Notification Sounds

Pick the default sounds for normal and critical alerts, preview every sound, and upload your own.

Notification Sounds is where you decide which tones your alerts play. You set one default sound for normal alerts and a separate default for critical ones, preview any sound before choosing it, and upload your own files to the library. If you belong to more than one agency, a dropdown at the top lets you switch which agency's sound settings you are editing.

Overview

Element	What it does
Normal	The default sound for normal alerts, with the current name beside it
Critical	The default sound for critical alerts, with the current name beside it
Sound list	Every active sound in the library, with its length and a play button
Custom sounds list	The sounds you have uploaded
Agency dropdown	Switches which agency's sound settings you are editing
Three-dot menu	Opens Upload Sound
Save	Stores your default choices

Both lists are sorted alphabetically, ignoring capitals, so a sound is always where you expect it.

Row element	What it shows
Name	The sound's name. Shown in red if the sound is inactive
Length	The sound's duration in (mm:ss) form, or (00:00) if unknown
Play button	A play icon, which becomes a stop icon while that sound is playing

info

The main list shows only sounds marked active. Inactive sounds still appear in red where they are already in use, so you can tell that an alert is pointing at something unusable.

Getting Here

1. Open the Account tab.
2. Open App Settings.
3. Choose Default Sounds.

Loading and Empty States

State	What you see
Screen opens	Both lists are built from the sound library stored on the device — no spinner, no request
No default set	The label next to Normal or Critical reads None
No custom sounds	The custom list is simply empty
Uploading	A spinner covers the screen while the file is uploaded and registered

The agency dropdown also shows an unread-notification count beside each agency name, so you can see at a glance which agency has alerts waiting while you are choosing sounds.

Setting Default Sounds

1. Tap the Normal selector to choose the sound for normal alerts, or the Critical selector for critical alerts.
2. A picker opens listing every sound alphabetically, with your current choice preselected.
3. Pick a sound. The name now appears beside the label on the main screen.
4. Tap Save to store your choice.

Label shows	Meaning
A sound name	That sound is the default for this alert type
None	No default is set, so nothing will play

caution

A default of None means alerts at that level arrive with no sound at all. If people report silent pages, this is one of the first things to check.

Previewing a Sound

1. In either list, tap the play button on any row. The icon switches to a stop icon while it plays.
2. Tap it again to stop, or let it finish — the icon resets by itself when playback ends.
3. Starting a different sound stops the one already playing, so only one plays at a time.
4. Playback is possible only for sounds already downloaded to the device. A sound that has not downloaded yet stays silent when you tap play.

Previews stop automatically when you leave the screen.

Uploading a Custom Sound

1. Tap the three-dot menu and choose Upload Sound.
2. Pick an MP3 or WAV file from the document browser. Only one file at a time.
3. A Sound Name prompt appears, pre-filled with the file's name minus the extension. Edit it if you want.
4. Tap Save, or Cancel to abandon the upload.
5. The file is uploaded, then registered with your agency. A spinner runs throughout.
6. On success the new sound appears in your custom list, sorted into place alphabetically, and is immediately available as a default.

Step	Detail
Allowed formats	MP3 and WAV only
Name if you clear the field	Falls back to the file name without its extension
Length	Read from the file itself and shown on the row
Confirmation	"Sound uploaded successfully."
Upload failed	"Upload failed:" followed by the reason
Registration failed	An alert with the server's error text
File could not be copied	An Upload Failed alert with the reason

note

An uploaded sound is added to your library straight away, but it may still be inactive until your agency activates it. Inactive names show in red and cannot be chosen as a default.

Switching Agencies

1. Tap the agency dropdown at the top.
2. If you have unsaved default changes, a prompt appears first: Settings Updated — "Do you want to save changes?" Choose Save to store them, or Cancel to stay where you are. The dropdown does not open until you deal with the prompt.
3. With nothing unsaved, the dropdown opens and you pick an agency.
4. The Normal and Critical labels reload for the agency you chose.

Saving and Leaving

Action	What happens
Save	Stops any preview, stores your defaults, and returns you to App Settings
Back with unsaved changes	Prompts Settings Updated — "Do you want to save changes?" with Save and Cancel
Back with nothing changed	Leaves immediately

Connection	What Save does
Online	Stores your defaults on the device and sends them to the server for the selected agency
Offline	Stores them on the device and flags them to sync when you next connect

How This Connects

• Where the sounds come from. The library is part of the system data your device downloads, and your uploads are added to it. Your own custom sounds are loaded when you sign in and their files are downloaded in the background so previews and alerts can play without a connection.
• When changes take effect. Locally as soon as you tap Save. On the server immediately if you are online, or on your next connection if you were not. Alerts already delivered keep the sound they arrived with.
• What the defaults drive. Every notification set to Default Sound on Notification Settings points here. Change your Normal default and every normal alert using Default Sound follows it — one change instead of dozens. The same applies to Critical.
• Per-notification sounds. A notification can also name a specific sound instead of using the default. Those are chosen in the edit popup described on Push Notification Settings, and the list offered there is this same library minus whichever sound is already the default.
• Muting. Mute All Notifications silences everything regardless of which sounds you have chosen, and does not change them.
• Per agency. Defaults are stored per agency, so the agency you are in decides which tone plays. Alerts land in Notifications regardless.
• Offline and reconnect. Choosing and saving defaults works offline and is flagged to sync. Uploading a sound does not — it needs a connection to upload the file and register it.

Troubleshooting

If this happens	What to do
No sound plays for your alerts	Check that Normal and Critical are not None. A default of None means silence.
A sound name is red and cannot be chosen	It is inactive. Choose an active sound, or ask your agency to activate that one.
Tapping play does nothing	The sound file has not downloaded to this device yet. Reconnect, give it a moment, and try again.
Your chosen default did not stick	You may have tapped Cancel on the "Do you want to save changes?" prompt. Choose it again and tap Save.
An upload fails with "Upload failed:"	Check your connection and the file format. Only MP3 and WAV are accepted.
The document browser will not show your file	It is filtered to MP3 and WAV. Convert the file first.
An uploaded sound appears in red	It is uploaded but not yet active. It cannot be used as a default until it is activated.
The agency dropdown will not open	You have unsaved changes. Deal with the prompt first, then tap it again.
Alerts use the wrong tone after switching agency	Defaults are per agency. Check the Normal and Critical labels for the agency you are actually in.
Alerts still have the old sound	Notifications set to a specific sound rather than Default Sound are unaffected by these defaults. Check them on Notification Settings.
A sound shows (00:00)	Its length is unknown. It will still play.

Related Pages

• Notification Settings
• Push Notification Settings
• Notifications

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