Sonos as Intercom / PA system
Surprised I can not find this idea in here. My house is not exactly small, and I am now running 7 Sonos players. When running the Sonos app on iPhone, it would be great to be able to select a sone (or a sone group), press a button and talk via my phone to that sone. I can not imagine it being a technically complex solution. I would be really excited about being able to use Sonos in this way, and so would quite a few others! (see discussion forum): http://forums.sonos.com/showthread.php?t=8672 Is this something that can be considered? If this could be a part of Sonos long term solutions, I would wait for it. Else I would need to start think alternative solutions.
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I just spent the $0.99 to try out the Sonos Voice app and here is my feedback:
I agree with Mark below, integrating this into the standard Sonos controller apps would be very nice.
- Although it works, it is buggy and crashes regularly.
- It does not seem to allow you to pause music from the app, make an announcement, and then resume the music; it just switches the source for the speakers you select to Sonosvoice.wav and then you have to go back into your Sonos controller and reselect your music source.
- No documentation.
- There is an echo/ffedback on the broadcasted voice that is sent to the speakers.
- All said, kudos to the app developer for making the app though; it shows it is possible and there are ways to improve it... Sonos?
I agree with Mark below, integrating this into the standard Sonos controller apps would be very nice.
Userlevel 1
There is an update to the iphone app for Sonos Voice. It came out 11/12/2013. It is working much better. Somehow they've got it so it will resume music play after being interrupted with a page from Sonos Voice. You have to leave the Sonos Voice app on the screen until it completely stops, then it goes back to the music playing in the app. It appears to have paused the music, then resumed it. It's getting closer to what I wanted. Sonos needs to buy this app and incorporate it into their system.
Mark
Mark
PAUL: AMEN and AMEN!! I have this exact same need!!! I do home automated voice announces via the Line-In on one zone - -but use very funky ways to group zones to do this. AND - - I have a near-impossible time to do any kind of "RESUME".
+1
Another vote for a "priority announce" feature to be enabled on *all* Sonos units... I see that there is an "autoplay" setting on the line-in on the Play:5 and the Dock, neither of which I have, so I don't know if the feature works as I (and it sounds like many others) would prefer... many units already have line-in inputs, so it would be a purely software implementation that sonos would need to add...
i.e. on all units that have line-in, some additional configuration options: Option to configure the input as a page/announce input, which when set monitors the line in for any audio signal, and when incoming audio is present:
a) stores the current source/volume/position of anything currently playing on that zone (or any group that it's currently joined to)
b) pauses the current output (if any) on that zone (and *optionally* also on other zones in the same group)
c) switches the live input on that zone (and optionally on other zones in the same group) to the line-in (some buffering may be required to ensure the first second or two of the audio is not lost)
d) plays the incoming line-in audio for as long as the signal is present. As soon as there has been a configurable period (say 0.5 seconds) silence on the input, then re-instate the original source/volume/position which was stored in step (a).
this would then allow any line-in equipped unit to become a very capable PA bridge. My use cases would not be served so much by mic in from a mobile device, or the ability to only break-in to the current audio with a limited set of WAV files... I have a fairly complex home automation setup that uses text-to-speech to announce a whole plethora of events, I would love the ability to distribute that TTS audio all over the house right from within the Sonos environment. Currently I can accomplish something akin to the above behaviour, but it relies on a number of 3rd-party software components with all the attendant 'faff' that entails.
Sonos could implement an elegant in-system feature right in the Sonos hardware, and I suspect it wouldn't be all that hard to do...
The transition between the line-in audio and the original audio should be crossfaded, or at least have the option in the software to enable x-fade between the two...
Give me this, and I'm immediately buying a couple more zones!
You are correct, it is a third party app and is why the developer called the app "SonosVoice". If you search "Sonos Voice" on an apple device, it will show up. Its 99 pennies. For me it is working very well. However when you are done with a page, the music does not return automatically. I am hoping Sonos integrates this into the "Sonos" app and does a little better job.
Userlevel 7
+22
Jeff - that is not an app developed by Sonos ... it is a third party app.
The SonosVoice App on my iPhone5 works pretty well. The voice quality is excellent, and the volume control puts all of the volumes at the same level when you go to adjust (Its a great start). If Sonos is listening, I recommend the following. Be able to preset which zones you want to be part of the paging and set the volume within each zone. Then when done, return all zones back to what they were playing and at the volume they were playing.
Got it... Just a thought. I install them and they are great!
Userlevel 1
If I wanted a separate system, I would. I want the music to pause when the intercom is in use or doorbell is rung. I don't want a separate phone system. Thanks for your comment though...
Get a Panasonic TDA50 phone system. It has room-to-room intercom and a all page
Userlevel 1
I agree, but it shows it can be done. Sonos needs to buy the rights for it, use it in their controller app, build dedicated pager button/microphone units to mount in each room that will use the same technology and build a similar doorbell unit to be mounted in place of the old chime unit so your normal doorbell button can send a signal to the sonos system. All using .wav files, temporarily pause or stop the current playing song, play the .wav file from the intercom or doorbell unit, and switch back to the current playing song. Come on Sonos, do it.
To be clear - there isn't any android app that I can see, and I'm an Android user. In addition, I would rather it was a feature of the Sonos app, not a third party app - as the support and quality ought to be better.
Userlevel 7
+22
It is a current app - I have only checked on the iTunes app store. I haven't looked to see if an android version.
iPhone or Android too
I would really love to see this app. I would be happy to pay for it I would certainly buy more units to put all over the house for paging purposes alone. do any of SONOS competators do it yet- ??
Userlevel 1
That sonos voice app is very promising! It works on our system fine. It does have a bit of echo, and it hangs sometimes when you hit stop, but it works. Now if sonos comes out with a dedicated doorbell module that you wire in place of the old doorbell unit that overrides all speakers to play a doorbell chime that would be awesome. Also, incorporate the sonos voice app into the real sonos app and put it in the PC app as well. Could also build pager button/microphone units that people could mount in rooms. Another sonos product to sell that I would buy one for each room. Life would be all sunshine and flowers...lol. Thanks for the progress! Mark
Userlevel 7
+22
There is a new iphone app called sonos voice that actually does what we are asking here. It's a little buggy.
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled iOS Microphone as Line-In to Achieve Whole House PA. I'd like to use my iOS device (iPhone) microphone as a line-in to the Sonos system.
This would enable me to group all six of our zones to form a whole house PA system over which I could yell at my wife to make me a sandwich 😉
This would enable me to group all six of our zones to form a whole house PA system over which I could yell at my wife to make me a sandwich 😉
Userlevel 2
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled Tablet/Phone Intercom feature on Sonos software. Intercom feature would be great.
phones & tablets have microphones.
it would be great to be able to talk via your sonos speaker system.
use case scenarios;
1) family is at home and minding their own business in various rooms.
Diner ready. Mom talks in sonos mic feature and tells everyone diner is served in the kitchen.
2) Father is DIY working on the 3rd floor and forgot some tools. He connects to the sonos speaker and asks his son downstars via his tablet if he can bring his tools upstairs.
Im sure there are more. be my guest to describe more scenarios. 🙂
phones & tablets have microphones.
it would be great to be able to talk via your sonos speaker system.
use case scenarios;
1) family is at home and minding their own business in various rooms.
Diner ready. Mom talks in sonos mic feature and tells everyone diner is served in the kitchen.
2) Father is DIY working on the 3rd floor and forgot some tools. He connects to the sonos speaker and asks his son downstars via his tablet if he can bring his tools upstairs.
Im sure there are more. be my guest to describe more scenarios. 🙂
This reply was created from a merged topic originally titled Sonos System as a PA System. Hi,
Is it possible to announce things over the Sonos system. I have a lot of parties coming up, and would love to be able to use my phone to broadcast a message over all the speakers, like 'It's time for cake' etc as people will probably be spread out all over the house.
Thanks
Belinda
Is it possible to announce things over the Sonos system. I have a lot of parties coming up, and would love to be able to use my phone to broadcast a message over all the speakers, like 'It's time for cake' etc as people will probably be spread out all over the house.
Thanks
Belinda
Userlevel 1
Please add the intercom feature. This would also promote more speaker sales!
I just kept on voting on all this same request.
Userlevel 3
Think this feature has been under consideration for too long!? Vote for this: https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/implement_customers_good_ideas_more_quickly
Yes, please! Being able to use my sonos equipment & connected mobile phone would be a major value-added service.
I agree, I would put Play3's in every room and have intercom capability with iPhones or iPads.
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