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Rule to Play Sound

Have you ever wanted to play a sound to notify you when you receive an email? Create a rule to notify you when specific criteria you set is met.

Where do I install sounds?

Install them as follows:

  • Entourage X and 2004: Home/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Entourage Sound Sets.
  • Entourage 2001: Startup Disk:Documents:Microsoft User Data:Entourage Sound Sets.

Entourage X and 2004 Rule

  1. Download David Blache's Play Sound application here. (freeware)
  2. Install Play Sound. To install, drag it to any location on your hard drive. The first time you call the Play Sound application in a script, AppleScript may ask you to locate the application file if Play Sound is not running.
  3. Create "Custom Sounds" folder in your Microsoft User Data folder
  4. Add a sound file in AIFF format. For the following example we are using the Quack sound. More on creating AIFF files below.
  5. Put the following script in the Entourage Script Menu Items folder
  6. Create a rule that runs this script when a message meets your criteria 
    7. -- Example, when a From: sender is your boss
-- Duplicate and change the sound in this script to add other notifications

Skip creating the script and download the sample scripts and sounds below.

Script to play sound (example uses the Quack sound) (based on a script by Justin Mayer)

set cusrPath to (path to "cusr" as string)
   
       set soundAlias to (cusrPath & "Documents:Microsoft User Data:Custom Sounds:Quack.aiff") as alias
      
       tell application "Play Sound"
         play (soundAlias as alias)
       end tell

Save the script as "Sound Quack". New to copying scripts? See Copying Scripts to use in Entourage Note: Short sounds often work best.... especially for lots of messages.

Modify the script

To create other scripts, all you need to do is replace the sound name. For example:

This change would play the submarine sound:

Custom Sounds:Submarine.aiff"

This change would play the "You've Got Mail" sound:

Custom Sounds:You've Got Mail.aiff"

Now use the script in a rule...

Rule to play the Quack sound:

      

      "Contains" criteria can be changed.
      "Move message" : You can select any folder

Use a rule to play a sound for specific messages

Rule to play Submarine sound for buddy category:

Creating AIFF files

Miss the old OS 9.1 system sounds like Quack, Sosumi and Submarine? You'll need to be booted into OS 9 to access the files so you might as well use the freeware application, SoundApp PPC (it's a classic application) to convert the sounds in the OS 9 System file to AIFF. SoundApp can play and convert sound files from a variety of computer platforms and in many different formats.

If you want to work on the files in OS X, you might check out Amadeus (shareware). Both Amadeus and SoundApp can be downloaded from VersionTracker or MacUpdate.

You can search the net for free alert sounds already in AIFF format, or you can convert your own using a tool such as Apple’s $29.95 QuickTime Pro or iTunes or one of many other such applications.

Note the sound files in 9.1 are different from 9.2. Quack is only found in 9.1.

Sample Scripts

Place these scripts in the Entourage Script Menu Items folder located inside your Microsoft User Data folder.

Sample Sounds to use with Scripts

Place these sounds in the Custom Folder you created in your Microsoft User Data folder.