Web alerts are notifications generated by the Platform based on a predefined configuration. In every Axeda Application page, a user can determine when a new alert (notification) is generated for him or her. The user can view and manage all of his or her current, unacknowledged alerts. Any condition that generates a notification will be shown to the user as a Web alert.
A typical way of generating Web alerts is with alarms. For example, a business rule may generate a notification based on the value of an alarm. When the creceives the alarm (either from an asset, from the Axeda Platform SDK or Web services, or from an Expression Rule run on the Platform itself, it determines if any rules exist for that alarm and, if so, it runs those rules. If a notification rule is one of the rules to be run, the server determines which users, user groups, or individuals are configured to receive the notification. For each individual who should receive the notification, the server determines how the notification should be sent, based on the notification preferences set for that Axeda® Connected Product Management Applications user: to an e-mail address, to a pager address, or to the Axeda Applications Web Alerts user interface.
Note: If a notification is configured for an individual who is not defined within the Platform (for example, using the "To Other" field in the Notification configuration page), then the Platform will not generate Web Alerts for that individual. Only individuals defined in the Platform will receive Web alerts; these can include contacts and roles, as well as defined users or user groups.
Five levels of notification severity are available: four are directly linked to the severity level of an alarm configured to generate the notification, and the fifth identifies all other ways the notification may be generated.
When a new notification is generated for the logged in user, the New Alerts counter is incremented by one. (Note that this value updates at the refresh interval defined in the server's configuration.)
The tone played for an alert depends upon the severity of that notification. Available severity levels are Low, Medium, High, and Critical. Within the User Preferences, Change Notification Styles page, you can designate a different tone for each level. In addition, if the notification is not tied to an alarm, the Web alert falls into the "Other" category, which has its own tone settings. You can change all tones for your own preferences, add new tones to those provided with the base server; or select "No Tone" if no tone should be played for one or more categories.
For example, if the Platform receives an alarm of severity level 780 and that alarm is tied to a rule that generates a notification for those alarm conditions, when the Platform sends the notification to the designated recipients, the Web Alerts interface for those users will play the Critical tone set for those users. If the notification is configured for escalation, the Platform will generate additional notifications after a predefined time period if the initial alert has not been acknowledged.
You can view more information for a Web Alert in the Current Unacknowledged alerts page. In addition, you can acknowledge alerts and remove alerts from the Platform in this page.
To configure a new Web alert, follow these general steps:
1. Create the appropriate notification (New - Notification in Configuration application).
2. Create the action for that notification (New - Action, Notification action, in Configuration application).
3. Create the rule that will be evaluated for the related alarm (New - Rule, Alarm rule in Configuration application), then assign your new notification action to that rule.
4. Configure User Preferences to specify how you want to be notified of the alerts (Preferences link, Change Notification Styles).
The Axeda Platform supports tones and provides basic tones. Additional sound files can be added to the Platform . Contact your Platform administrator for assistance.