Automated paging systems

[i]

Imagine you have a task that needs to be completed by someone at work by a certain time. Let's say it's first thing early in the morning.

It's a critical task that must not be allowed to fail. As a result, you need to make sure that the person scheduled to work that day and complete the task has arrived in good enough shape to do the job.

So what do you need?

Well, one thing you could try would be to mount a big, red, push-button switch on a computer, rigged to the serial port. The computer would be constantly monitoring this switch, and if the switch is not depressed by the specified time, it automatically pages someone.

Now, how would you implement such a system? What sort of software is out there to automatically page someone based on the occurrence (or non-occurrence) of a certain event?

 

[Fushigi]

Many operations automation systems have this kind of capability. I know of several for the iSeries/AS400, but I'm assuming you want such a system for Windows.

 

[Tea]

UPS software does this sort of thing. Worth looking at some to see if it also does other stuff, or can be hacked appropriately?

 

[Howell]

The paging part is easy once can get the computer to monitor the switch. There are many command line paging programs out there.

 

[Buck]

I was thinking of a combination of some CLI program or script along with contact software, such as ACT, Outlook, Goldmine, etc.

 

[Mercutio]

Well, here is a decent place to start.. Making a listener that monitors something on a serial port should be something that a EE type could probably whip up in about 20 minutes.

 

[Howell]

You could probably take a mouse apart pretty easily and get the computer to wait for some combination of the mouse buttons. Say, right and middle together. You could even get studier buttons and wire them in.

 

[i]

Thanks folks. I have the choice between setting something up under Windows XP or OpenBSD, so that software you found Mercutio will help a lot. I wish I understood better what sort of methods there are for getting a computer to signal a pager. There seem to be a few ... I guess I have some reading to do.

 

[Howell]

It would work just like a phone. The computer would have a modem in it and dial the pager number.

Alternatively, your paging company may have the ability to accept emails as text pages.

 

[i]

Alternatively, your paging company may have the ability to accept emails as text pages.

That would be a lot easier. Perhaps a little less reliable (as it would depend on e-mail service being responsive) though.

Text-messaging through my ridiculously cheap cell phone supports sending to/receiving from e-mail addresses, so I hope this is a fairly common option.

 

[Fushigi]

Text-messaging through my ridiculously cheap cell phone supports sending to/receiving from e-mail addresses, so I hope this is a fairly common option.

I do this through my Sprint account. I get an SMS for every email in my corporate in-box. I imagine you may be able to email the alert to your cel phone's email account and set up such an SMS alert rule. If your cel provider has that functionality it should be easy enough.

 

[i]

Text-messaging through my ridiculously cheap cell phone supports sending to/receiving from e-mail addresses, so I hope this is a fairly common option.

I do this through my Sprint account. I get an SMS for every email in my corporate in-box. I imagine you may be able to email the alert to your cel phone's email account and set up such an SMS alert rule. If your cel provider has that functionality it should be easy enough.

The problem there is that my cell phone emits 3 beeps after an e-mailed message has arrived, and then goes quiet. I need something I can configure to squawk annoyingly for ages and ages until someone does something about it. I guess I should have included that requirement initially, but I think that's more a function of the particular piece of hardware that will be receiving the page/message more than anything else.

This is at an unholy hour ... the solution has to have some chance at waking a "backup person" up.

 

[mubs]

I'm not writing this in jest. There are products for the hearing impaired. Eg. a vibrating alarm that goes off when the telephone rings. If you google for hearing impaired products, you might get an idea or two that you can adapt to your purpose.

 

[Howell]

This is at an unholy hour ... the solution has to have some chance at waking a "backup person" up.

In addition to mubs suggestion, how about setting the machine to page every minute until reset.

The solutions I am familiar with of is similar to what fushigi was talking about but a little different. With Nextel, You actually get the email complete with a small header.

 

[i]

Those are both good suggestions. If I opt for the "hammer away until somebody turns up" solution, even the cell phone route could become a viable option.

 

[mubs]

You'll get better hits googling for "vibrating alarm" (no jokes, please).

Check this thing out.

The Access-3 is an easy-to-use multi-purpose alerting device that lets you SEE, HEAR and *FEEL the alarm clock, telephone and even a knock at the door.

The Access-3 clock is a multipurpose alerting device.

It is an alarm clock with an adjustable volume (Loud to Off) and tone (High to Low). If you prefer a flashing alert, its built-in bright halogen reading lamp will flash to alert you. A 12 volt bed shaker (purchased separately and listed below) may be connected to the vibrator jack to shake you awake. This silent alarm is great for early risers and shift workers with sleeping partners, heavy sleepers and those with hearing difficulties.

Other alerting features include a RJ11 jack so the clock may be used as a telephone alerting device (cord is included). The ring signaler will be triggered automatically when the telephone rings. You have the option of having the light flash, the bed vibrator activate or both when the telephone rings. The same is true when you use it as an alarm clock.

Certain wireless door announcers (purchased separately and listed below) can be used to send a signal to the ACCESS 3's built-in receiver up to 75 feet away. The Access-3 will respond to the predetermined setting for flashing light and/or vibrator.

The Access-3 is an outstanding product with practical use as well as convenience.

Related Products & Accessories:

* The "Motivator" Bed Shaker
* Doorbell Transmitter
* The Door Beacon Transmitter

*Bed Shaker & Door Monitors Sold Separately.

 

[Fushigi]

There should be Palm OS apps for handhelds with connectivity that will trigger an alarm (continuing, vs. just the initial alert) when either an email or an SMS arrives. I'm pretty sure I read about something like that for the Treo smartphone in the forums at treocentral.com

 

[i]

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

I just wanted to post an update in case anyone is curious about how this is going. Things will continue to evolve into something a little more durable and professional, but for now...


1. An OpenBSD system here at my home runs 24/7 and runs a Ruby script to clear the contents of a specific e-mail address (thanks again, mubs, for the gmail invite) about an hour before the first person is supposed to arrive at work.
2. The person scheduled to arrive early is required to send an e-mail message to the specific e-mail address sometime after they arrive but before a certain deadline.
3. The OpenBSD system here at my home runs a second Ruby script to check the contents of the account again, about 15 minutes after the deadline.
4. If it sees an e-mail message from the person who's supposed to be working, and the time-stamp of the message shows it was sent that day, and the subject line is one that's been agreed upon, the Ruby script stays silent. If one or more of those criteria are not met - including if there's no message at all or if the mail server can't be reached - then it sounds an annoying alarm.
5. I either stay asleep or am cruelly woken up, depending on the result of step #4.


Future requirements and options:

I need my OpenBSD system - and the cheap amplified speakers - to be running on a UPS (any suggestions?), and have the system run an NTP time-synchronization utility once every day.

I would like to build a box with a giant "mushroom" style push-button switch on top, that's attached to a serial port on a computer at work. The sole function of this button would be to send the required e-mail message, thus saving the person on duty from having to go through the task of sending one manually.

I'd like the same computer at work to non-destructively check the contents of the e-mail address about 5 minutes after the deadline and provide an audible warning message if it doesn't see the expected e-mail message.

I need the second Ruby script running at my home to subsequently start bombarding the cell phones of all the backup staff with text messages, if after about 5 minutes of sounding the alarm signal I haven't told it that I'm on my feet and am preparing to do something proactive about the situation.

All of these additions are relatively straightforward. It's just a question of finding the time to make them happen.

Fun stuff!

 

[i]

I would like to build a box with a giant "mushroom" style push-button switch on top, that's attached to a serial port on a computer at work. The sole function of this button would be to send the required e-mail message, thus saving the person on duty from having to go through the task of sending one manually.

I'm looking at this step now, and I'm swamped by the amount of stuff I'm finding! So far it's all too complicated as it all focuses on connecting complex RS-232/RS-485 devices to the serial port. Wbat I need is to figure out some way of monitoring a single switch. I'm almost considering using a joystick's fire button, but I'd still prefer the serial port route because it would allow me to build a completely custom box. Anyone have any experience with doing something like this?