Configuring Alarm Acknowledgment from a Notification

Several Alert Notification protocols support direct worker acknowledgment of an alarm through the same protocol. The reply travels back through the provider to Alert Notifications, which verifies it and acknowledges the alarm on the worker's behalf. The Connected Field Service workflow sees the result as a change in alarm state, which is often used in escalation loops to stop as soon as someone responds. Learn more

Before you begin, configure a provider that supports acknowledgment and its webhook in Alert Notifications. Not every provider supports replies. Learn more

A reply carries the alert ID of the message, an acknowledgment code, and an optional comment. The alert ID identifies the alarm, and the acknowledgment code identifies the person who answers it. Learn more

To let workers acknowledge alarms by replying to a notification:

  1. Open Workbench. In Project Explorer, expand your project > Alarms and Notifications > Alert Notifications and double-click General Settings.

  2. In the General settings section, select the following and then click Apply.

    • Enable SMS ID—Each outgoing message carries the alert ID that a reply is matched against.

    • Enable Acknowledge Id—A reply must also carry an acknowledgment code.

    Clear Enable Acknowledge Id if you do not want workers to have to quote a code. The alert ID is always required.

  3. Define the acknowledgment code in one of the following places, whichever suits your project. An individual worker's code takes precedence over the code set in the workflow configuration.

    • In a worker configuration—Expand Connected Field Service > Workers > Local-Default, open the desired worker, go to the General tab, select the Security Name that identifies the worker, and enter an Acknowledge Code. Assign each worker a distinct code to identify the person who answered. Learn more

    • In the workflow configuration—Expand Connected Field Service > Workflows, open the configuration, and on the Configuration Settings tab under Advanced Properties, enter an Acknowledge Code. This code applies to every worker who does not have their own. Learn more

  4. In Project Explorer under Connected Field Service > Templates, double-click Ack Loop Template (a sample template installed with GENESIS) or a template that you have created for acknowledging notifications.

  5. In the template designer dialog, confirm that the send activity (such as Send Email or Send SMS) is preceded by a Worker Lookup activity.

    A worker's own code applies only behind a Worker Lookup because it tells the workflow which worker was contacted. A Fixed Contact List always falls back to the code in the workflow configuration. Learn more

  6. (Optional) On the send activity, include the reply instructions in the Message so that the worker knows what to send back. For example, 23 A123Z Acknowledging alarm at pump house 1.

  7. To verify the acknowledgment process, trigger a matching alarm, reply to the notification in the expected format, and open an Alarm Viewer to confirm that the alarm is acknowledged and that the workflow took the True branch.