Customizing POI Alert Sounds

Customizing
Alert Sounds for User Created POIs

[last updated 05/08/2008]

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One option you have on the TomTom ONE is to create your own Point Of Interest (POI) inside of a POI Category.
An example of a POI Category is "Restaurants" and an example of a POI is a specific McDonalds on your map,
dictated by a lattitude and longitude. I won't get into the details of how to create a POI or a POI Category
on your TomTom because the owner's manual does a decent job of that.

A copy of the owner's manual can be found below:
>>> TomTom Owner's Manual <<<

Now, once you've created some of your own POI Categories you have the option of creating an alert warning
sound when you come near to a POI. There are only a handful of sounds that the TomTom gives you as
options and they really may not capture the spirit of the sound you are looking for.
Here are a few of the sounds that you can currently select:

It is important to note that any POI that is individually created within a POI category
will use the warning sound that is designated for the POI Category that it is created under.
For example, if you create a "Friendlys" POI Category and assign a siren sound to it, then whenever you
create a new POI under the "Friendlys" category, a siren sound will be associated with that POI warning.

Now the built in sounds are not very attractive. In reality, you may want something a little
more in 'tune' with the category you are warning about.

You can find instructions on how to change your warning sounds for POI categories below:

1. Follow your owner's manual instructions for creating a POI Category.

2. You have two methods to create a custom POI Alert sound:

a) The best method can be found on my write-up >>> HERE <<<

    b) Follow my method described in steps 3-15 below

3. The Category you created in step #1 shows up as two files on your TomTom:
            a) The *.ov2 file is the actual POI Category file (for example: Friendlys.ov2)
            b) The *.bmp file is the icon attached to the POI Category (for example: Friendlys.bmp)

        NOTE: These files are found in the specific map folder in which you are using at the time of the POI creation.
                      In my example, I am using the USA and Canada maps. Therefore, my *.ov2 and *.bmp file are located
                   here:
                        /TomTom (K:)/USA_and_Canada/Friendlys.ov2
                        /TomTom (K:)/USA_and_Canada/Friendlys.bmp

4. Find a sound clip that you would like to use as a warning sound. For example, I used Windows XP Sound Recorder
    to record my voice saying 'Yum': >>> YUMMMMMM <<<

5. TomTom recognizes sounds clips that are in the *.ogg filetype. I found a nifty little drag-n-drop program that
    will automatically convert any *.wav file to a *.ogg file. This program is called oggdropXPd.exe and can be found
    below:

>>> oggdropXPd.exe <<<

You can use a nice online converter for converting many other audio files to *.ogg
>>> MEDIA-CONVERT <<<

6. Once you have created a *.ogg file in step #4, be sure it has the same name as the *.ov2 file that is associated
with the POI Category you want the alert for. In my example:

Friendlys.ogg

7. Plug in your TomTom to your PC

8. Turn on your TomTom

9. Using Windows Explorer, find the TomTom device (it will have the little red TomTom icon next to it:

)

10. Click the little "+" sign next to the TomTom icon to expand the folders:

11. Copy the *.ogg file from step #4 into the map folder in which you created the POI.
- In my example, it is the

folder
        - Any alert that is enabled for your POI category will now use this *.ogg sound clip

12. Be sure to ENABLE the alert or you won't hear it when you get near the POI.
        - The owner's manual above describes how to enable an alert warning for any POI
                - These instructions are found under the "Points of Interests" chapter
                - The specific subtopic is "How can I set warnings for POIs?
        - Normally, after you choose the category you want to enable a sound warning for, the TomTom will ask you to
        click on an icon of the sound you want. That option doesn't appear when you have this *.ogg file on the
           TomTom - you simply will get a screen that says "Is This The Sound You Want To Select?"
            --> You simply click YES

13. On your windows lower right icon task menu, click on the safely remove hardware icon:

14. When Windows states it is safe to remove your hardware, disconnect your TomTom from your PC.

15. Now whenever you come near a POI that you have enabled this *.ogg file for, you will hear your own sound!

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