus is the Colegio de San Antonio
de Padua (CSAP) located at Guinsay, Danao
City Cebu, Philippines with a satellite campus at
Brangay Suba, Danao City, with a distance of
not less than four kilometers and not greater than
five kilometers from the main campus. The
researcher used the descriptive developmental
method of research as the systematic study of
designing, developing, and evaluating programs
that must meet the criteria of internal
consistency and effectiveness. The rapid
prototyping model was used during the system
development while the criteria in McCall’s
Factor Model were used to test the system
according to its usability, applicability, and
efficiency.
Keywords: Public Address System, Wireless,
Text-to-speech, Digital Broadcasting, Audio
Signals, CSAP.

57
safety protocols or the safety measures that need to
be executed. Moreover, it will be easier to
determine in classifying the type of emergency
arising rather than hearing a siren inside the
campus. Especially nowadays, everything has been
so blurry and unpredictable in terms of catastrophic
and Acts of God's circumstances. So, we must be
properly guided through a solidified protocols and
rules which this proposed prototype can be a great
help.
Materials and Methods
System Design
This study used the Rapid Application
Development (RAD) of System Development to
accomplish the desired objectives.
Figure 1: Rapid Application Development
Figure 1 showed the RAD, it is an iterative
software development methodology aimed at
improving the analysis, design, and development of
proposed systems until a satisfactory prototype is
finally achieved. With rapid application
development, developers can make multiple
iterations and updates to software rapidly without
needing to start a development schedule from
scratch each time.
Define the Requirements
The researcher collected the needed data about the
existing problem through an interview. The
researcher also determined the technical
requirements to be used in implementing and
designing the prototype.
Prototype
The design architecture of the proposed wireless
digital PA system with voice alarm and TTS
features for different campuses are shown in
Figures 2 and 3. The basic architecture of the
proposed wireless digital PA system consists of a
microphone, PA controller, loudspeaker, long-
range audio transceiver, and dedicated control
software. The hardware is adapted with the existing
tools like the microphone, audio amplifier,
loudspeaker, and transceiver while the dedicated
control software is developed to its purpose to meet
the requirements. Figure 2 showed the proposed
diagram of the CSAP main campus, it uses a
dynamic microphone as an input device, an audio
amplifier with dedicated control software that acts
as a PA controller, a loudspeaker that will act as an
output device, and a long-range audio transmitter to
send radio signals to the CSAP satellite campus.
Figure 2: CSAP Main Campus
Figure 3: CSAP Satellite Campus
The diagram of the CSAP satellite campus is
shown in Figure 3, it has a long-range receiver to
obtain the radio signals coming from the CSAP
main campus, it also uses an audio amplifier to
amplify the audio signals coming from the CSAP
main campus, and also has a loudspeaker that will
act as an output device. Moreover, the architecture
of the CSAP satellite campus can operate without
embedding a control software.
The developed dedicated control software is user-
friendly which is shown in Figures 4 and 5. The
TTS broadcasting function supports male and
female speaker selection and has sentence

58
fragments to check the grammar of the inputted
text to ensure the quality of service.
Figure 4: Main Execution Screen
Figure 5: Settings Execution Screen
Figure 4 showed the main execution of the control
software with the TTS function. The user can
temporarily type text messages that can be
broadcasted immediately. Also, by selecting the
checkboxes the user can select from which zone the
messages will be delivered. In the main execution
screen, the emergency buttons are present and can
be manually enabled if in case of a catastrophe, but
it can also effectively integrate with existing
solutions such as access control, burglar system,
intercom, electrical power management,
environmental control system, and telephone
broadcasting.
Figure 5 showed the settings execution screen with
the TTS function. It provides the settings for daily
routine, and special events music broadcasting such
as festivals, exams, works, and other related
activities. Another features for the control software
is that the user can add pre-recorded messages
(mp3 and mp4 format), can directly type contents
on the text box, can select the speaker host like
male or female, can select play zone and pick the
desired time and date to activate loop broadcasting,
and once satisfied, the user can save the settings by
clicking the save button.
Prototype Evaluation
The developed prototype was tested by IT experts
for the functionality to see if the objectives are met.
The prototype was carefully examined, evaluated,
and tested for consistency and accuracy in terms of
the tone, pronunciation, diction, and sentence
fragments of the TTS feature, and the efficiency in
terms of sending radio signals to its satellite
campus. The developer then fixed the minor bugs
in the system to make sure that everything will
work and function according to its purpose.
Refinement
Based on the findings and result of the initial
testing of the prototype, the developer carefully
made some refinements of the PA control software
and another round of adjusting in the frequency
band of the long-range transceiver. All
recommendations from the IT experts and the
CSAP personnel who participated in the initial
testing were taken and applied to the final testing of
the prototype.
Respondents of the study
The respondents of the study are members of
CSAP Personnel.
Table 1: Summary of Respondents
CATEGORIES SAMPLE SIZE
CSAP Personnel 50
Total 50
Probability Sampling Methods
Table 1 showed the summary of respondents. The
researcher used simple random sampling, assigned
a number to every employee in the company
database, and used a random number generator to
select 50 numbers.
Results and Discussion
After the series of tests conducted and detailed
evaluation of the system, the results are as follows:
Table 2: Evaluation Result Given by The
Respondents
AREA GRAND
MEAN
VERBAL
INTERPRETATION
Usability 4.80 Very Good
Efficiency 4.87 Very Good
Applicability 4.90 Very Good
Five-Point Likert Scale: 4.21 – 5.00 Very Good,
3.41 – 4.20 Good, 2.61 – 3.40 Average, 1.81 – 2.60
Poor, 1.00 – 1.80 Very Poor.
Table 2 showed that the developed prototype is
efficient in sending real-time audio frequency to
the satellite campus; the respondents rated the
prototype with a grand mean of 4.87 interpreted as
very good. In terms of usability, the system got a
rating of 4.80 while the prototype applicability to

59
the CSAP was rated 4.90 also interpreted as very
good.
Prototypes Usability
The control software of the developed prototype is
user-friendly and easy to operate. The user can
easily navigate and set messages by typing and
converting it into a speech with the help of the TTS
feature and sentence fragments.
Prototypes Efficiency
The developed prototype is very efficient; it
simultaneously disperses a public address in all
campuses, provides high quality and stable
pronunciation with the help of the TTS feature, and
it also provides secure and accurate data
transmission into its satellite campuses.
Prototypes Applicability
The developed prototype is very applicable in
terms of the daily operation of the CSAP. It
provides accurate speech and real-time delivery on
the daily routine public addresses like hourly bell
alarm and other special events broadcasting. This
will be a great help to the CSAP community once
installed and utilized.
Table 3: Evaluation Result Given by The
Respondents
Criteria Mean Verbal
Interpretation
Correctness 4.73 Very Good
Reliability 4.74 Very Good
Efficiency 4.87 Very Good
Integrity 4.84 Very Good
Usability 4.80 Very Good
Maintainability 4.79 Very Good
Flexibility 4.87 Very Good
Testability 4.81 Very Good
Portability 4.86 Very Good
Reusability 4.95 Very Good
Interoperability 4.82 Very Good
Total Mean 4.83 Very Good
Table 3 showed the aftereffect of the system
evaluation utilizing the standards in McCall’s
Factor Model. This model classifies all software
requirements into 11 software quality factors. The
11 factors are grouped into three categories –
product operation, product revision, and product
transition factors. The previously mentioned
criteria determined the degree to which the
developed prototype and system conformed to the
norm regarding its interface, highlights,
characteristics, and control and instruments. The
general exhibition of the created prototype is
entirely astounding with a general rating of 4.83
which implies Very Good.
Conclusion and Future Scope
In this paper, the wireless digital public address
with voice alarm and text-to-speech features for
different campuses has been proposed. It is easy to
operate and has user-friendly features that can help
the CSAP personnel to easily operate the control
software. It supports a long-range transmission
using real hardware implementation like radio
frequency transceivers. The male and female voices
are provided for TTS broadcasting to achieve high
quality and stable voice broadcasting to the target
campuses. Also, the control software has a sentence
fragment checker for grammar corrections. This
system will help the school community to disperse
a message from the main campus to the satellite
campus simultaneously using wireless technology,
and it will also help lessen the time and effort to
relay the concerned information.
Further study may be conducted to improve the
system design and the functionalities of the
developed prototype and more languages of TTS
will be provided.
Conflicts of Interest
The author declares there are no significant
competing financial, professional, or personal
interests that might have influenced the
performance or presentation of the work described
in this manuscript.
Acknowledgement
Special thanks to Kristine T. Soberano, Anthony
Tristanouri P. Manipis, Mike Vincent F. Baccol,
and Jessa Perez for taking a big part in this research.
Also, to the Business Education and Information
System (BEIS) faculty of the CSAP community
who contributed and suggested this work.
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