Overview

Note: This feature is only available in ProblemTracker Enterprise Edition.

Alerts are a form of email notification messages that can be triggered by a lack of change in a record's state within a certain time period. For example, a problem record should not stay within a particular state for longer than 2 days. An alert can be sent if the record is still within the same state after a period of 2 days has passed. Alerts can also be used to remind a user about a record at a later date and time.

Alerts can be configured per record. Each record can have different alert settings including when, how, how often, and to whom the alerts should be sent.

When specifying when to send an alert either for a given record or a transition, a fixed date and time can be entered or a date and time based on a date field within the record can be used. In addition, alerts can be sent once or configured to repeat periodically. Any combination of users and / or user groups can receive alerts for a particular record.

Depending on the product you selected, you may have the option to set an alert for the record you are creating. If you are allowed to set an alert for the record, the box "Set Alert" will appear at the bottom of the Add form. Check the box if you wish to set an alert for the record. After clicking the "Add" or "Add & Copy" button, the Alert settings will be displayed as shown below.

• Send Alert
  The user can select when the alert should be sent. A relative or absolute time can be specified. A relative time can be selected by choosing the radio button to the left of the option "X <Interval> <before or after> <Date>" where X can be any number from 1 to 99, <interval> can be hours, days, weeks, or months, and <Date> can be <Now> or another date field in the record. Example 1: If "5 days after <Now>" is selected, the alert will be sent 5 days after the record is added. Example 2: If "10 hours before <Due Date>" is selected, the alert will be sent 10 hours before the date and time entered in the field called "Due Date" in the record.

  If a date field is selected as the date to generate an alert and this date field has no value in a record, an alert will not be generated. If a date field is selected as the date to generate an alert and this date field is later removed from the record, then <Now> will be set as the date to generate an alert (to replace the date field that was removed).

  An absolute time can be selected by choosing the radio button to the left of the option "If state is unchanged after <Date and Time>" where <Date and Time> is any date and time you choose. The <Date and Time> entered should comply with the date and time formats in the user's personal preferences. For example, if the user has "mm/dd/yyyy" selected as the date format and "12 hour" as the time format, the information entered for <Date and Time> in the alert settings must be of the form "mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss PM".

• Repeat Options
  The user can select whether an alert should be repeated after the first alert is sent. Checking the box to the left of "Repeat every X <interval>" will enable an alert to be sent multiple times. The user can enter any number from 1 to 99 and select hour, day, week, or month as the <interval>. An alert can be repeated until a particular date (select the radio button for "Until this date <Date>" and enter a date), or after the alert has been sent a particular number of times (select the option "Stop after X alert(s)" where X is a number from 1 to 10), or forever (select the option "Repeat forever").

• Send Alerts To
  The user can choose which users or user groups will receive the alert. To select multiple users and / or groups, hold down the "CTRL" button on the keyboard while clicking on the users / groups. Depending on the configuration selected by your ProblemTracker Administrator, the user groups displayed may only be those groups of which you are a member.

• Additional information
  Up to 80 characters can be entered. This information will be included in the alert notification email.

These alert settings will be in effect for the newly added record until the state is changed either via the Task or Edit operations or if the alert settings are changed in the Edit Alerts section.

Configuring Alert Settings during Task Operation

When the task operation is performed on a record, the user may be prompted to configure alert settings as shown below.

• Set Alert
  Selecting "Yes" indicates an alert should be generated using the alerts settings below. Selecting "No" indicates that no alert should be sent.

• Send Alert
  The user can select when the alert should be sent. A relative or absolute time can be specified. A relative time can be selected by choosing the radio button to the left of the option "X <Interval> <before or after> <Date>" where X can be any number from 1 to 99, <interval> can be hours, days, weeks, or months, and <Date> can be <Task Date> or another date field in the record. Example 1: If "5 days after <Task Date>" is selected, the alert will be sent 5 days after this task operation is complete. Example 2: If "10 hours before <Due Date>" is selected, the alert will be sent 10 hours before the date and time entered in the field called "Due Date" in the record.

  If a date field is selected as the date to generate an alert and this date field has no value in a record, an alert will not be generated. If a date field is selected as the date to generate an alert and this date field is later removed from the record, then <Task Date> will be set as the date to generate an alert (to replace the date field that was removed).

  An absolute time can be selected by choosing the radio button to the left of the option "If state is unchanged after <Date and Time>" where <Date and Time> is any date and time you choose. The <Date and Time> entered should comply with the date and time formats in the user's personal preferences. For example, if the user has "mm/dd/yyyy" selected as the date format and "12 hour" as the time format, the information entered for <Date and Time> in the alert settings must be of the form "mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss PM".

• Repeat Options
  The user can select whether an alert should be repeated after the first alert is sent. Checking the box to the left of "Repeat every X <interval>" will enable an alert to be sent multiple times. The user can enter any number from 1 to 99 and select hour, day, week, or month as the <interval>. An alert can be repeated until a particular date (select the radio button for "Until this date <Date>" and enter a date), or after the alert has been sent a particular number of times (select the option "Stop after X alert(s)" where X is a number from 1 to 10), or forever (select the option "Repeat forever").

• Send Alerts To
  The user can choose which users or user groups will receive the alert. To select multiple users and / or groups, hold down the "CTRL" button on the keyboard while clicking on the users / groups. Depending on the configuration selected by your ProblemTracker Administrator, the user groups displayed may only be those groups of which you are a member.

• Additional information
  Up to 80 characters can be entered. This information will be included in the alert notification email.

These alert settings will be in effect for the record until the state is changed either via the Task or Edit operations or if the alert settings are changed in the Edit Alerts section.

A user can edit the alert settings for a record if they have the required privileges. A user can edit the alert settings for a record by clicking on the Edit icon in the top button bar and entering a record number or by clicking on the Edit icon next to a record number in a report on the Query or Home page. Clicking on the Edit Alerts button will display the following alert settings for the record:

• Set Alert
  Selecting "Yes" will send an alert based on the values below

• Send Alert
  The user can select when the alert should be sent. A relative or absolute time can be specified. A relative time can be selected by choosing the radio button to the left of the option "X <Interval> <before or after> <Date>" where X can be any number from 1 to 99, can be hours, days, weeks, or months, and <Date> can be <Now> or another date field in the record. Example 1: If "5 days after <Now>" is selected, the alert will be sent 5 days after the alert settings are saved by clicking OK. Example 2: If "10 hours before <Due Date>" is selected, the alert will be sent 10 hours before the date and time entered in the field called "Due Date" in the record.

  An absolute time can be selected by choosing the radio button to the left of the option "If state is unchanged after <Date and Time>" where <Date and Time> is any date and time you choose. The <Date and Time> entered should comply with the date and time formats in the user's personal preferences. For example, if the user has "mm/dd/yyyy" selected as the date format and "12 hour" as the time format, the information entered for <Date and Time> in the alert settings must be of the form "mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss PM".

• Repeat Options
  The user can select whether an alert should be repeated after the first alert is sent. Checking the box to the left of "Repeat every X <interval>" will enable an alert to be sent multiple times. The user can enter any number from 1 to 99 and select hour, day, week, or month as the <interval>. An alert can be repeated until a particular date (select the radio button for "Until this date <Date>" and enter a date), or after the alert has been sent a particular number of times (select the option "Stop after X alert(s)" where X is a number from 1 to 10), or forever (select the option "Repeat forever").

• Send Alerts To
  The user can choose which users or user groups will receive the alert. To select multiple users and / or groups, hold down the "CTRL" button on the keyboard while clicking on the users / groups. Depending on the configuration selected by your ProblemTracker Administrator, the user groups displayed may only be those groups of which you are a member.

• Additional information
  Up to 80 characters can be entered. This information will be included in the alert notification email.