Live Audio is an additional feature.

Please have your agency administrator contact our sales team at IaR-sales@rapidsos.com for details on the cost of adding it to your existing IaR subscription.

Please include the following in your email:

• Full Name
• Agency Name
• State/Province

 

This document describes the steps needed to begin beta testing IamResponding’s new live audio feature. These steps include:

1. Creating a new live audio channel using the IamResponding Administrative Functions page
2. Adding a “dummy” member to your agency to generate a username and password that will be used by the streaming audio client software
3. Installing the IamResponding streaming audio client software on a PC that is connected to a radio or scanner
4. Using the IamResponding mobile app to listen to Live Audio

Create A Live Audio Channel

Step 1 In the IamResponding Administrative Functions page, navigate to the Live Audio=> Live Audio Channels page.

Step 2 Click “Add New” to add a new Live Audio channel.

Step 3 Fill in the required fields and then click “Save Changes”.   Name - This is the name of the Live Audio channel that will be displayed in the IamResponding mobile app. For example - “Jefferson Fire Dispatch” Description - An optional description of the channel Channel Type - “Frequency” for conventional radio systems or “TalkGroup” for trunked radio systems Frequency or Talkgroup ID - the radio frequency (in MHz) or the talkgroup ID (in decimal format) being streamed. Radio System Name - If a trunked radio system, enter the name of the system. If conventional, enter the county name or other system name as appropriate. Latitude/Longitude - The lat/lon of where the receiver / streaming PC is located. Note: - Fields such as Description, Radio System Name, and Lat/Lon will be used to facilitate sharing Live Audio channels with other nearby IamResponding agencies (optional).

 

 

Add a “dummy” member for Live Audio

For beta testing, a “dummy” member must be created in your IamResponding agency (the email address for this “dummy” member can be the same as another member within the agency). The username and password of this “dummy” member will be used as login credentials in the streaming audio client software. A different credential generation method will be used later after initial beta testing is complete.

Important: Ensure that the “dummy” member is subscribed to all Live Audio channels in the “Live Audio” portion of the member settings.

 

 

 

 

Installing And Configuring the IaR-Stream Client Software

Step 1 Download the IaR-Stream software ZIP file:

Step 2 Use the “Extract all” function to extract the contents of the ZIP file into a folder.

Step 3 In the unzipped/extract folder, locate IaR-Stream.exe and double click on it to start the application.

Step 4 If you are prompted to give IaR-Stream network access, click “Allow”.

Step 5 The IaR-Stream application should now be running. You can now open its configuration window in a browser by clicking on the IaR-Stream icon in the system tray.

Step 6 When you open the configuration GUI for the first time, a browser window will open to an IamResponding login screen. Use the username and password from the “dummy” user that was previously added to your agency to log in.

Step 7 After logging in you should get a message saying that authentication is complete and that the browser windows can be closed.

Step 8 The configuration GUI should now open, or you can access by clicking on the system tray icon again.

 

 

 

Hardware Setup

Audio Connection

IaR-Stream receives audio from a radio or scanner that is connected to a sound card of the PC that it is running on. The radio or scanner’s line level audio output should be connected to the microphone input of the sound card.

Tips:

• If audio from a fire station radio is being used, a constant-level audio output from the radio’s accessory connector should be used. The audio level should not change when the volume control is moved.
• For analog radio systems, de-emphasized audio should be used instead of “flat” audio, if possible.
• If noise or hum is present in the audio, a ground loop isolation transformer may help remove these artifacts

USB Data Connection (Optional - supported scanners only)

If a supported Uniden Scanner (SDS100/200 or others that use the same USB data protocol) is used, an optional USB data connection between the scanner and the PC can be added in addition to the audio connection. IaR-Stream can use this USB data feed to add metadata to the streaming audio feed:

• Unit ID (on P25 radio systems)
• Channel name (if the scanner is set to “Scan” mode and not held on a single channel)

When a USB data connection is used, it is highly recommended to use a ground loop isolation transformer in the audio line (see above) to prevent hum and noise in the audio.

 

IaR-Stream Configuration

To add a new Live Audio channel for IaR-Stream to send audio to, click the “Add Channel” button:

General Channel Settings

IaR Streaming Channel: Select the streaming channel that you want to send audio to from the dropdown. The channels available here will match the channels that you have added in the IamResponding Administrative Functions screen.

Audio Input Device: Select the sound card input that is connected to the radio or scanner from the dropdown menu.

Source ID: Specify the text that will be displayed in the IaR mobile app when audio is being received. For example: “Station 2 desk radio”.

Send to IaR Mode: If only an audio connection is being used between the radio/scanner and the PC, select “VOX”. If using a supported Uniden scanner with a USB data connection, select “Uniden”.

 

VOX Settings

TX Audio Level below VOX Audio Squelch Level - no audio will be sent

 

 

TX Audio Level above VOX Audio Squelch Level - audio will be sent

VOX Silence Time: The number of seconds of silence in the input audio that the program will wait for before ending a transmission on the streaming channel.

VOX Audio Squelch Level: Adjust this slider so that the “TX Audio Level” from the attached radio or scanner (as indicated by the audio level bar display above the slider) is below the slider point when there is no radio traffic present and above the slider point when there is radio traffic present. IaR-Stream will begin sending audio to the streaming channel when the audio exceeds this level and will continue to stream audio until the audio level falls back below this level for the “VOX Silence Time”.

 

 

 

Uniden Settings

 

Port: The serial/COM port that the Uniden scanner USB connection is using. Setting to AUTO will query every available port until a Uniden scanner is found.

Baud Rate: Baud rate of the data connection with the scanner.

Send Department Name: When selected, the “Department Name” from the Uniden scanner will be sent as metadata when transmitting audio. Note that the value sent is dependent on the programming of the scanner. Usually this is not needed.

Send Channel Name: When selected, the “Channel Name” from the Uniden scanner will be sent as metadata when transmitting audio. Note that the value sent is dependent on the programming of the scanner. Usually only needed if the scanner is in “Scan” mode monitoring multiple radio channels.

Send UID: When selected, the Unit ID from the Uniden scanner will be sent as metadata when transmitting audio. Usually only helpful on P25 radio systems where Unit ID is present in the radio transmissions that are sent over the air. Note: The Uniden SDS100/200 do not support older analog PTTID protocols like MDC1200.

 

 

 

Listening to Live Audio in the IamResponding Mobile App

 

Important: Before a user can access Live Audio channels, they must subscribe to those channels in their IamResponding member profile. This setting is currently only accessible via the IamResponding website, not via the mobile apps.

 

Live Audio channels can be accessed from the IamResponding app’s main menu or via the Live Audio “waveform” shortcut button from other screens. Once a Live Audio channel is connected, it will continue to remain connected and play in the background even if the IamResponding app is closed.