If you end up going down the dedicated phone route, you can use SharpTools with Android to make it really easy to have your phone speak the current status of different device events. You could even use it to control your device with your voice and/or use it as a dashboard in addition to having it act as an annunciator.
If you have a Sonos, Ubi, or VLC Thing, you can use Big Talker by @rayzurbock