Alarms & Notifications

The Alarms & Notifications add-on lets you define alarm rules on any metric and receive real-time notifications when conditions are triggered. Alerts are delivered via email, SMS, or voice call through configurable escalation chains.

Enabling Alarms

  1. Navigate to Add-ons from the account menu
  2. Click Subscribe on the Alarms & Notifications card
  3. Alarms activate immediately on all your spaces

Pricing: $99/month. During trial sessions, alarms are available at no charge for the duration of the 8-hour window.

Creating Alarm Rules

  1. Open a space and expand the Alarms section
  2. Click Create Alarm
  3. Configure the alarm:
    • Name — a descriptive label for the alarm rule
    • Metric — select the metric to monitor
    • Condition — set the trigger type:
      • Value above threshold — triggers when the metric exceeds a numeric threshold
      • Value below threshold — triggers when the metric drops below a numeric threshold
      • Value is true (non-zero) — triggers when a boolean or numeric metric becomes true/non-zero
      • Value is false (zero) — triggers when a boolean or numeric metric becomes false/zero
    • Threshold — the numeric value for above/below conditions
    • Delay — how long the condition must persist before triggering (in seconds)
    • Escalation chain — which notification chain to use when the alarm fires

You can also create an alarm directly from a metric row by clicking the alarm bell icon next to the metric.

Screenshot: Create Alarm dialog with metric selection, condition, and deadband fields

Example

Monitor a temperature sensor. Set condition to "Value above threshold" with a threshold of 180.0 and a delay of 10 seconds. The alarm triggers if temperature stays above 180 for 10 seconds.

Managing Alarm Rules

Each alarm rule in the list shows:

  • Status dot (colored by state: normal, warning, critical)
  • Rule name and metric path
  • Condition and threshold display (e.g. > 180, True, False)
  • Delay value (if set)
  • Enable/disable toggle
  • Link to its escalation chain
  • Edit and delete actions

Escalation Chains

Escalation chains define who gets notified and when. When an alarm triggers, the chain starts at step 1 and escalates if the alarm isn't acknowledged.

How Escalation Works

  1. Alarm triggers → step 1 members are notified
  2. If not acknowledged within the delay period, step 2 members are notified
  3. This continues through all steps in the chain
  4. Each step can iterate multiple times before moving to the next

Configuring a Chain

  1. Navigate to the Escalation section within Alarms
  2. Create a new chain or edit the default chain
  3. Mark a chain as the default for new alarm rules
  4. Add steps with:
    • Delay — how long to wait before escalating (default: 5 minutes)
    • Iterations — how many times to notify this step's members before moving on
    • Members — which users to notify at this step

Screenshot: Escalation chain editor showing steps with delay, iterations, and assigned members

Per-Step Member Channels

Each member in an escalation step can have different notification channels:

  • Email — always available
  • SMS — requires a verified phone number
  • Voice call — requires a verified phone number

Alarm Roster

The alarm roster is the per-space list of users who can receive alarm notifications.

  1. Navigate to the Roster section within Alarms
  2. Add space members to the roster
  3. Enable or disable notifications for individual users

Screenshot: Alarm roster showing members with notification toggles

Only users on the roster can be assigned to escalation steps.

Notification Channels

Email

Email notifications are always available for all users. No additional setup is required.

SMS

To receive SMS notifications:

  1. Go to your Contact Preferences on the Spaces dashboard
  2. Enter your phone number in international format (e.g. +15551234567)
  3. Click Verify — you'll receive a 6-digit code via text message
  4. Enter the code to confirm your number
  5. Enable SMS notifications

Voice Calls

Voice call setup follows the same process as SMS:

  1. Enter and verify your phone number
  2. Choose Voice verification to receive a 6-digit code via automated call
  3. Enable voice notifications

Screenshot: Notification settings showing phone verification and channel toggles

Verified phone numbers work for both SMS and voice channels.

Acknowledgment

When an alarm fires:

  1. Assigned users are notified through their configured channels
  2. Any notified user can acknowledge the alarm to stop further escalation
  3. Acknowledged alarms remain visible in the alarm history
  4. If no one acknowledges, the escalation chain continues to the next step

Members with the Callout role see a simplified alarm-only view with an Acknowledge button for each active alarm, plus an Acknowledge All button when multiple alarms are active.

Alarm History

All alarm events are logged:

  • Trigger time — when the alarm condition was met
  • Notification log — which users were notified, via which channel, and when
  • Acknowledgment — who acknowledged and when
  • Clear time — when the alarm condition returned to normal

Screenshot: Alarm history table showing triggered, acknowledged, and cleared alarms

Tips

  • Start with a simple one-step escalation chain and add steps as your team grows
  • Use the "true/false" conditions for monitoring binary states like pump running or valve open
  • Use above/below with a delay to avoid alarm floods from noisy sensors
  • Verify phone numbers in your Contact Preferences before adding users to SMS or voice escalation steps

Next Steps