Software

VOICE runs on its own software, which is free and open source, so any group can install it to run a program like VOICE. One installation runs the main site, the Switchboard, VOICE Alerts, and Beacon, with one database and one sign-in for every volunteer. It needs only ordinary low-cost web hosting, with no app store or paid service.

Parts of the Software

The software consists of a core and several modules, which administrators can turn on and off in Settings, so that a community runs only the parts it has volunteers to support. Any module can be turned off. With every module off, the main site is a single page with the group's own words and the message line, which suits a group that is just starting or pausing for a time.

• The Wiki is the main site, organized in sections, pages, and sub-pages, each either public or Volunteers Only. Volunteers write pages in a visual editor, and each page keeps a full history of who changed it and how. Pages can be printed or saved as PDF files, and imported and exported as plain Markdown files, so that another community can start from a copy of a whole site.
• The Switchboard is the shared log in which volunteers record every message and work to deliver it, each one a relay that shows its sender, its intended recipient, its priority, and every step taken.
• Alerts sends short alerts about weather, safety, and services to phones and computers, with no app to install. Each alert carries a digital signature and a short code that anyone can check on the Alerts site. The most serious kinds of alert require a second volunteer's approval before they are sent, unless there is no time to wait, and an optional phone number reads current Emergency and Important alerts aloud to callers. Alerts that recur, such as a cold-weather warning, can start from wording that volunteers wrote and checked ahead of time. An alert can also be scheduled to go out at a chosen time once any approval it requires is given.
• Beacon shows alerts, custom information, messages from relays, and parts of public pages on public screens and printed sheets.

The core also includes these parts.

• The question sets, which work like a FAQ, with answers that open one at a time, on the main site's pages and the Alerts site's Questions page.
• The Directory, where the team's members, organizations, and workgroups are listed.
• The Archive, which keeps the counts that remain after records are deleted.
• Printouts, such as the Get Alerts flyer and the message line card.
• Settings, where administrators change local details, such as the message line, along with roles, workgroups, alert types, and many other choices, without editing code.

Every volunteer signs in with a password and an authenticator app on their phone.

Web Addresses

A full installation uses up to three web addresses on the same hosting account.

• The main site's address (such as https://example.org), which serves the main site and Operations, where every volunteer signs in at /ops/.
• The Alerts site's address (such as https://alerts.example.org), where phones sign up and each alert has its page.
• Beacon's address (such as https://beacon.example.org), for its screens and sheets.

Each address has its own small web folder on the server. The code, the database, and the settings that all three share are kept in one more folder beside them, outside every web folder, so that nothing private can be reached from the web. The setup page suggests the other two addresses by putting alerts. and beacon. in front of the main site's, and each can be changed there or later in Settings > General.

Requirements

• PHP 8.2 or newer, with the common extensions that many hosts include, which the setup checks.
• Free HTTPS, such as a Let's Encrypt certificate.
• A way to point a web address at a chosen folder, which nearly every host offers.
• Scheduled tasks, often called cron jobs. When a plan has none, the setup guide describes a free alternative.

The software needs no database server, because everything is kept in one SQLite file. The setup guide that comes with it describes each step, including the menu names in the two control panels that many hosts use.

Alerts by Phone, the optional number that reads current Emergency and Important alerts aloud, runs on Twilio. As of 2026, the setup guide puts its cost at about $1.15 a month for the number, plus less than a cent a minute for calls. Automatic translation is also optional. Settings > Languages explains the choices, including LibreTranslate, open-source software that requires its own small server or a paid hosted plan. Every automatic translation is marked as not yet checked until someone who reads the language reviews it.

Placeholders

Pages on the main site use placeholders, which are short names in square brackets that the site fills in from its settings. They stand for details such as the message line, the fax number, the contact email address, the in-person times and places, and the number of days a relay is kept. When the message line's number or the session times change, a volunteer changes them once in Settings and every page shows the change. Pages copied for another community therefore show that community's own details.

Licenses

• The software is shared under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3 or later (AGPL). You may use, study, change, and share it, and if you run a changed version for others to use over the internet, you must offer them its source code under the same license.
• The writing, including these pages, is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). You may share and adapt it, as long as you give credit and share your adaptations under the same license.

Once the source code's address is written in Settings > Appearance, a link to it appears at the foot of every page of the main site. Questions about installing or adapting the software can be sent to info@voicestl.org.