Alarms, alarm devices and escalation
An alarm follows a preset schema: the person on call is contacted first, by SMS, email, local siren or telephone dialler. If they do not respond in time, XiltriX escalates automatically to the next people, and then to a different alarm channel altogether. The system finds the user rather than waiting for the user to find the system.
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The safety-net principle
Instead of assuming an alarm will reach the right person, XiltriX follows the alarm through. Layers of alarm devices are combined so that no alarm goes unnoticed, and each layer covers the failure mode of the one before it.
Only the active on-call user is disturbed first. There is no point waking five people when one responds correctly. If that person does not acknowledge, escalation to further people happens automatically, and if the deadline passes with no response, a different alarm mechanism takes over.
The alarm channels
| Channel | What it does | Why it is in the chain |
|---|---|---|
| SMS | Detailed message to the on-call user via the site gateway | Independent of the site's internet connection |
| Detailed message over secure SMTP | Reaches teams and shared mailboxes, keeps a written trail | |
| Local devices | Flashing beacons and sirens, build-up or flush-mounted for cleanrooms, with cyclic on/off | Reaches whoever is physically present; cycling gives people time to react |
| Telephone dialler | Autonomous device on VOIP, analogue line or mobile network | With its own battery and the Calypso watchdog it still dials out when everything else has failed |
Setting it up
The escalation schema is not a checkbox. A XiltriX consultant works with you on who is on call when, how long each person gets to respond, which alarms justify waking someone at three in the morning and which can wait for the morning shift. The schema is then tuned as the lab's rhythm changes.
Alarm limits and escalation can be adjusted locally in the lab and remotely by XiltriX, so a temporary situation does not require an engineer visit.