Creating a Complex Notification Template
Consider this more complex example of the use of incidents and notification templates. Assume that during an ice storm, you want the first responders from three key teams to be on a conference call as soon as possible. For this example, we will use escalation groups called disaster recovery (DR), human resources (HR), and information technology (IT). Note that you do not need specific individuals, only the first responder from each escalation group. Because your area is prone to ice storms, you want to save this notification structure for quick and easy execution. To do this, you want to create a notification template:
- Create your DR, HR, and IT escalation groups.
- Create a template with a linked notification to contain the conference call information for all three escalation groups.
- Use the Clone feature to create three simultaneous notifications to the three key escalation groups, limiting the response from each escalation group to one person. The steps that follow explain this in greater detail.
TIP
The Clone feature enables you to create multiple notifications with identical information in the subject line, body text, and conference call information. Each notification has its own escalation list. If you do not use Clone and instead create one notification and send it to all three escalation groups, AlertFind only allows the first responder from all of the escalation groups to respond instead of one responder from each escalation group. By using the Clone feature to create three notifications, all three escalation groups are notified at the same time and the correct number of respondents is allowed.
- Save the Notification Template.
The following sample procedure shows you how to create a notification template that bridges first responders from three escalation groups to a conference call. For instructions on creating escalation groups, see Escalation Groups.
To create an example complex notification template:
- Create a notification template. See Create a New Notification Template.
- Select an icon to associate with the template.
- Enter the Title and Description.
- For the Launch Options, select Send All Notifications and Create Incident. If you have attachments, add the attachments. See Select Template Launch Options.
- Create your first notification in the notification section of the template. See Compose Notification.
- In the Compose tab, select an escalation group for the To field. Then enter information in the Subject and Message fields.
- In the Responses section, click New and in the Response Editor, set the Response Limit to 1, select Bridge to conference call, and fill in the required information. Then click OK. This ensures that the first person to respond to the call is bridged to the conference call.
- Using the Clone feature, make two identical copies of the notification. See Save Multiple Notifications to a Template.
- In the To field of the cloned notifications, edit the escalation group so each message has a different group. If necessary edit any other information in the message for the appropriate group.
- Click Save & Close to finish, or if you want to review the template in the Alert Console, click Save & Open in Alert Console.