Skip to main content

T-Box annunciator

The T-Box, from Mentor Engineering, is a state-of-the-art text-to-speech voice annunciation device for fixed-route transit ITS solutions. It provides next-stop announcements and updates onboard LED signs for riders inside the bus. Outside the vehicle, T-Box identifies the route and destination to passengers waiting at a stop when the doors open. Simple to use, the device speaks phrases entered via a text file in English, French, or Spanish, saving agencies time and money on recording studios and voice talen
June 19, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The T-Box, from 691 Mentor Engineering, is a state-of-the-art text-to-speech voice annunciation device for fixed-route transit ITS solutions. It provides next-stop announcements and updates onboard LED signs for riders inside the bus. Outside the vehicle, T-Box identifies the route and destination to passengers waiting at a stop when the doors open. Simple to use, the device speaks phrases entered via a text file in English, French, or Spanish, saving agencies time and money on recording studios and voice talent. Agencies can preview and fine-tune pronunciations using a desktop-based text-to-speech programme which allows for the creation of custom dictionaries. T-Box will also play pre-recorded WAV files and convert abbreviations into fully spoken text.

In addition, messages can be transmitted in real time to an entire fleet wirelessly, and updates can be performed with low-cost Wi-Fi in an agency's bus yard. According to Mentor Engineering, T-Box removes the need to physically visit the vehicle for upgrades, allowing an agency to achieve enormous time savings.

T-Box will reduce driver distraction by automatically announcing any message an agency may need to broadcast to its passengers. It also monitors ambient noise in the bus and self-adjusts speaker volume to ensure that messages are always heard.

Related Content

  • Via boosts transit options in Miami-Dade
    October 29, 2020
    Each vehicle accepts three passengers to maintain social distancing
  • Applied Information’s app gets Marietta connected
    October 26, 2017
    Must the benefits of connected vehicle technology wait for a generation of new or retrofitted vehicles? The US city of Marietta is about to find out. Can connected vehicle functionality be delivered via a smartphone? Well, in Marietta, Georgia, they are about to answer that question. The city is testing a smartphone app which warns motorists of nearby cyclists and pedestrians, approaching first responders, wrong-way driving, entering active school zones and much more.
  • Greenowl brings bespoke traveller information one step closer
    June 4, 2015
    Greenowl’s voice-only congestion warning smartphone app alerts drivers to problems ahead and could be the way ahead for traffic information. If there is one point Matt Man, CEO of Canadian company Greenowl, wants to make clear from the start, it is that his company’s app is not a navigation system. He says: “Our system does not direct drivers to their destination because we mainly focus on commuters who know how to get to where they are going and only need information about any delays and incidents ahead of
  • Take the Tesloop instead of the plane for inter-city travel
    February 22, 2016
    Taking advantage of Tesla’s generous warranty on its Model S car, a group of young entrepreneurs from the US west coast started Tesloop, providing a travel experience they say is similar to an airline where passengers share a cabin in a plane, except that Tesloop leaves from a convenient Tesla supercharger station location. Tesloop has an expanding fleet of fully electric Tesla model vehicles that seat up to four people. It not only employs its own drivers, but also offers two types of membership to trav