Texts, emails and calls¶
This page describes exactly what people receive when an alert fires, is acknowledged and clears, and what Whisker.io does when a message can't be delivered.
Who gets what, and when¶
The schedule that is on call decides the methods (Text, Email, Voice). The alert's Text delivery options decide how the texts go out.
| Text everyone on the schedule at once | Text one person at a time until someone acknowledges | |
|---|---|---|
| Texts | Everyone on call, at the same moment. No reply needed | First person, with a reply code. After the group's wait time with no acknowledgement, the next person, and so on, for the number of laps set on the group |
| Everyone on call, at once | Everyone on call, at once, when the alert fires | |
| Voice calls | One person at a time, in order, until someone presses 1 | One person at a time, alongside that person's text |
| If nobody acknowledges | Voice: the group's When nobody answers setting. Texts: nothing more | The group's When nobody answers setting |
| When someone acknowledges | Everyone else is texted and emailed who has it | Same |
| When the alert clears | Everyone on call at that moment, by text and email | Same |
Tip
If you want strictly one person at a time, leave Email unchecked on that schedule. Email always goes to everyone on the schedule at once, as soon as the alert fires.
Each alert notifies once when it fires and once when it clears. There are no repeat reminders while an alert stays active; use one-at-a-time delivery or a stacked escalation alert to make sure someone responds.
People on a schedule set to Voice only don't receive the "acknowledged" or "cleared" messages, because those go by text and email.
What a text says¶
The alert text is your Message with the placeholders filled in, then a link:
Store 12: Walk-in freezer too warm, 41.20ºF/5.11ºC
https://www.whisker.io/a/1234
For Text one person at a time until someone acknowledges, the code to reply with is added:
Store 12: Walk-in freezer too warm, 41.20ºF/5.11ºC
Reply ACK 4821 to acknowledge.
https://www.whisker.io/a/1234
The very first text a person ever receives from Whisker.io also ends, after the link, with "Reply STOP to opt out of Whisker.io texts." This is required by US carriers.
The link opens that alert in the Whisker.io mobile app if it's installed. If it isn't, the link opens a page that says "You have an alert" and offers the app store links. For security the page doesn't show any details of the alert, since texts and emails can be forwarded. To see the alert on a computer, log in to the web portal and go to Alerts.
Placeholders are listed in Creating and editing alerts. Values are shown to two decimal places; temperatures show both °F and °C.
What an email says¶
- Subject: "Whisker.io™ Alert - alert name at location"
- Body: the same message and link as the text, without the reply code. Email can't be used to acknowledge.
What a call says¶
A Whisker.io voice call says "Whisker I O alert", the alert name and location, and your message (web links are left out), then "Press 1 to acknowledge this alarm. Press 2 to repeat."
- Press 1 to acknowledge. Press 2 to hear it again.
- If the call is not answered, is busy, or goes to voicemail, Whisker.io hangs up and calls the next person straight away. It does not leave a voicemail.
- How long it rings is the group's Ring time (voice).
Voice calling has to be enabled for your account by D6 Labs; contact support@d6labs.com. Until it is, people on schedules set to Voice are texted instead.
Acknowledged and cleared messages¶
| When | Message |
|---|---|
| Someone acknowledges | "Alert name at location: acknowledged by name at time. No further notifications for this alarm." Sent to everyone else on the schedule |
| A threshold or digital alert clears | "Alert name cleared for device at location" |
| A "device stops reporting" alert clears | "Account, location: alert name cleared for device, channel at time" |
The cleared message goes to whoever is on call when the alert clears, which may be a different schedule from when it fired. Nobody needs to acknowledge it.
Opting out: STOP and START¶
- Replying STOP (or STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END or QUIT) to any Whisker.io text stops all Whisker.io texts to that phone. The carrier sends a confirmation.
- Replying START (or UNSTOP) turns them back on.
A person who has opted out is skipped for texts. Their email and voice calls still work if the schedule uses them. The contact shows Opted out of texts on the Alert Contacts tab, and the people who get delivery problem reports are told. Nobody but the person can opt them back in; use Send opt-in instructions to email them how.
Warning
STOP applies to the phone number, not to one alert or one account. Someone who replies STOP to get rid of one noisy alert stops receiving every Whisker.io text. If an alert is too noisy, fix the alert (a longer delay, more hysteresis) instead.
When a text isn't delivered¶
Whisker.io checks that every text actually reached the phone, not just that it was sent.
- If a text is reported undelivered or failed, or there's no confirmation within about five minutes, it is sent once more about two minutes later.
- If the second try also fails, Whisker.io emails the alert to that person instead, with the subject "Whisker.io ALERT NOT DELIVERED (SMS) — alert name at location", including the original message and the number that failed. If the contact has no email address, the email goes to every contact on the account that has one.
- In a one-at-a-time sequence, the next person is texted straight away rather than waiting out the wait time.
Numbers that fail permanently (not a mobile number, disconnected) are marked invalid and skipped from then on, and the contact shows Texts failing until the number is corrected. See Delivery problem reports.