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On-Call Alerting

Keep users informed before, during, and after their scheduled shifts.

Upstat routes alerts to on-call users based on the current roster schedule. When incidents occur, the currently active on-call personnel receive notifications through configured channels.

How Alert Routing Works

When an alert triggers:

  1. Upstat identifies which rosters are relevant to the alert source
  2. For each roster, the currently on-call users are determined
  3. Notifications are sent to those users via their configured channels

If a substitution is active, alerts route to the substitute user instead.

Notification Types

Incident Alerts

When a monitor fails or an incident is created:

  • On-call users receive immediate notification
  • Alert includes incident details, severity, and affected resources
  • Users can acknowledge directly from the notification

Shift Reminders

Users can receive notifications about upcoming shifts:

  • Reminder before shift starts
  • Notification when shift ends
  • Handoff context for incoming user

Notification Channels

On-call notifications integrate with Upstat’s notification system:

Channel Description
Email Default notification method
SMS Phone-based alerts for urgent issues
Slack Team channel or direct message notifications
In-App Notifications within the Upstat interface

Configure channels in Notification Preferences.

Timezone Considerations

Notifications respect the roster’s timezone:

  • Shift times are communicated in the roster’s timezone
  • Users in different timezones see their local equivalent
  • Reminders are sent based on roster time, not user local time

Escalation Integration

On-call schedules work with escalation policies:

  1. Primary roster receives initial alert
  2. If no acknowledgment within the timeout, escalation occurs
  3. Backup roster or escalation target receives the alert
  4. Process continues through escalation chain

Configure escalation policies in your alert definitions.

Substitution Notifications

When a substitution is created:

  • The original user is notified they’ve been substituted
  • The replacement user is notified they’re covering
  • Both users see the effective date range

Managing Alert Fatigue

To reduce unnecessary notifications:

  • Configure appropriate alert thresholds
  • Use maintenance windows to suppress expected issues
  • Set up proper escalation timeouts
  • Use alert grouping to consolidate related issues

See Notification Anti-Fatigue for strategies.

Summary

Aspect Behavior
Alert routing Based on current roster schedule
Substitutions Alerts go to substitute user
Channels Email, SMS, Slack, In-App
Timezone Roster timezone for shift context
Escalation Integrates with escalation policies