Automated alarm forwarding: How alarms reliably reach the right people

In the first part of our blog post, we explained how alarms are created and configured in the Sensaru Cloud. In this second part, the crucial next step is discussed: the automatic forwarding of alarms to the responsible service staff – precise, targeted, and configurable.

Two settings are necessary for automatic alarm forwarding:

1. The service staff are created as users.

2. The forwarding of alarms to the relevant users is configured.

Through the module selection “Users,” the Cloud displays the list of all users created so far.

Define user roles and rights

In the view shown here, only users with administrator rights are created. These users have access to all modules of the cloud.

A user with the role ‘Service MA’, on the other hand, should only be given restricted access. In a first step, the authorisation for this user role is therefore defined: The ‘Service MA’ is given read access to monitoring and messages. This allows them to obtain information about the situation at the heating system remotely in advance.

For example, in the event of a pressure alarm, a slight drop in water pressure would not require immediate on-site intervention – but a drop in pressure to zero would.

Create service employees as users

In the next step, the service staff are created as a user. The alarm notification is sent to the registered email address. After creating a new user, they automatically receive an email with a link to create their own access data for the Cloud.

Set up an alert chain: Who receives which alerts?

In the final step, the forwarding of alarms is defined. The so-called notification chain determines who receives an alarm notification.

In the example shown, the “Cartakerservice Krause” is the first recipient of the notification. To ensure that they cannot easily deny the receipt of the alarm notification, an observer can also be defined who receives a copy of the notification.

Now it is determined from which objects alarm notifications are sent to this recipient. In our example, the “Caretakerservice Krause” receives all alarm notifications from object 1001 – Karlsruhe, An der Raumfabrik 1–3 via email.

The text of the alarm notification is already sensibly preset but can be individually adjusted via the “Email Configuration” button.

Escalation function for critical cases

For particularly important alarms, an additional notification recipient can be defined, who will then be automatically notified if the primary recipient does not respond within 60 minutes.

In these cases, an optional acceptance link is included in the notification text. If the primary recipient – e.g., “Custodian Krause” – clicks on this link, the notification chain is stopped. Other recipients will then no longer receive a message.

Test the Alarming Module Now

Please feel free to try it out: The alarming module is currently open for testing for all customers – regardless of whether it has already been booked.

And those who want to read part 1 of our blog on the topic of alarming again can click here.