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After creating notifications, you can attach the notifications to specific devices or to zones. By adding a series of notifications with different reaction times, you can also create an escalation procedure to ensure problems are corrected as efficiently as possible.
This chapter contains information about attaching notifications to devices. For information on attaching notifications to zones, see the chapter Zone Monitoring.
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To display the Attach Notification dialog box, click Attach in the main test list. Figure 7-1 displays a sample of this dialog box. |
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Figure 7-1 Attach Notification dialog box
The dialog box for attaching notifications to devices contains the following items:
The name of the selected device appears at the top of the dialog box, with its device type and network information. If you've selected more than one device, the total number is indicated here.
The upper list contains all the notifications.
The lower list contains the notifications attached to the devices. It indicates the events that will generate the notification (under On) and the delay after which it will be transmitted (under After). You can change both settings here.
You can sort the attach list by the type of notification, the event and the time delay.
Click Add to copy the notifications selected in the notification list to the followup procedure list.
Click Remove to delete from that device the notifications selected in the attach list. The notification will still appear in the notification list.
Select this option to override the paging calendar for the specific devices selected here. (Pager notifications will be sent regardless of calendar restrictions.)
Click Default Followup to attach the default followup sequence of notifications to the devices. The followup sequence must be created first (as described later in this chapter).
Click OK to complete the procedure of attaching or removing a notification. Click Cancel to abort it.
To attach a notification to a device:
1. In the main test list, select the device or group of devices to which you would like to attach notifications and click Attach or select Attach Notification... from the Device menu.
You can also double-click on a device. An Attach Notification dialog box appears. (See Figure 7-1.)
2. Select a notification from the list.
3. Click Add, or double-click on the notification, to add it to the followup procedure list.
The notification remains in the notification list as well, since you can apply the same notification more than once to a device.
By default, notifications are set to be generated by "Down and Up" events after 5 minutes. In other words, five minutes after WATCHER detects that the device has changed states, it sends the notification.
4. To change the type of event that will initiate a notification from the default of "Down and Up", hold down the mouse button on the state (under On) and drag to your selection. The options are Down and Up, Down Only and Up Only, as shown in Figure 7-2.
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Figure 7-2 Configuring a Notification
5. To change the time interval after which the event is sent, from the default of "5 Minutes", hold down the mouse button on the time (under After) and drag to your selection.
You can use the same notification as many times as you like. For example, you may want WATCHER to deliver the on-screen message after 15 minutes and again at 20 minute intervals.
6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 to attach a series of notifications, which will provide an escalation or followup procedure for state changes on the selected devices.
7. If you are attaching a pager notification and want to send it even when the paging calendar indicates it's an off-duty time, select Bypass calendar when paging. Note that this effects only the pager notifications for the devices being configured in this dialog box.
8. Click OK to attach the notifications.
If you want to view the devices with a particular notification attached or to view the notifications attached to a particular device, use the Search function described at the end of this chapter. You can also click Get Info in the main test list and choose the Notification tab.
To remove a notification from a device:
1. Select the devices from which you would like to remove notifications and click Attach, or select Attach Notification Ö from the Device menu.
You can also simply double-click on a device.
2. An Attach Notification dialog box like the one shown in Figure 7-1 appears.
3. Select the notification from the followup list.
4. Click Remove to detach the notification from the selected devices.
5. Click OK.
The default followup is a notification escalation procedure designed to ensure that network problems are dealt with as quickly as possible. You can design this followup so that more extreme notifications are sent out if problems are not dealt with as a result of previous alerts. You can only have one Default Followup defined at a time. However, the Default Followup may include several notifications.
For example, you can define that an onscreen alert is generated immediately when a problem occurs. If, after 5 minutes, the device is still down, a pager alert is sent out. This model could be extended so that, for instance, second tier support personnel would be alerted after half an hour if the problem persisted.
Note: Once a device returns to service, WATCHER stops sending "Down" notifications. When "Down and Up" notifications are specified for a device that returns to service, WATCHER sends "Up" notifications to any destinations that had gone "Down".
You can create a followup procedure on a device by device basis. You can also create a default followup independent of any device and attach it later as desired.
To display the default followup dialog box, such as shown in Figure 7-3:
1. Select Default Followup... from the Notify menu.
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Figure 7-3 Default Followup dialog box
2. Define the default followup by adding the notifications you want executed and configuring when you want the notifications sent. To override any paging calendar limitations that would interfere with the default followup, enable the Bypass Calendar When Paging check box.
This list contains all the notifications.
Click Add to copy the notifications selected in the notification list to the followup list below.
The lower list contains the notifications which will be added to or removed from the default followup procedure. It indicates the events that will generate the notification (under On) and the delay after which it will be transmitted (under After). Both settings can be changed here.
Click Remove to delete the notifications selected in the followup list from the default followup. (The notification will still appear in the notification list.)
You can sort the followup list by the type of notification, the event and the time delay.
Select this option to override the paging calendar with the default followup.
Click OK to complete the procedure of defining the default followup. Click Cancel to abort it.
Default followups which will be common to many devices are created through the Default Followup dialog box. There can be only one default followup, though other followup sequences can be created for specific devices.
1. Select Default Followup... under the Notify menu. A dialog box such as depicted in Figure 7-3 above appears.
2. Select a notification in the notification list.
3. Click Add to copy it into the list of followup notifications.
4. To change the type of event that will initiate a notification from the default of "Down and Up", hold down the mouse button on the state (under On) and drag to your selection. The options are as shown in Figure 7-2 above.
5. To change the time interval after which the event is sent from the default of "5 Minutes", hold down the mouse button on the time (under After) and drag to your selection.
You can set the same time for two different notifications, such as an on-screen message and a talk message, if you want them to be delivered simultaneously.
6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 until you've completed the followup sequence.
You can use the same notification as many times as you like. For example, you may want WATCHER to deliver the same pager notification after 5 minutes and again at 15 minute intervals for the next hour.
7. Once you've completed the followup sequence, click OK. The default followup can now be attached to a device by clicking Default Followup in the Attach Notification dialog box.
You can make changes to the default followup any time after you've created it. To do this, perform the following steps:
1. Select Default Followup... from the Notify menu to display the Default Followup dialog box.
2. Make changes to the sequence in the same manner you initially created it, as described above.
Note: If you make changes to the default sequence after it has been attached to a device, those changes are automatically applied to the device.
The number of retries and the delay between retries can be set to ensure that followup notifications are sent. This is particularly useful if WATCHER encounters a busy phone line for modem and pager notifications or a busy mail center for e-mail notifications.
To display the Followup Options dialog box, select Settings from the File menu and drag through to Options.... Select Followup Options from the pop-up menu. A dialog box similar to Figure 7-4 appears.
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Figure 7-4 Followup Options dialog box
The options configurable here apply to all devices that have been assigned a followup sequence.
This field indicates the number of times WATCHER should retry the followup sequence.
This field indicates the time delay, in minutes, between retry attempts.
When you select this option, WATCHER will display a message each time a notification cannot be delivered. There will always be a message if the final retry is unsuccessful even if you don't select this option.
Click OK to save changes to the followup options, or Cancel if you choose not to make any.
When a device with a followup sequence is tested and found to have changed states, WATCHER sends the first notification. WATCHER continues to send subsequent notifications, whether or not previous ones were received, to ensure that the problem is not forgotten.
The followup is aborted only when the device returns to service, when network testing is stopped, or when the device is put on hold so no further testing of it occurs.
To put a device on hold, perform the following steps:
1. If testing is still underway click Stop Test in the main test list.
2. Select the device from the main test list. Select Reset Selection... from the Device menu and drag through to On Hold.
You can resume testing and WATCHER will bypass the on-hold device. Once the device is fixed, you should change the device state to Not Tested using Reset Selection... as described above. Otherwise, a dialog box will prompt you to send any pending notifications when you resume testing.
As you define various devices and their notifications, you may find it difficult to remember which notifications have been assigned to each device. WATCHER includes a feature that selects devices in the main device list based on a notification.
Using the search feature you can also make changes to entire groups of devices with similar settings, without the need to look at all devices individually. The dialog box for searching out notifications also lets you search for key devices (described in the chapter Assigning Key Devices.)
The Search For dialog box allows you to search for devices according to whether or not selected notifications are attached to them. To display the dialog box, select Search For... from the File menu. Click Notifications. The resulting dialog box will be similar to the one in Figure 7-5.
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Figure 7-5 Search for Notifications dialog box
Click the appropriate radio button to search for key devices or devices with specific notifications.
This option lets you search for devices that do not have any attached notifications.
This option lets you search for devices that have been assigned the default followup.
This option lets you search for devices that have been assigned the notifications selected in the notification list.
The list displays all available notifications.
Click Select Next to select the next device in the main test list that satisfies the conditions of the options described above.
Click Select All to select all devices in the main test list that satisfy the conditions of the options described above.
Click Detach to remove the selected notifications from the devices selected in the main test list.
To begin a search for notifications:
1. Select Search For... from the File menu.
2. Click Notifications. The dialog box will be similar to Figure 7-5 above.
3. To search for devices with no notifications, click Devices with no notifications.
To search for devices with the default followup, click Devices with Default Followup.
To search for devices with specific notifications, click Devices with notifications. Select the notifications from the list.
4. Click Select Next to start the search for devices that match the selection you made in step 3. WATCHER locates the first one in the main test list and highlights it.
Keep clicking Select Next to locate subsequent devices.
To highlight all devices that match the notification selection, click Select All.
5. Once WATCHER has located the devices in the main test list, you have the option of removing the notification from them. To do this, click Detach.
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