DASDEC OmniLingual Alert Module Simplifies Delivery of Emergency Alert Text and Voice in Multiple Languages
LYNDONVILLE, N.Y. -- April 7, 2015 -- Digital Alert Systems, a division of Monroe Electronics, today introduced its new DASDEC(TM) OmniLingual Alert Module(TM) software, which gives the company's DASDEC emergency messaging platform enhanced multilingual alerting capabilities for Emergency Alert Systems (EAS) alert text translation, as well as text-to-speech (TTS) in a wide variety of languages. The OmniLingual Alert Module provides television and radio broadcasters with the voluntary capability to transmit EAS alerts in multiple languages, or to automatically add non-English alerts as post-alert audio to serve audiences with limited English proficiency.
The DASDEC OmniLingual Alert Module was designed to meet the needs of broadcasters that want to voluntarily transmit emergency information to their audiences in their native languages. There are more than 25 million people with limited English proficiency in the U.S., and almost 61 million Americans do not speak English at home. Persons with limited English ability account for 25 percent or more of the total population in seven U.S. cities.
The DASDEC OmniLingual Alert Module currently provides support for Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian, Polish, and Lithuanian, among other languages. The module can also be updated for additional languages, and Digital Alert Systems already plans to include support for further languages. The module not only supports multilingual alert messages that are received by the DASDEC system, but also provides a dedicated translation software package that incorporates both text and TTS translation.
"We understand that many broadcasters serve diverse communities, including audiences with limited English proficiency," said Ed Czarnecki, senior director of strategy and global government affairs with Digital Alert Systems. "The DASDEC OmniLingual Alert Module was designed as a tool to assist broadcasters in reaching communities with critical emergency information in their native language, and to do so on a completely voluntary basis. The language translation function in our module is truly unique among emergency alert solutions."
DASDEC introduced comprehensive English and Spanish language support in the U.S. more than 10 years ago, and it was also the first EAS device to introduce English and French language support in Canada. With the introduction of the DASDEC OmniLingual Alert Module, the DASDEC platform has become the first EAS solution to provide standardized translation of broadcast EAS alerts from English into any of a dozen languages. The module enables automatic alert translation from conventional EAS or Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) sources, and the user can select one or more languages for EAS text display and TTS audio conversion and output.
The following are just some of the OmniLingual Alert Module's functions:
* Enables broadcasters to select the language(s) of their choice for emergency alerts
* Handles and automatically translates EAS alerts into user-selected languages
* Translates English-only weather alerts from the National Weather Service into additional languages
* Translates both conventional broadcast EAS, as well as CAP EAS
* Allows broadcasters to select their primary language for the standard EAS message and additional languages for a "post-audio" alert after the standard EAS message concludes
* Enables both short EAS text translation as well as full multilingual CAP message support
The OmniLingual Alert Module is currently being used in a major pilot program to provide automated alert translation into Hmong, Somali, and Spanish, and it will be available as an option in the upcoming DASDEC V3.0 software release.
Digital Alert Systems will demonstrate its OmniLingual Alert Module at the FEMA IPAWS booth (C2631) during the 2015 NAB Show in Las Vegas, as well as at the Digital Alert Systems booth (N4816).
Further information about Digital Alert Systems and its products is available at www.digitalalertsystems.com. Information about Monroe Electronics is available at www.monroe-electronics.com.
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Digital Alert Systems
Digital Alert Systems is a leading innovator of next-generation Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and Emergency Alert Systems (EAS). The company was formed in October 2003 to increase the effectiveness of emergency communications and merged with Monroe Electronics in October 2009. Based in Lyndonville, New York, Monroe Electronics provides R&D, manufacturing, sales, and customer service for the Digital Alert Systems brand. The company continues to retain its hard-earned reputation for quality, reliability, innovation, and service to valued customers around the world. More information is available at www.digitalalertsystems.com.
All trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.
Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/DAS/DAS-OmniLingual.jpg
Photo Caption: Digital Alert Systems' DASDEC(TM) With OmniLingual Alert Module(TM) Software Option
