How to create Alerts

This guide will show you how to create and configure rules to send email messages in Studio using the Alerts module. Through Alerts, customized emails can be sent about specific sensor events, for example, to:

• Know when a Cloud Connector or a sensor is offline
• Send an alert when a freezer is too hot
• Alert security when a window opens
• Notify the maintenance team if there is a water leak
• Be aware when someone presses a service button

What you need

• Access to Studio
• A user account with Project developer, Project administrator, or Organization Administrator permissions

Steps

1. In Studio, select the Alerts module
2. Navigate to the Configure tab
3. Click on Create Alert rule
4. Choose a suitable Alert name
5. Select Trigger
6. Select Schedule (Optional) 
7. Select Add devices
8. Select Add Action and choose Send Email
9. Add Escalation
10. Click Save Alert Rule in the lower right-hand corner

Congratulations — your alert has been successfully created!

Next, you can learn how to Acknowledge the alert and customize the alert email using Variables to include as much relevant information as possible.

Select trigger

Select the event that will trigger the alert.

Trigger	Description	Devices
Temperature	Triggered when the temperature is above, below, outside, or within the defined range.	Temperature, EN12830/330s, Humidity, Industrial Temperature sensor, Temperature sensor (Gen 2), Temperature sensor (3rd Gen), CO2 Sensor
Door & Window	Triggered when the door or window is open or closed.	Door & Window Sensor
Door & Window (Count)	Notifications will be sent when a sensor reaches the set count of open or closed events. The counter resets when the notification has been sent.	Door & Window Sensor
Proximity Status	When the sensor is covered within 5mm, it is triggered if set to True.  Triggered when the sensor stops being covered if set to False.	Proximity sensor (Counting Proximity sensor is not supported)
Proximity Count	Notifications will be sent when a sensor reaches the set count of open events. The counter resets when the notification has been sent.	Proximity sensor
Touched	Notifications will be sent when a sensor is touched.	All small sensors
Touch Count	Notifications will be sent when a sensor reaches the set count of touches. The counter resets when the notification has been sent.	Touch Sensor, Tactile Touch Sensor
Humidity	Triggered when the humidity is above, below, outside, or within the defined range.	Humidity, CO2 Sensor
Water Detected	It is triggered when the sensor is covered with water if set to True.  Triggered when the sensor stops being covered with water if set to False.	Water Detector
Motion	It is triggered when the sensor detects motion if the state is set to Motion detected.  It is triggered when the sensor does not detect motion if the state is set to No motion detected.	Motion sensor
CO2	Triggered when the CO2 level is above, below, outside, or within the defined PPM range.	CO2 sensor
Desk Occupancy	It is triggered when the sensor detects occupancy if the state is set to Occupied. It is triggered when the sensor does not detect occupancy if the state is set to Not occupied.	Desk Occupancy sensor
Offline Monitoring	Triggered when a Cloud Connector or a sensor is offline. For Cloud Connectors: Notifications are triggered when a Cloud Connector has been offline for an extended period of time (5-15 minutes) and is unable to forward sensor events. For sensors: Notifications are triggered when a sensor loses connection to its Cloud Connectors (eg. due to a depleted battery or going out of range). However, if the Cloud Connector itself goes offline, you won't receive individual sensor notifications.	All sensors and Cloud Connectors

Schedule

Optionally, you can set a schedule for when the triggers can happen by selecting the days and timeslots you'd like in the drop-down menus. Alert rules triggered outside the set timeslots are not delivered.

Set the schedule to apply for local time or UTC from the Timezone dropdown menu.

Add devices

To apply the Alerts rule to specific devices, click Add Devices. A list of all your devices will appear, similar to the Sensors & Cloud Connectors overview. To add a device, click the (+) icon next to its name.

Add recipients

Currently, sending an email is the only action available. Fill out the recipients, the subject, and the body text to include in the email. 

Add Escalation

If the issue is unacknowledged, unaddressed, or unresolved, you can use Escalations to trigger an additional alert email to another user for follow-up.

The Escalation delay setting allows you to specify how many hours to wait before the escalation email is triggered. You can configure as many Escalation levels as needed.

Acknowledging the alerts

You can interact with alerts by acknowledging them, adding comments, and assigning corrective actions - all of which are recorded in the alert timeline. Every alert follows a lifecycle, which looks like this:

• Open: Alert is triggered when sensor readings are outside the defined limits.
• Acknowledged: (Optional) A user acknowledges the alert, taking responsibility.
• Corrective Action: (Optional) A user adds a description of corrective steps taken.
• Monitoring: Status set to monitor the effectiveness of the corrective action.
• Resolved: The alert is resolved automatically when sensor data returns to normal.

Variables

You can add variables to the email text to include relevant information for the device. Supported variables are:

Placeholder	Description	Example
$name	Name of the device. The device ID is displayed if there is no name.	Fridge 3
$description	Description of the device.	Mounted on the top of the fridge.
$deviceID	The ID of the device.	bivd53b1e97600enrts0
$celsius	The temperature (°C).	12.70°C
$fahrenheit	The temperature (°F).	12.70°F
$relativeHumidity	The humidity (%RH).	87 %RH
$proximityStatus	The status displayed in Studio for proximity sensors ("open" or "closed")	Closed
$objectPresent	The status displayed in the API for proximity sensors ("not present" or "present")	not present
$waterPresent	The status displayed in Studio for water sensors ("water present" or "no water present")	no water present
$label.{labelKey}	The value of a Label for a device.	If a device has a Label where Key=room and value=34A, then $label.room displays the value 34A
$deskOccupancy	The status displayed in Studio for Desk Occupancy sensors ("occupied" or "not occupied")	Not occupied
$motion	The status displayed in Studio for Motion sensors ("motion detected" or "no motion detected")	No motion detected
$co2	CO2 sensor value in PPM	1000 PPM
$triggerStatus	Can be used if the “Resolved Notification” toggle is enabled where a notification is sent when the trigger is resolved. $triggerStatus will then either be “Triggering” or “Resolved”.	Resolved

How to include the Studio link in the email

It can be valuable to have a link in the Alerts email for quick access to the sensor details in Studio. A simple way to achieve this is to put the link (URL) for the sensor in the description field of the sensor and include it in the message.

Step 1 - Add the sensor link (URL) to the sensor description

1. Open the detailed view for a device in Studio
2. Copy the URL from the browser address (typically at the top)
3. Paste the URL into the description field for the sensor

Step 2 - Include the description field in the email

1. Open the Alert rule
2. Go to the "Send Email" section
3. Include the $description placeholder in the Email body. It should look something like this:
   
4. Save by selecting "Update Alert rule"
5. Emails sent out will now include a link to the device in Studio

Note that the recipient needs a Studio account to access the device, and that you could do a similar approach using Labels.