Opus digital radios all have an Emergency Mode.
This feature is used to alert other users when a radio user is experiencing difficulty or requires assistance.
Emergency mode is activated when one or more trigger conditions exist. Triggers can be manual, such as pressing the SOS/Panic button, or automatic, such as Man Down or Lone Worker alarms. Please refer to our other blog articles regarding these triggers and the settings available to each of them. Emergency mode finishes when the trigger condition is resolved.
Within the radio configuration, various parameters are available to control the emergency process and define it's behaviour, ensuring the correct staff are notified and that the situation is managed effectively.
Each radio channel can have a different behaviour, but for simplicity of use most users prefer to use a common behaviour across all their channels and integrate this with their emergency procedures.
Your choice of device will also be influenced by your emergency handling requirements. For example, do you need a dedicated SOS button, or a display to show the identity of a radio in distress?
When we configure the behaviours we listen to your requirements and translate these into a configuration. However, it may be useful to understand the options available so that you can consider how these may enhance your radio system.
Each radio model is subtly different and may not offer the breadth of options available in other models. In general, when configuring an emergency mode, the following parameters are available:
Emergency Name: In most systems this is not relevant to the users and is just a reference. However, some of our radio models allow the name to be displayed on the radio screen during an emergency.
Type: This determines whether the radio emits emergency tones itself and alerts other users, or if the radio silently alerts other users (to avoid alerting anyone nearby) and whether the radio then remains silent.
Mode: The settings here lay out how the radio will alert others users. The emergency signalling itself is a data (unheard) message between the radios. This may be all that is required, but it could be followed by a manual 'Emergency Call' from the user, or the radio microphone can be set to automatically open for a pre-determined time.
Alerting channel: This can be used to control who is notified of an emergency activation. Some users want everyone to be alerted, whilst others may have a dedicated team to handle these situations.
Emergency Tone: We can create simple alert tone sequences to alert the user when an emergency is activated or received.
We have provided several examples to explain how the Man Down feature will work in 'real life' situations.
Example 1: A radio user lays their radio on it's side. The Man Down condition is detected and the Entry Delay Timer starts. When the timer reaches the Pre-Alert threshold the radio starts emitting Alert Beeps. The radio user realises their error and stands the radio upright. The Man Down condition is cancelled and the radio stops emitting beeps.
Example 2: A radio user trips and falls. They are rendered unconscious. The radio was in their hand and is now laying on the floor close to the user. The Man Down condition is detected and the Entry Delay Timer starts. When the timer reaches the Pre-Alert threshold the radio starts emitting Alert Beeps. The Entry Delay Timer expires and the radio enters the emergency process, emitting Alert Beeps and sending an alert to others radio users.