A combined alert and command control system of a system comprising a plurality of components and management agents monitoring and managing said components, the combined alert and command control system communicating with a plurality of user devices (210, 214, 216, 218, 245), the combined alert and command control system comprising: i) an object repository for storing command objects and event notifications; ii) alert generation means for generating an audio alert notification message and transmitting the generated audio alert notification message to at least one of the plurality of user devices (210, 214, 216, 218, 245), comprising: - means for receiving notification of a alert condition detected within said system by said alert generation means based on an event notification from said object repository; - means for determining a notification path associated with the detected alert condition; - means for generating an audio alert notification message based on the received notification of the detected alert condition, using a speech generation component; and - means for transmitting the generated audio alert notification message to said at least one of the plurality of user devices via the determined notification path; and iii) command control means for processing an audio command, comprising: - means for receiving an audio command from one of said user devices (210, 214, 216, 218, 245); - means for processing the received audio command to derive command data, using a speech recognition component; - means for constructing a command based on the derived command data; and - means for storing the constructed command in said object repository; wherein the alert generation means and the command control means are arranged to interact with the plurality of user devices via a single communication path. i) an object repository for storing command objects and event notifications; ii) alert generation means for generating an audio alert notification message and transmitting the generated audio alert notification message to at least one of the plurality of user devices (210, 214, 216, 218, 245), comprising: - means for receiving notification of a alert condition detected within said system by said alert generation means based on an event notification from said object repository; - means for determining a notification path associated with the detected alert condition; - means for generating an audio alert notification message based on the received notification of the detected alert condition, using a speech generation component; and - means for transmitting the generated audio alert notification message to said at least one of the plurality of user devices via the determined notification path; and - means for receiving notification of a alert condition detected within said system by said alert generation means based on an event notification from said object repository; - means for determining a notification path associated with the detected alert condition; - means for generating an audio alert notification message based on the received notification of the detected alert condition, using a speech generation component; and - means for transmitting the generated audio alert notification message to said at least one of the plurality of user devices via the determined notification path; and iii) command control means for processing an audio command, comprising: - means for receiving an audio command from one of said user devices (210, 214, 216, 218, 245); - means for processing the received audio command to derive command data, using a speech recognition component; - means for constructing a command based on the derived command data; and - means for storing the constructed command in said object repository; - means for receiving an audio command from one of said user devices (210, 214, 216, 218, 245); - means for processing the received audio command to derive command data, using a speech recognition component; - means for constructing a command based on the derived command data; and - means for storing the constructed command in said object repository;