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

  • Dartford Crossing gets enhanced PA system
    May 25, 2016
    A new traffic safety system installed on The Dartford Crossing, the busiest estuarial crossing in the UK, is benefitting from a high quality public address (PA) system to communicate with drivers in the event of an incident. To combat the noisy road and traffic conditions, PEL Services installed a Bosch Praesideo digital PA system, with master and slave network-controllers and incorporating ambient noise sensing to automatically adjust sound levels to compensate for substantial variations in the levels o
  • Temporary traffic monitoring with Bluetooth and wi-fi
    May 31, 2013
    David Crawford reviews developments in temporary ITS. Widespread take-up of technologies such as Bluetooth and wi-fi are encouraging the emergence of more sophisticated, while still cost effective, ITS responses to the traffic issues posed by temporary road situations such as work zones and special events. Andy Graham of traffic solutions specialists White Willow Consulting says: “A machine-to-machine radio link is far easier and cheaper than reading characters on a plate.” There can be other plusses. Tech
  • Satellite based goods vehicle tracking comes a step closer
    March 15, 2012
    A project aimed at proving the viability of satellite-based goods tracking in Europe has come to a close – establishing everything necessary for commercial services to flourish. A landmark stage was reached in tracking of goods across Europe in December last year, with conclusion of the Scutum project – ‘Securing the EU GNSS adoption in transport of dangerous materials’. This has validated the accuracy and reliability of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) for goods tracking and se
  • Intelligence transport systems potential?
    February 25, 2013
    The world of intelligent transport systems can, it would seem, be just as beset by muddled thinking as any other sector. How else to interpret the baffling announcement in January by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Julius Genachowski that the FCC intends to open up almost 200MHz of spectrum in the 5GHz band to unlicensed users, starting almost immediately? As the FCC itself points out, this would be the largest block of unlicensed spectrum to be made available for Wi-Fi in nearly te