Multilarm is scheduled-audio and emergency-alert software that plays bells, prayer calls, announcements and alerts through a building's existing speakers. It runs on a Windows or Linux PC or a Raspberry Pi, works fully offline, and is free for personal use with a one-off perpetual licence for institutions. It is not fire-alarm equipment and does not replace a certified alarm system.
Every answer here is deliberately short and self-contained. Where there is more to say, the answer links to the guide that says it.
What is Multilarm?
Multilarm is software that plays scheduled audio through a building's existing speakers: bells, prayer calls, announcements and emergency alerts. It runs on Windows, Linux and Raspberry Pi, works fully offline, and is controlled from a browser.
What problem does it actually solve?
It replaces the box that decides when sound happens — a bell timer, an adhan clock, a schedule somebody runs manually — with a configuration you can read, copy and change, on hardware you already own.
Is it a PA system?
No. It is the scheduler and announcement source. It drives the amplifiers and speakers you already have; it does not amplify anything itself.
Who uses it?
Mosques, schools, factories, care homes, hotels, museums, theatres, community radio and studios. The scheduling problem is the same shape in all of them.
Is it open source?
No. It is proprietary software, free for personal use, with one-off licences for institutional and commercial deployment.
Is Multilarm free?
Yes, for individual, non-commercial personal use. Congregational, institutional and commercial deployments need a one-off licence, starting at £99 for the charity tier.
Is the licence a subscription?
No. Licences are one-off and perpetual for the device count they cover. Only the optional Cloud Relay is billed on an ongoing basis.
What counts as one device?
One installation on one machine. A site running four zone boxes needs a licence covering four devices.
What are the tiers?
By device count: Charity (1, £99), Solo (1, £195), Trio (up to 3, £295), Site (up to 6, £395), Campus (up to 15, £645) and Fleet (up to 50, £945). The tier also sets your support level. Full detail is on the pricing page.
Do charities and small mosques pay less?
Yes. The charity tier is a reduced one-off price for registered charities and small masjids running a single device.
What happens when a new version comes out?
Updates are included. There is no upgrade fee, and no version at which an existing licence stops working.
Can we try it before buying?
Yes. The live demo runs in your browser with nothing to install, and the software itself is free to download and evaluate.
What hardware do we need?
A computer that stays on — a mini-PC, an old desktop, or a Raspberry Pi — with its audio output connected to your amplifier's line input. Nothing else is mandatory.
Will it work on a Raspberry Pi?
Yes. Raspberry Pi is fully supported on both 32-bit and 64-bit ARM, and is the cheapest way to run it. A Pi plus a USB audio adapter is a complete controller for well under £100.
Can it use our existing speakers and amplifiers?
Yes, and that is normally the point. If the amplifier has a line input — a 3.5 mm jack or phono pair — it can be driven from a PC's sound output. No new cabling is needed.
How do we drive more than one amplifier?
Mirroring plays the same audio out of several outputs from one stream, so multiple racks stay in sync. See multi-zone paging.
How do we find the right audio device number?
Press Ctrl+O in the console. It lists every playback and recording device with its index, so you never have to guess which USB adapter is which.
Does it need a monitor and keyboard?
No. It runs headless and is controlled from a browser on another machine.
What happens after a power cut?
Set it to start on boot — a Task Scheduler entry on Windows, a service on Linux — and it resumes its schedule automatically.
Does it need an internet connection?
No. Scheduling, playback, announcements and emergency audio all run fully offline. Internet is only needed for the optional cloud dashboard.
Can we control it from outside the building?
Yes, via the Cloud Relay, which the device polls outward over HTTPS. No inbound ports need opening, which is what makes it workable on institutional networks.
Do we have to open a firewall port?
No. The device makes outbound connections only.
Is there a phone app?
Yes, an Android app, plus the browser dashboard which works on any phone.
Can several people control it?
Yes. The cloud dashboard supports an owner plus invited operators with restricted permissions.
Is the local dashboard password-protected?
It can be. HTTP Basic Auth credentials are configurable; set them before putting it on a shared network.
How are times entered?
As a list per day in the configuration, either typed directly or built in the browser-based configuration generator. A full year of prayer times can be pasted in one go.
Can different days have different schedules?
Yes. Each day has its own entry, so a shortened Wednesday or a different Friday is expressed directly.
Can it skip holidays and term breaks?
Yes. Date-scoped configuration switching loads a different file — for example one with an empty schedule — on the dates you name, and reverts automatically.
Can we change one bell without rebuilding the timetable?
Yes. Rule overlays change the sound, the time or the spoken text of individual slots on matching dates. See exam-period schedules.
Can it handle rotating shift patterns?
Yes, where the pattern repeats on a calendar rule. Patterns on cycles that never align to the calendar, like four-on-four-off, are better driven from the system that owns the rota. See shift patterns.
What happens if two things are scheduled at once?
A priority system decides. Emergencies and live announcements interrupt immediately, secondary content waits for a quiet moment, and queued items play after the current one finishes.
Does it calculate prayer times, or do we supply them?
Either. You can paste a full-year timetable from your own source, which is what most mosques want because their times are agreed locally, or use a calculated timetable.
Can it handle the iqamah gap?
Yes. The gap between adhan and iqamah is configurable, along with an announcement and a countdown. See iqamah timers.
Can we use our own adhan recordings?
Yes. Point it at a folder of your own files. Several recordings in one folder are chosen at random, or you can fix one per prayer.
Does it handle Ramadan timings?
Yes, because the timetable is per-date. A Ramadan timetable is loaded as a date-scoped alternate configuration and reverts afterwards.
Can we show times on a screen in the prayer hall?
Yes. There is a display companion, and a free prayer-time widget that embeds a live timetable in any website.
Is the free prayer-time widget really free?
Yes, with no account required. It also generates a printable monthly timetable with a QR code.
Can it replace a failed school bell timer?
Yes, and that is one of the most common uses. The schedule becomes a file you can back up, rather than programming trapped in a box. See the school bell guide.
Can we silence bells near the exam hall without changing everything?
Yes. Rule overlays repoint individual slots at a silent folder on the exam dates, and zone relays mute specific areas during announcements.
Can the office ring a bell manually?
Yes. A test control in the dashboard fires any chosen bell folder immediately, which covers fire drills and assemblies.
Can staff make live announcements?
Yes, either by recording and previewing a message before it goes out, or by push-to-talk straight to the speakers.
Can our MES, PLC or nurse-call system trigger an announcement?
Yes. The trigger API accepts HTTP on the LAN, MQTT on your own broker, or HTTPS from the cloud, each authenticated with per-integration tokens.
Can it drive a real siren or bell circuit?
Yes. A USB relay board pulses the existing circuit on its own schedule, with no audio involved.
Can announcements go to one area only?
Yes, with a relay board: up to four zones, muting the others for the duration of the announcement.
Is there a record of what fired?
Yes. Playlist and audit logs are written to disk, and events are dispatched as outbound webhooks to whatever you already monitor.
Can it do lockdown or evacuation alerts?
Yes. A physical button loops a designated message at top priority and suppresses every scheduled item until reset. See lockdown alerts.
Is this a fire alarm?
No. It is voice alerting over a PA and is not certified fire detection and alarm equipment. It complements a fire alarm rather than replacing it.
Can somebody trigger an emergency remotely by accident?
Only if you allow it. A setting refuses all remote starts, leaving the physical button as the only way to begin one. Remote reset always works.
What if the emergency audio file is missing?
The emergency still engages — schedules are suppressed and the emergency lamp lights — but no audio plays. It fails loudly rather than silently.
Can it read out typed text?
Yes. On-device neural text-to-speech speaks typed announcements with no internet connection and no recording session.
What audio formats does it play?
MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC and AIFF.
Can it play background music or radio between announcements?
Yes, from a local folder or an internet stream, with announcements interrupting and the background resuming afterwards.
Can volume be lower at night?
Yes. Time-based volume profiles override the master volume during a window.
Can we upload audio remotely?
Yes. The dashboard has a file manager for the configured audio folders, with an audit trail of every upload and deletion.
Is the cloud subscription required?
No. Every schedule, bell, announcement and emergency trigger runs locally with no internet. The subscription only powers remote access — dashboard, app, alerts and live PA over the internet. Cancel it and the site keeps running.
What data leaves the building?
Nothing, unless you enable the Cloud Relay. With it enabled, status and the commands you issue pass through the cloud service; audio stays local except where you explicitly transmit or upload it.
Is there commissioning or installation help?
Yes, on-site commissioning is available as a paid add-on, quoted per site. Get in touch.
How do we report a bug?
Through the contact page. Error logs are written to disk and are usually the fastest route to a diagnosis.
Where is the full documentation?
The documentation page covers every setting, rule syntax and endpoint, and there is a video user guide.
Several answers above touch subjects with published standards or primary sources. Multilarm is not certified to any standard listed here; these are for checking our claims and for specifying properly.
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