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Audio Scheduler

Put tones and announcements on a schedule.

Audio Scheduler plays tones, alarms and recorded or text-to-speech announcements over your paging system and phones, at the times you set. Set up school bells and shift changes once and let them repeat. Save different schedules, such as the regular school year, summer school or a special event, and activate the one you need.

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  • One-time or repeating schedules
  • Your own audio or text-to-speech
  • Paging, phones and paging ring groups
How it works

Choose what plays, where it plays and when.

Set it up once in the web portal. At the scheduled time the audio plays on the extensions you chose, with nobody at the microphone, and the logs record each run.

  1. What plays

    Your tones, recordings or typed text

    Upload your own .wav tones and recorded messages, or type an announcement and save it as an audio file with OpenAI or Windows text-to-speech. Announcements play from saved audio files, not from text typed in the moment.

    • .wav files
    • OpenAI voices
    • Windows voices
  2. Where it plays

    Your paging system and phones

    Overhead paging and IP phones. In 3CX you pick paging extensions, phone extensions or paging ring groups.

    • Paging
    • Phones
    • Paging ring groups
  3. When it plays

    Once, or on a repeating schedule

    Book it on the calendar for one day, or repeat it daily, weekly, monthly or yearly. Build complex schedules for specific days of the week and specific days of the year, and end a series after a set number of times or on a date.

    • Once
    • Daily
    • Weekly
    • Monthly
    • Yearly

The Scheduler in Week view. Switch to Day, Work Week, Month or Timeline, and pick the profile to show.

The calendar

Book announcements the way you book meetings.

Appointments

One window for each announcement.

Click any day in the calendar to add an appointment. Choose the resource that receives it, set the start date and time, pick the audio file, and add a color and description so it is easy to spot.

  • One-time or repeating appointments
  • Color-code appointments to tell them apart
  • Move appointments with drag and drop
Repeats

Set the pattern once. It keeps repeating.

Pick the days of the week, a date each month, or a pattern such as the second workday of every month. End the series after a set number of times or on a date you choose.

  • Edit or delete a single appointment
  • Or change the whole series at once
Profiles

Decide which phones and speakers hear it.

A profile holds the audio file and the extensions it plays to. Keep several, duplicate one to start a new version, and enable the one you need. One profile is active at a time. For example, a school can duplicate its regular schedule, move just the first few bells later, save it as "Snow day, delayed start", and switch to it on the morning it is needed.

  • Overhead paging systemsPaging extensions for overhead paging and IP speaker systems always answer on their own.
  • Phone extensionsAnswer on their own when Dial Code is selected, as long as the phone supports the paging dial code.
  • Paging ring groupsAnswer on their own. Use multicast paging to reach a large number of extensions at once.

Profile Settings: profiles on the left, the extensions assigned to the enabled profile on the right, with a Dial Code box for each.

Where it helps

Made for places that run on a timetable.

Scheduled tones and announcements keep everyone on the same timetable, for example a tone at every shift change on a factory floor.

Schools

Play tones and recurring announcements over the paging system at the same times each school day.

Factories and shift work

Announce breaks and shift changes automatically, so nobody has to remember to make the page.

Airports and busy facilities

Schedule routine announcements to play over overhead paging at the times you set.

Days that break the routine

Keep a separate profile for a day with a different schedule, such as a snow day, and enable it when you need it.

Text-to-speech

Type an announcement and save it as audio.

No need to record yourself. Choose a text-to-speech engine, type the message and save it as an audio file you can schedule.

  • OpenAIChoose the voice, model and speed. Needs your own OpenAI API key.
  • WindowsChoose the language and the voice, then save the file.
  • Preview firstPlay the result in the built-in player or download it before you put it on the calendar.

OpenAI text-to-speech: pick the voice, model and speed, then generate.

Audio Scheduler is included in the VoIPTools Subscription.

One subscription gets you Audio Scheduler and 30+ other add-ons for 3CX.

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Also included

Calendar views, logs and your own branding.

Five calendar views

Day, Week, Work Week, Month and Timeline, with Today and date controls to move around.

Resource groups

Choose which resources to show, and hide or display resource groups to keep the calendar clear.

Logs you can export

Every event with its date, time, type and message, marked as information, warning or error.

Custom Branding

Add your logo and header title, and set the header and grid colors.

Everything in Audio Scheduler

  • Schedule tones, alarms and recorded messages over paging systems and phones
  • Schedule as many notifications as you want
  • One-time appointments, or repeats daily, weekly, monthly or yearly
  • End a series after a number of times or on a date
  • Edit or delete one appointment or the whole series
  • Drag and drop appointments
  • Color labels and descriptions
  • Day, Week, Work Week, Month and Timeline views
  • Show or hide resource groups
  • Play to overhead paging systems and IP phones
  • Paging extensions, phone extensions and paging ring groups, including multicast paging
  • Auto-answer through the 3CX paging dial code
  • Profiles that group audio and extensions, one active at a time
  • Upload, play and delete .wav files
  • Use an unlimited number of different audio files
  • OpenAI and Windows text-to-speech
  • Preview, play and download generated audio
  • Logs with export
  • Custom Branding
  • Browser-based portal, with sign-in by 3CX extension and voicemail PIN
Questions

Audio Scheduler questions, answered.

Anything else? Our support team answers 24/7 from the USA, India and the Philippines.

Will it work with my 3CX?+
Audio Scheduler works with 3CX version 20. It is installed on a separate Windows server, never on the 3CX server. The only VoIPTools software on the 3CX server is the VoIPTools Relay. 3CX can run on Windows or Linux, in any cloud or on premises, but not on servers hosted and managed by 3CX.
What can it play announcements to?+
Overhead paging systems and IP phones. In 3CX you choose paging extensions, phone extensions or 3CX paging ring groups, including multicast paging to reach a large number of extensions.
Will phones answer by themselves?+
Yes. Overhead paging extensions always answer on their own. A phone that supports the paging dial code answers on its own when Audio Scheduler calls it with that dial code. Paging ring groups always answer on their own.
Can we use our own tones and recordings?+
Yes. Upload your own .wav files and use as many different ones as you like.
Can it read our text aloud?+
Yes, by creating your own audio files with text-to-speech. Type the message, generate it with OpenAI text-to-speech (using your own OpenAI API key) or Windows text-to-speech, and play the new audio file to make sure it sounds right. Then assign it to a scheduled time. Audio Scheduler plays scheduled audio files; it does not read typed text out live.
Can we run a different schedule on some days?+
Yes. Keep a separate profile for a different kind of day and enable it when you need it. One profile is active at a time.
Can I change one appointment without changing the whole series?+
Yes. You can make one-time changes and exceptions to a repeating schedule: when you edit or delete a repeating appointment, choose just that occurrence or the entire series.
Do we need new equipment?+
Audio Scheduler uses your existing 3CX system and plays through the phones and paging devices already connected to it. It does need its own Windows server, separate from the 3CX server.
Details

Requirements, updates and documentation.

Downloads and documentation
  • 3CX version 20
  • A Windows 10 or later, or Windows Server 2016 or later, server for Audio Scheduler, separate from the 3CX server
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2016 or later (the free Express edition works), installed on the VoIPTools server, not the 3CX server. You can also use your own existing SQL Server. We strongly recommend SQL Server 2025: its free Express edition holds databases up to 50 GB, five times more than earlier versions, which matters for add-ons that store a lot of data, such as Exporter.
  • The VoIPTools Relay is the only VoIPTools software installed directly on the 3CX server. It must be installed on the 3CX server, not on the VoIPTools server.
  • Static IP addresses for the VoIPTools and 3CX servers
  • Phones that should answer on their own must support the paging dial code (they do not need to be set to auto-answer)
  • Audio files in .wav format. To use text-to-speech with AI-based engines, you must supply your own API key.
  • 3CX on Windows or Linux, in any cloud (such as Amazon, Microsoft Azure or Google) or on premises. Not compatible with 3CX servers hosted and managed by 3CX, which do not allow third-party software.

Check the documentation for the current release and full setup details for your environment.

Got a question?

Talk to the team that builds Audio Scheduler.

Whether it is Audio Scheduler, another add-on, or a custom solution built around your needs, we can help you get the most out of 3CX.

Already a customer? For help with an install or an issue, email Support@VoIPTools.com.

Thank you. Your question has been sent, and our team will get back to you soon.

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Audio Scheduler and every add-on below come in the same VoIPTools Subscription.

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Set your announcement schedule once.

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