1. Introduction
The Alarm Notification Settings page provides a centralized interface for managing and customizing alarm notifications for various monitored systems. It enables users to configure notification preferences, set alarm thresholds, assign recipients lists, and define alarm levels based on specific conditions. This ensures timely and appropriate responses to potential system issues or anomalies.
To access this page: Click on the left top corner to open the ‘setting’ side bar, click on the ‘Alarm and Status’ Tab and then click on the ‘Alarm Notification Settings’ page.
2. An Overview of the Main Functions
Alarm Notification Settings Data Grid:
Alarm Notification Creation: Define alerts for specific events and notify personnel via email or SMS when thresholds are met.
Notification Email Contents: Customize the content of alarm notification emails.
Job Scheduling: Set time periods for the system to check and send alarm notifications.
Instrument Selection Section: select specific instruments to be monitored for notification.
Station Group Selection Section: select specific station-group to be monitored for notification.
3. How to Create an Alarm Notification
Click on '+New' button to create a new alarm notification. The fields to be filled are as follows:
3.1 Alarm General Setting
Alarm Job Name: Enter a unique and descriptive name for the alarm notification. This helps identify the purpose of the alarm.
Alarm Level: Select the severity of the alarm from the drop-down list. For example, RED (critical) or AMBER (warning). The available alarm levels are set up by admin in 'Alarm Level Set'.
NOTE: One alarm setting only monitors and send notification for one level of alarm. If Amber is set, only Amber level will be monitored, even if Red is triggered, no notification will be sent out. So please set multiple settings for all the alarm levels that you wish to monitor.
Distribution List: Click on the drop-down list and choose the group or individuals who will receive the alarm notifications.
NOTE: If the appropriate distribution list is absent from the drop-down list, it should be configured firstly by admin in the Settings - Messaging - Distribution Lists.
Included Instrument Types: Select the types of instruments, such as temperature sensors or inclinometers, that will be monitored for triggering the alarm.
Included Station Types: Specify the station types to narrow down the monitoring to relevant categories.
Site/Category: Choose the associated site or category where the alarm applies. This helps in organizing alarms by location or function.
Notification Type: Pick how the notifications will be sent—via email, SMS, or both—based on the recipients’ preferences.
Silent if no alarms: Check this option to suppress notifications when there are no active alarms, reducing unnecessary alerts.
Turn Instant Alarm Off: Enable this to prevent real-time notifications, which might be useful if instant alerts are not required.
3.2 Notification Content Setting
Maximum Instance of Alarms Sent: Set a limit on how many notifications can be sent for a single alarm trigger to avoid over-alerting.
Maximum Time in Minutes for Alarm Instance: Define how long the alarm remains active before it is cleared or re-triggered.
Is Continuous: Tick to enable the alarm to be sent only when a higher alarm level is triggered, compared between the last two records, e.g. Normal -> Amber; Amber -> Red. In this case, if the same alarm level is triggered continuously for multiple records, no more notification will be sent after the first notification.
Example of ticking Is Continuous:
Set Normal < Amber < Red as the alarm severity in this example case.
1) The alarm levels of the last two records are: Amber -> Amber, No Notification will be sent out.
2) The alarm levels of the last two records are: Normal -> Amber; or Amber -> Red; or Normal -> Red, Notification will be sent out.
3) The alarm levels of recent records are: Amber -> Normal, No Notification will be sent out.
Is Intermittent: Tick to enable the alarm to be sent only when a higher alarm is triggered, compared with all the records in a specific interval.
Example of ticking Is Intermittent:
Set Normal < Amber < Red as the alarm severity in this example case.
1) The alarm levels of recent records since the last time set the alarm notification setting: Normal -> Amber -> Normal -> Amber: only one notification will be sent to the recipients on the first time reaching Amber. No more Notification will be sent out on the second or further Amber.
2) The alarm levels of recent records since the last time set the alarm notification setting: Normal -> Amber (SENT) -> Normal -> Amber -> RED (SENT) -> Normal -> Amber: Notification will be sent only for the first Amber, and first RED afterwards.
3) The alarm levels of recent records since the last time set the alarm notification setting: Normal -> RED (SENT) -> Normal -> Amber -> Amber -> Normal -> Amber: Notification will be sent only for the first RED. Even if Amber is triggered in the later time, No Notification will be sent out.
Example of ticking both Is Continuous and Is Intermittent:
Tick to enable the alarm to be sent only when a higher alarm is triggered, compared with all the records in a specific interval. It will follow the same rules of ticking Is Intermittent.
Set Normal < Amber < Red as the alarm severity in this example case.
1) The alarm levels of recent records since the last time set the alarm notification setting: Normal -> Amber -> Normal -> Amber: only one notification will be sent to the recipients on the first time reaching Amber. No more Notification will be sent out on the second or further Amber.
2) The alarm levels of recent records since the last time set the alarm notification setting: Normal -> Amber (SENT) -> Normal -> Amber -> RED (SENT) -> Normal -> Amber: Notification will be sent only for the first Amber, and first RED afterwards.
3) The alarm levels of recent records since the last time set the alarm notification setting: Normal -> RED (SENT) -> Normal -> Amber -> Amber -> Normal -> Amber: Notification will be sent only for the first RED. Even if Amber is triggered in the later time, No Notification will be sent out.
Ignore Alarm Data Taken in Minutes Ago: Enter a timeframe (in minutes) to ignore alarms triggered recently, preventing duplicate notifications, e.g. Ignore data recorded within the past five minutes. Even if the data triggers the alarm, ignore them and do not send notifications. Send notifications only when the alarm is triggered by data that is recorded older than 5 minutes ago or after the current time.
Ignore Alarm Data Taken in Minutes Ahead: Specify a timeframe (in minutes) to suppress alarms for events expected shortly after setup, e.g. Ignore data from now until five minutes later. Even if the data triggers the alarm, ignore it and do not send notifications. Send notifications only when data before now or five minutes later triggers the alarm.
Ignore Alarm Data Taken Before Date-Time: Set a date and time to exclude alarm data generated before that point, filtering out irrelevant or old triggers, e.g. Ignore data from five minutes ago to five minutes later. Even if the data triggers an alarm, ignore them and do not send notifications. Send notifications only when data triggers an alarm more than five minutes ago or five minutes later than now.
Email Footer: Users can configure the footer of email notifications sent to recipients.
Disabled: Check this box to temporarily disable the alarm without deleting its configuration.
3.3 Alarm Scheduled Job Setting
Scheduled Job: Configure the schedule for alarm monitoring. You can set it to check every minute, at specific intervals, or during specific times of the day.
NOTE: Further instructions for scheduling a job are available later this manual 4. Job Scheduling.
Notes: Add comments or explanations about the alarm configuration for future reference or for others managing the system.
Last Alarm Data Execution Date-Time: Displays the most recent time the alarm monitoring was executed. This field is automatically filled and does not require user input.
3.4 Example of creating an Alarm Notification:
An Alarm notification with name 'C3 MOC3 Inclinometer [RED]' has been set up with the following settings:
The alarm notification will be sent out if Inclinometer (DGSI) monitoring data in C3 MOC3 category triggers the RED alarm level, both Email and SMS will be sent to the recipients of IM Team Only. Notification will not be sent out if there is no alarm on the scheduled time, nor instantly sent out when alarm is triggered.
When the alarm is triggered, only 1 notification will be sent out until the condition is resolved.
The alarm will be triggered at specific intervals (Is Intermittent): ignore all the data taken in 1440mins ago and ignore all the data taken in 1 mins later.
The notification will be sent out at specific schedule: Every day between 6am and 6:59pm, every hour for 15 minutes. (At 15 minutes past the hour, between 06:00 AM and 06:59 PM)
The last alarm notification was sent out in 04-03-2025 at 17:22pm (auto-recorded by system).
4. Job Scheduling
The Scheduling Function in this interface is used to define when the system should check or trigger alarms. This allows users to configure the timing and frequency of alarm monitoring and notifications based on operational needs.
The schedule needs to be configured by the following 4 tabs:
Minutes
Hours
Days
Month
4.1 Scheduling job in Minutes Tab:
Reset Button: Allows users to clear and reset the scheduling configuration to its default state. Useful when you need to start over or remove unwanted schedules.
Every Minute: Select this option if you want the alarm to be checked or triggered at every minute of the hour.
Every X Minutes: Allows you to specify an interval in minutes (e.g., every 1, 5, or 10 minutes) for alarm monitoring.
Specific Minute: Choose specific minutes within the hour for the alarm to trigger. For example, selecting "6" and "36" triggers the alarm at those exact times.
Every Minute Between: Define a range of minutes (e.g., between 0 and 10) for continuous alarm monitoring within that range.
4.2 Scheduling job in Hours Tab:
Every Hour:
Selecting this option triggers the alarm every hour, ensuring continuous monitoring throughout the day.
Every X Hour(s):
Allows users to specify an interval in hours (e.g., every 1, 2, or 4 hours).
For example, selecting "Every 1 hour" means the alarm will trigger at the start of every hour (e.g., 1:00, 2:00, etc.).
Specific Hour (Choose One or Many):
Enables users to select specific hours of the day when the alarm should trigger.
For instance, selecting "0" will trigger the alarm at midnight, and selecting multiple options like "6" and "18" will trigger the alarm at 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM.
Every Hour Between [Start Hour] and [End Hour]:
Allows users to define a time range for monitoring (e.g., between 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM).
Alarms will only trigger during the specified range, ignoring times outside of it. This is particularly useful for aligning with working hours or specific operational periods.
4.3 Scheduling job in Day Tab:
Every Day:
Selecting this option ensures that alarms are triggered daily, regardless of the day of the week or month.
Every X Day(s) of Week:
Allows users to set a recurring interval in days of the week (e.g., every 1 day, every 2 days).
For example, selecting "Every 2 days" ensures the alarm is monitored every second day of the week.
Every X Day(s) of Month:
Similar to the weekly interval but applies to the days of the month (e.g., every 1 day of the month or every 5 days).
Useful for alarms that need to trigger based on a regular interval within a month.
Specific Day of Week (Choose One or Many):
Let users select specific days of the week (e.g., Monday, Wednesday, Friday) for alarm monitoring.
For example, selecting "Sunday and Saturday" will restrict monitoring to weekends.
Specific Day of Month (Choose One or Many):
Enables users to choose specific calendar days of the month (e.g., the 1st, 15th, and 30th) for triggering alarms.
For example, selecting "1, 15, 31" will trigger alarms only on those dates.
4.4 Scheduling job in Month Tab:
Every Month:
Selecting this option ensures that alarms are triggered in every month of the year, without any restrictions.
Every X Month(s):
Allows users to set a recurring interval in months (e.g., every 1 month, every 2 months).
For example, selecting "Every 3 months" ensures the alarm is monitored quarterly (January, April, July, etc.).
Specific Month (Choose One or Many):
Enables users to select specific months of the year for alarm monitoring.
For example, selecting "January and July" ensures that alarms are triggered only during those months.
Every Month Between [Start Month] and [End Month]:
Allows users to define a range of months during which the alarm should be active.
For example, selecting "January to June" means alarms will only trigger in the first half of the year.
4.5 Example of scheduling a job:
The screenshots below show the time configuration for this alarm notification.
The alarm notification is scheduled to be sent to the configured distribution list recipients in every month, every day, at 16.30pm according to the project’s time zone.
5. How to Specify Instrument(s) / Station-Group(s) to be Monitored
This section provides steps on selecting specific instruments and/or station-groups to be monitored and sent notifications.
5.1 To monitor specific instrument(s)
Instrument Inclusion/Exclusion Function
In the monitoring job settings above, you can select instrument Types and Categories to define the scope.
This function lets you adjust the instrument list:
Exclude instruments already covered in selected instrument Types and Categories.
Include instruments outside the selected Types and Categories for broader or more targeted monitoring.
Tick to select an existing monitoring record from the above data grid.
Click on 'Edit Grid' to enter editing mode.
Click on '+Add' to create a new row.
In the column 'project Instrument', type and select the specific instruments to be included for monitoring purpose.
NOTE:
If an instrument type is selected in the monitoring job settings:
Adding an instrument within that type to this instrument selection section will exclude it from the job.
Adding an instrument outside that type to this instrument selection section will include it in the job.
If no type is selected, then any added instrument will be included in the job.
5.2 To monitor specific Station-Group(s)
Station Group Inclusion/Exclusion Function
In the monitoring job settings above, you can select station group Types and Categories to define the scope.
This function lets you adjust the station group list:
Exclude station groups already covered in the selected Types and Categories.
Include station groups outside the selected Types and Categories for broader or more targeted monitoring.
Tick to select an existing monitoring record from the above data grid.
Click on 'Edit Grid' to enter editing mode.
Click on '+Add' to create a new row.
In the column 'project station group', type and select the specific station group to be included for monitoring purpose.
NOTE: Station Group Inclusion/Exclusion Logic
If a station group type is selected in the monitoring job settings:
Adding a station group within that type to this selection section will exclude it from the job.
Adding a station group outside that type to this selection section will include it in the job.
If no type is selected, then any added station group will be included in the job.