Announcements with Music Programming

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Insert Announcements

Announcements are inserted in-between sequentially playing music tracks. The Insert Frequency defines when to insert the announcement(s) (ex Frequency 1=after every music track, 2=after every two tracks, etc). The number of announcements inserted is determined by the Insert Announcements Grouping (see below). Announcements selection is cycled -- see Announcements Cycling below.

• Only Play steps allowed (no other step types).
• Only sequential Play steps allowed (ie no Offset-Timed or Scheduled steps).
• If you run multiple Insert Announcement scripts, the Insert Frequency set by the most recent script to run is used, and Play Steps get ADDED to the stack of Insert Announcements.
• Insert Announcements will not work with most Web music streams because the streams do not have end of track indicators. (use the other Announcement types for Web music streams.)

Cycling is used for Insert and Interval Announcements. You can specify how many announcements should play at a time (Grouping). So for example, assume you have 4 announcements to play and you set announcements to play every 10 minutes. You set the Grouping to 2 announcements. So at the 10 minute mark, Announcement-1 and Announcement-2 will play. At the 20 minute mark, Announcement-3 and Announcement-4 will play. Then at the 30 minute mark, Announcement-1 and Announcement-2 will play again and so on. This Announcements Cycling continues until you end the programming or Clear Announcements. You can also shuffle announcements (random selection) using the Shuffle Steps checkbox (Figure 3).

The Grouping number designates how many Insert Announcements will play when it is time for Announcements to be inserted. Example, Grouping=2 means play 2 announcements. If you have have an odd number of announcements but want to keep announcements paired when they play, you can use a Play step for an audio file that has 1-2 seconds of silence (ex. Play (Silence2secs)).
Set this under the Automator > Announcements > Insert Announcements Grouping menu.

1. Create a Script with Play Steps for each of your announcement Sound Items.
2. Mark the Script as Announcements. Check the Insert Announcements checkbox the Script Editor (Figure 3).
3. Set the Insert Frequency to the desired number by clicking the Frequency edit button. (Figure 3).
4. Now Follow the General Script Implementation above.
5. Enabling a schedule time for the script is optional. (Figure 5)

This Script will play announcements after every 3 music tracks play. Grouping=2 means play 2 announcements at a time. After all 4 announcements have played, announcement selection begins again at Step #1 (Announcement1). Insertion continues as long as the associated music script is running.

Listing 5. Example - Insert Announcements

Script Name: Four Insert Announcements
Id: 582127336
Announcements Type: Insert
Insert Frequency: 3
Announcements Grouping: 2

Steps:
1. Play (Announcement1)
2. Play (Announcement2)
3. Play (Announcement3)
4. Play (Announcement4)

Figure 3. Insert Announcements

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Interval Announcements

Behavior

Announcement(s) are played at a regular Time Interval that you pick (ex. every 15 minutes) by suspending any currently playing music track. When the Announcement(s) end, the music track is resumed. The number of announcements played is determined by the Interval Announcements Grouping (below). Announcements selection is cycled (see Announcements Cycling above).

Rules

• Only Play steps allowed (no other step types).
• Only sequential Play steps allowed (ie no Offset-Timed or Scheduled steps).
• If you run multiple Interval Announcement scripts, the Time Interval set by the most recent script to run is used, and Play Steps get ADDED to the stack of Interval Announcements.

Interval Announcements Grouping

The Grouping number designates how many Announcements will play when it is time for Interval Announcements to play. Example, Grouping=2 means play 2 announcements. If you have have an odd number of announcements but want to keep announcements paired when they play, you can use a Play step for an audio file that has 1-2 seconds of silence (ex. Play (Silence2secs)).
Set this under the Automator > Announcements > Interval Announcements Grouping menu.

Instructions

1. Create a Script with Play Steps for each of your announcement Sound Items.
2. Mark the Script as Announcements. Check the Interval Announcements checkbox the Script Editor (Figure 4).
3. Set the Time Interval with the adjacent time edit button Figure 4).
4. Now Follow the General Script Implementation above.
5. Enabling a schedule time for the script is optional. (Figure 5)

Listing 6 explanation

This Script will play announcements at an interval of every 15 minutes. Grouping=2 means play 2 announcements at a time. After all 4 announcements have played, announcement selection begins again at Step #1 (Announcement1).

Listing 6. Example - Interval Announcements

Script Name: Four Announcements - Interval
Id: 1928030215
Announcements Type: Interval
Interval: 15:00
Announcements Grouping: 2

Steps:
1. Play (Announcement1)
2. Play (Announcement2)
3. Play (Announcement3)
4. Play (Announcement4)

Figure 4. Interval Announcements

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Standard Announcements - Played Sequentially

Behavior

When Play Steps Are sequential (NOT Timed): (Listing 7). When the script runs, music tracks pause. Each announcement is played in sequential order (like a playlist). When the last announcement ends, music tracks resume. Also see the Special Processing with Announcements section above for Repeat considerations.

Rules

• Only Play steps allowed (no other step types).
• Only sequential Play steps allowed to get this playlist effect. Do NOT mix Offset Timed steps with sequential steps (non-timed) in the same Standard Announcements script. If needed, make two separate Announcement scripts, one for sequential Play steps and one for Offset-Timed steps.
• If you run multiple Standard Announcement scripts, the most recent run script will effectively cancel the previous run script if it is still running.

Instructions

1. Create a Script with Play Steps for each of your announcement Sound Items. (Listing 7)
2. Mark the Script as Announcements. Check the Standard Announcements checkbox the Script Editor (Figure 5).
3. Enabling a schedule time for the script is optional. (Figure 5)

Listing 7 explanation

This Script is scheduled to run at 4:50PM, 10 minutes before closing time at 5PM. When it starts, it plays 4 announcements in sequence then ends to resume music playback.

Listing 7. Example - Standard Announcements - Sequential

Script Name: Standard Announcements - For Closing Time
Id: 1234191741
Sched: At 4:50:00 PM
Announcements Type: Standard

Steps:
1. Play (Announcement1)
2. Play (Announcement2)
3. Play (Announcement3)
4. Play (Announcement4)

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Standard Announcements - Offset Timed

Behavior

Play steps are Offset-Timed: Each announcement Step is timed to play at an time Offset from the run start time of a Script. For example, if the Script starts at 1:00PM, and the Step Offset is 5 minutes, the announcement will play at 1:05PM. Also see the Special Processing with Announcements section above for Repeat considerations.

The Announcement type is a bit more work to setup than Interval Announcements. Generally, use this Offset Timed approach when you want announcements to play at irregular times. If you want to play announcements at regular intervals (ex every 5 minutes), it is much easier to use Interval Announcements.

Rules

• Only Play steps allowed (no other step types).
• Only Offset Timed Play steps allowed to get this timing effect. Do NOT mix Offset Timed steps with sequential steps (non-timed) in the same Standard Announcements script. If needed, make two separate Announcement scripts, one for sequential Play steps and one for Offset-Timed steps.
• If you run multiple Standard Announcement scripts, the most recent run script will effectively cancel the previous run script if it is still running.

Timing/Repeat

If you want this script to Repeat, you MUST use the Repeats after Offset Time option (Figure 5).

Instructions

1. Create a Script with Play Steps for each of your announcement Sound Items. (Listing 8)
2. Mark the Script as Announcements. Check the Standard Announcements checkbox the Script Editor (Figure 5).
3. Edit each Step to assign it an Offset Time. (see Step Editor )
4. Now Follow the General Script Implementation above.
5. Enabling a schedule time for the script is optional. (Figure 5)

Listing 8 explanation

This Script will play each announcement at the offset time shown. Offset clock starts as soon as the Script is started. Note that the offsets are at irregular times. See Behavior comment above for easier setup when the time is regular.

Listing 8. Example - Standard Announcements - Offset Timed

Script Name: Offset Timed Announcements
Id: 453840473
Announcements Type: Standard

Steps:
1. Play (Announcement1), Offset: 05:00
2. Play (Announcement2), Offset: 15:00
3. Play (Announcement3), Offset: 22:00
4. Play (Announcement4), Offset: 25:00

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Standard Announcements - Scheduled

Behavior

Each announcement Play Step is scheduled for a Time Of Day and played by the Scheduler. Scheduled Steps do not Repeat even if the script is set to Repeat.

Rules

• If a Script has its Schedule Enabled (Figure 5), it will be automatically added to the Scheduler when the Scheduler is started. Scripts with Schedule Disabled are ignored by the Scheduler.
• Only Play steps allowed (no other step types).
• Only Scheduled Play steps allowed to get this timing effect.
• You can run multiple Standard Announcement scripts with Scheduled Play steps.
• Scheduled Play steps can only be run by the Scheduler.

How to run it

• By starting the Scheduler - Check the Schedule Enabled checkbox (see Figure 5) and set the desired schedule.
• Manually add to the running Scheduler - If the Scheduler is already running and you want to add scheduled announcements to it, select the Announcements Script in the Automator list, then click the Scheduler > Add Selected Script to Scheduler menu item. If the Script has its Schedule Enabled it will execute at its scheduled time. If the Script does not have its Schedule Enabled, it will execute immediately and add its Steps to the Scheduler Plan.

Note: You CANNOT run this script outside of the Scheduler by clicking the Run Script button (). Only the Scheduler can handle scheduled Steps.

Script Schedule Considerations

If you plan to use Clear Announcements during the business day to change Announcement sets, it is a good practice to set this Script Schedule to run just before its first scheduled play step (in Listing 9 that is 4:29PM). Using that schedule time, you can perform Clear Announcements (Running Only) during the day and this script will still remain in the Scheduler Plan.

If you don't care when it gets added to the Scheduler Plan, just set its Schedule to run Anytime 24/7 (see button on Figure 5). In that case, it runs anytime the Scheduler starts.

Instructions

1. Create a Script with Play Steps for each of your announcement Sound Items. (Listing 9)
2. Mark the Script as Announcements. Check the Standard Announcements checkbox the Script Editor (Figure 5).
3. Edit each Play Step to assign it a Schedule Time. (see Step Editor )
4. Now Follow the General Script Implementation above.
5. Enabling a schedule time for the script is optional. (Figure 5)

Listing 9 explanation

This Script schedules a set of store closing announcements to play at end of business. Note that for Steps to get scheduled by the Scheduler, the Scheduler must be started/running. Also this script needs to be scheduled itself, or run by another script that has been scheduled. In this case, we scheduled the script to start at 4:29PM, just before its first play step which is scheduled for 4:30PM.

Listing 9. Example - Standard Announcements - Scheduled

Script Name: Store Closing Announcements
Sched: At 4:29:00 PM
Announcements Type: Standard

Steps:
1. Play (Store Closing in 30 mins), Sched: At 4:30:00 PM
2. Play (Store Closing in 10 mins), Sched: At 4:50:00 PM
3. Play (Store Closed), Sched: At 5:00:00 PM

Figure 5. Standard Announcements - Scheduled

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Changing Announcement Sets by Schedule

You may want to change which Announcements are played based on time of day. Listing 10 shows how to programmatically change the announcements at noon. You could extend this approach to change Announcements multiple times during the day (morning, afternoon, evening, end of business day, etc). It is important to allow at least a couple seconds between Clear Announcements and adding the new set of Announcements. You can use Offset-Times rather than Time-Of-Day Schedule Times if needed.

It is important to consider that Clear Announcements will remove any scheduled Announcement Play Steps.
Ex. Play (Closing time announcement), Sched: At 5:00:00 PM
So if you Clear Announcements at noontime (12:00AM), the above Play step should be added to the scheduler sometime after noontime.

Listing 10 explanation

This Script is scheduled to start at 8:00AM. Step #1 immediately runs the 'Morning Announcements' script to setup announcements. Set #2 and #3 are scheduled to run at noon time. Step #4, begins the music programming ('Beatles album'). At noon time (12:00:00 PM), the 'Morning Announcements' are cleared. Then at 12:00:02 PM the afternoon announcements are setup. This allows a 2 second span of time for 'Clear Announcements' to finish its work.

Listing 10. Example - Announcements Changed At Noon

Script Name: Announcements Changed At Noon
Id: 852370811
Sched: At 8:00:00 AM

Steps:
1. Run Script (Morning Announcements)
2. Clear Announcements, Sched: At 12:00:00 PM
3. Run Script  (Afternoon Announcements), Sched: At 12:00:02 PM
4. Run Script (Beatles album)

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Changing Music Playlists by Schedule

You may want to change which Music Playlist is played based on time of day. Listing 11 shows how to programmatically change the Music at noon. You could extend this approach to change Music multiple times during the day (morning, afternoon, evening, at event times, end of business day, etc). It is important to allow at least a second between Stopping one Playlist and running the new Playlist. You can use Offset-Times rather than Time-Of-Day Schedule Times if needed. Changing Music Playlists can be combined with Changing Announcements (Listing 10).

Listing 11 explanation

This Script is scheduled to start at 8:00AM. Step #1 immediately runs the 'Morning Music Playlist' script. Set #2 and #3 are scheduled to run at noon time. At noon time (12:00:00 PM), the 'Morning Music Playlist' is Stopped. Then at 12:00:01 PM the afternoon Music Playlist starts. This allows a 1 second span of time for 'Stop Script' to finish its work.

Listing 11. Example - Swap Music Playlists at Noon

Script Name: Swap Music Playlists at Noon
Id: 859919818
Sched: At 8:00:00 AM

Steps:
1. Run Script (Morning Music Playlist)
2. Stop Script (Morning Music Playlist), Sched: At 12:00:00 PM
3. Run Script (Afternoon Music Playlist), Sched: At 12:00:01 PM

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Reuse Announcements Scripts in Other Soundlists

If you have multiple Soundlists for various music programming purposes but want to use the same Announcements setup in each, there is an easy way to do that. You can import a Soundlist into another Soundlist. The Import includes all the Sound Items and Scripts. So create one Soundlist which contains only your Announcements Sound Items and Scripts. Then you can Import that Announcement Soundlist into any other Soundlist (click File > Import Another Soundlist ).

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Announcements Volume vs Music Volume

You may want to make Announcements and Music play at different Volumes. That is fairly simple to configure.

1. First use the Windows Master Volume icon (Figure 6) on the Windows Desktop taskbar to set the highest volume that you want any Soundmill audio to play. This becomes the Soundmill full volume.
2. Then in the Sound Item Options > Maximum Volume - Master Controls (Figure 7 at bottom), set the percentages of the full volume that you want to use for Announcements and for Music (non-Announcements). Check the enable checkboxes so that Soundmill will apply these volume percents.

Figure 6. Windows Master Volume icon

Figure 7. Sound Item Options

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March 12, 2024