Alerts System
When an installation behaves in an unexpected way and/or may need intervention, the photoSentinel system will generate an “alert” in the System Logs on the Status page. This alert can then generate daily alert summaries, critical alert notifications and populate an Alerts page in photoSentinel Control Hub.
“Alerts” are system messages that an installation is not behaving as expected. They can be viewed in Control Hub and the Daily Alert Summary email.
A “critical alert notification” denotes a critical issue and is sent immediately via email and/or SMS.
Alerts are always active and viewable in the System Logs on an installation’s Status page. Alert notifications and critical alert notifications are on by default and can be disabled (see below); first time users do not need to do anything to activate them.
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Turn Alert Notifications On/Off
Alert Notifications are automatically switched on when an installation connects for the first time.
If you want to disable or enable Alert Notifications for an installation, you can do so by following the steps below.
To turn Alert Notifications ON for an installation:
- In Control Hub, select the installation from the search field and navigate to the Access tab.
- Under Users with access to, select your username from the drop-down.
- Tick the “Receive Alerts” checkbox and check that all other permissions the user requires are ticked. Then click the “Set User Permissions” to save the new settings. You will now receive alert notifications for this installation in Control Hub. To switch email and SMS notifications on/off, see the Change Email & SMS Notifications settings section.
To turn Alert Notifications OFF for an installation:
- In Control Hub, select the installation from the search field and navigate to the Access tab.
- Under Users with access to, select your username from the drop-down.
- Tick all required permissions except for “Receive Alerts“. Then click the “Set User Permissions” to save the new settings. You will no longer receive alert notifications for this installation.
View Alerts in Control Hub
Alerts can be viewed in two placed in Control Hub:
- The Alerts page displays a list of active alerts across all of your photoSentinel installations that you have set to receive notifications.
- The Status page for an individual installation displays current and past alerts for that installation.
View Alerts on the Alerts Page
If you have set at least one installation to receive alerts, you can navigate to the Alerts page by clicking on Alerts in the navigation menu of photoSentinel Control Hub.
The Alerts page displays a list of active alerts across all the photoSentinel installations that are set to receive alerts.
Understanding the Alerts Table
Status
There are three alert statuses:
- Ongoing: The issue is active and has not been resolved.
- Resolving: There has been some behaviour that shows the issue has started to resolve.
- Resolved: The issue has been fully resolved. When an issue is resolved, the coloured severity box will also turn grey. Thirty-six hours after being resolved, the Alert notification will be removed from the Alerts page.
Severity
There are three levels of alert severity:
- Critical: The system has likely stopped or will soon stop taking and/or saving and/or uploading photos, and immediate action should be taken.
- Error: The system is likely still taking photos but is not behaving as expected. It may soon stop taking photos, and action should be taken.
- Warning: The system is currently taking photos but is experiencing issues. There is unlikely to be any immediate impact on photo capture, but the status should be monitored.
Detection Time
The time when the alert was first generated.
Last Changed
Time elapsed since the alert was triggered or resolved.
Installation
The installation the alert relates to.
Alert
The description of the alert that has been triggered.
Actions – Help
Click to view the relevant Knowledge Base article.
Actions – Dismiss
Click to remove this instance of the alert from view on the Alerts page. If the alert is triggered again it will be treated as a new alert. Note that this action will not dismiss the ongoing alert from the System Logs on the Status page.
View Alerts on the Status Page
On the Status page, alerts for that installation are displayed under System Logs in the Alerts tab.
All alerts will remain visible in the System Logs for the time period displayed, even if they have been resolved or been dismissed from the Alerts page.
Email & SMS Notifications
The photoSentinel system can be configured to send you two types of alert notifications:
- Immediate email and/or SMS notifications when an installation triggers a critical alert.
- A Daily Alerts Summary email which lists all current alerts for installations you are receiving notifications for.
By default, email and SMS critical alert notification are turned on and the Daily Alerts Summary email is scheduled for 9am (in your timezone) each day. You can change these settings by following the instructions below.
Note: For email and SMS critical alert notifications to work, you must have your correct email address and mobile phone number listed on the My Details page. The My Details page can be accessed by clicking on your username at the top right of the screen, then clicking My Details.
Change Alert Notification Settings
Alert notification behaviour is configured in each user’s account settings. In addition to setting an installation to receive alerts, you will need to configure your user settings to enable email and SMS notifications to receive installation alerts.
To change your Notification settings, click on the cogwheel at the top right of the Recent Activity table.
In the pop-up modal you can:
- Select to receive critical alert notifications by email and/or SMS.
- Select your preferred time for Alerts email summary. Leave blank to disable the summary email.
- Choose which hours of the day you want to receive Alerts SMSes. Any messages generated outside this time will be sent to you at the start of your selected time range.
Note: Make sure to click Save to confirm your settings.
Turn off Alert Email Summaries
If you've set a preferred time for you daily alerts email summary, you can disable it by following the steps below:
- Login to Control Hub
- Go to the Alerts page
- Bring up the notification settings pop-up modal by clicking on the cogwheel at the top right of the Recent Activity table.
- Disable the daily alerts email summary by clicking the ‘x’ next to the preferred time.
Note: Make sure to click Save to confirm your settings.
Lodge a Support Ticket
If this article did not resolve your issue, please lodge a Support ticket.