How to Configure the Voice Integration

Configure the voice integration by editing the <voice> section of the pluginproperties.xml, a structured XML document.

In most situations, the default values Vocera provides in the <voice> section of pluginproperties.xml are sufficient. However, if you want Vocera to send an escalation notification when a cleaning request delivery fails, you must specify a value for <voceraID> in the message escalation parameters. When <voceraID> is not specified, Vocera discards the escalation message.

In all other cases, the default values Vocera provides for the parameters in the <voice> section of pluginproperties.xml are sufficient, unless you want to customize the integration.

To configure the voice integration:

  1. On the Vocera Environmental Services Integration server, open the \vocera\evs\resources\plugin\epic\pluginproperties.xml file in a text editor, if it is not already open.
  2. Optionally specify how often Vocera retries the deletion of a message from a user's device (if the first deletion attempt fails) by setting values for the tags in the <voice><delete><retry> section of the pluginproperties.xml file.

    Specify a value within each pair of begin and end tags as follows:

    Tag Value
    <voice>
       <delete>
          <retry>
             <timeout/>
    Use the <timeout/> tag to specify the total duration of time (in seconds) that may elapse during message delete retries before a timeout occurs. By default, the value is 600 seconds.
    <voice>
       <delete>
          <retry>
             <interval/>
    Use the <interval/> tag to specify the total duration of time (in seconds) that Vocera will wait before attempting to delete a message, if the previous deletion attempt failed. By default, the value is 30 seconds.

    Values in this section override values in the same section of evs.xml.

  3. Optionally specify how often Vocera re-sends a message to a user's device (if the first delivery attempt fails) by setting values for the tags in the <voice><send><retry> section of the pluginproperties.xml file.

    Specify a value within each pair of begin and end tags as follows:

    Tag Value
    <voice>
       <send>
          <retry>
             <timeout/>
    Use the <timeout/> tag to specify the total duration of time (in seconds) that may elapse during message send retries before a timeout occurs. By default, the value is 600 seconds.
    <voice>
       <send>
          <retry>
             <interval/>
    Use the <interval/> tag to specify the amount of time (in seconds) that Vocera will wait before attempting to re-send a message, if the previous delivery has failed. By default, the value is 30 seconds.

    Values in this section override values in the same section of evs.xml.

  4. Specify the text for an escalation message template as well as other customizations such as a tone, priority, and recipient in the <voice><escalation><message> section of the pluginproperties.xml file. Vocera initiates an escalation if a message send or delete attempt results in an unrecoverable failure.

    Customize the escalation routine by specifying a value within each pair of begin and end tags as follows:

    Tag Value
    <voice>
       <escalation>
          <message>
             <voceraID/>

    Use the <voceraID/> tag to specify the name of a Vocera group name or User ID as the recipient of the failure message. If you do not specify a value, Vocera EVS discards failure messages.

    The value for this property overrides the value specified for the same property in evs.xml.

    <voice>
       <escalation>
          <message>
             <messageTemplate/>
    Use the <messageTemplate/> tag to specify a message that the Vocera device will auto-enunciate when it receives an escalation. You may use any combination of plain text and the following variables:
    • ${BEVID}, which is auto-enunciated as the Epic Environmental Services request ID.
    • ${HKRID}, which is auto-enunciated as the Environmental Services employee ID.
    • ${Bed}, which is auto-enunciated as the name of a Vocera role-based bed group.
    <voice>
       <escalation>
          <message>
             <priority/>

    Use the <priority/> tag to specify one of the following VMI message priorities:

    • 0 for normal priority
    • 1 for high priority
    • 2 for urgent priority

    The value for this property overrides the value specified for the same property in evs.xml.

    <voice>
       <escalation>
          <message>
             <tone/>

    Optionally use the <tone/> tag to specify the filename of a custom audio tone to play when an escalation arrives on a Vocera device. If you do not specify a custom tone, the Vocera device plays the default message "clunk" sound. The custom tone file has the following requirements:

    • Location: \vocera\data\prompts\custom
    • Audio Format: 16 bit Monophonic WAV PCM
    • Sampling Rate: 8000 samples/second

    The value for this property overrides the value specified for the same property in evs.xml.

  5. Specify the text for the message template as well as tone and priority customizations in the <voice><message> section of the pluginproperties.xml file.

    Customize the message by specifying a value within each pair of begin and end tags as follows:

    Tag Value
    <voice>
       <message>
          <messageTemplate/>
    Use the <messageTemplate/> tag to specify a message that the Vocera device will auto-enunciate when it receives a cleaning request. You may use any combination of plain text and the following variables:
    • ${Bed}, which is auto-enunciated as the name of a Vocera role-based bed group. For example, the default value Clean request for Bed ${Bed} may result in the Vocera device user hearing the message, "Clean request for Bed 401 A".
    • ${Room}, which is auto-enunciated as the name of a Vocera role-based room group.
    <voice>
       <message>
          <priority/>

    Use the <priority/> tag to specify one of the following VMI message priorities:

    • 0 for normal priority
    • 1 for high priority
    • 2 for urgent priority

    The value for this property overrides the value specified for the same property in evs.xml.

    <voice>
       <message>
          <tone/>

    Optionally use the <tone/> tag to specify the filename of a custom audio tone to play when a cleaning request arrives on a Vocera device. If you do not specify a custom tone, the Vocera device plays the default message "clunk" sound. The custom tone file has the following requirements:

    • Location: \vocera\data\prompts\custom
    • Audio Format: 16 bit Monophonic WAV PCM
    • Sampling Rate: 8000 samples/second

    The value for this property overrides the value specified for the same property in evs.xml.

  6. Save the pluginproperties.xml file and continue with the web services integration.

The voice configuration is now complete. Following is an example of a typical voice configuration.

<voice>
   <delete>
      <retry>
         <timeout>600</timeout>
         <interval>30</interval>
      </retry>
   </delete>
   <send>
      <retry>
         <timeout>600</timeout>
         <interval>30</interval>
      </retry>
   </send>
   <escalation>
      <message>
         <voceraID>Epic Administrator</voceraID>
         <messageTemplate>Clean request ${BEVID} for housekeeper ${HKRID} Bed ${Bed} failed, please investigate.... </messageTemplate>
         <priority>0</priority>
         <tone></tone>
      </message>
   </escalation>
   <message>
      <messageTemplate>Clean request for Bed ${Bed}</messageTemplate>
      <priority>0</priority>
      <tone></tone>
   </message>
</voice>