Alert-delivery Mechanisms

E-mail alerts contain detailed information about the monitored device, the task name, the affected monitoring agent location(s), the error code and the error description.

Alerts can be sent to any voice-enabled phone. This option provides a specific message with the details of the problem. Dotcom-Monitor®’s automated system can detect whether an individual has received the call or if it is forwarded to a voice-mail system and treats the call accordingly. Phone alerts are interactive and provide an option for postponing additional alerts to the number called, which prevents repeated alerts while the issue is being resolved. Dotcom-Monitor® assesses a surcharge for each phone alert.

If the country code is “1” (for example in the US, Canada, and Caribbean), enter the area code and number (for example, 952-5134392). For all other country codes, use the prefix “011”, the country code and the phone number (for example, 011-44-95244392).

Phone alerts are interactive, allowing you to postpone subsequent alerts for 15m, 30m, 1h, 3h, 12h or 24h, once an alert is received.

Multiple voice notification recipients can be grouped under Notification Group.

• Error message:

Hello!… This is Dotcom-Monitor Agents speaking…. Error occurred during the device monitoring at <Monitor_DateTime> … from monitoring location … <Location> … Device name is <Site_Name> … Task number is <TaskNumber> … Task name is <Task_Name> … Error number is <Error_Code>… Error description is: <Reason>…

• Test message

Hello!… This is Dotcom-Monitor Agents speaking…. This is a test alert for <Site_Name> … Thank you… and … Bye bye…

• Uptime message

Hello!… This is Dotcom-Monitor Agents speaking…. Device: <Site_Name> is back online at <Monitor_DateTime>. Reporting location is Location: <Location> Thank you… and … Bye bye….

As well as other types of notification, voice notifications will be sent in accordance with a filter and scheduler you have chosen for a device.

Each Phone Call costs $0.15 in the US and $0.99 cents for all other countries.

Dotcom-Monitor can send alert notifications for each DOWN/UP state change of a device to one, or more cell phone numbers in the Short Message Service (SMS) format.

To receive SMS alerts for a device, first, click “Actions”>Edit> then scroll down to “Notification Options” and place a check in the box after “SMS Number” and specify the number where the SMS messages should be sent.

Specifying the Phone Number where SMS messages should be Delivered

Any number within any cell phone carrier around the world can be set as a destination.

IMPORTANT: The Phone Number must contain a country code (for example, US 1-952-5134392; UK: 44-9524 4392). Do NOT use international dialing prefix, such as “011” in the number.

Multiple SMS recipients can be grouped and set-up within a Notification Group.

The SMS Alert Message 

The SMS Notification Template contains key information, including:

• Error Template:

Dvc:<Site_Name>;Tsk:<Task_Name>;Loc:<Location>;Err:<Error_Code>;Dsc:<Reason>;<Monitor_DateTime>

• Test Alert Template:

Dotcom-Monitor test alert for site <Site_Name>

• Uptime Template:

Device: <Site_Name> back online at <Monitor_DateTime> Location: <Location>

SMS Pricing

Each SMS notification message costs $0.15.

EXAMPLE: If a single SMS Alert is sent to 15 phone numbers, then the one alert to 15 numbers will cost $2.25.

Similar to other notifications, SMS Alerts can be sent based on Filters and a Schedule applied to a Device.

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) alert sends an SNMP trap to an SNMP management console, or server. This option integrates Dotcom-Monitor alerts directly into an IT management system, so alerts are treated and routed like any other alert within an enterprise. Currently, Dotcom-Monitor® supports SNMP v1, v2 and v3. Dotcom-Monitor has a registered EnterpriseOID, which is 31201. Alerts are sent as an Enterprise type, which is value six. For a custom bit, an Error alert is value one; an Uptime alert is value two; and a Test alert is value three. Alerts are sent over the Internet on a standard SNMP port.

Here is Dotcom-Monitor trap MIB file:

 -- Dotcom-Monitor Inc
 -- Private Enterprise MIB definition
 -- 09/02/2015

 --Dotcom-Monitor Support
 --Postal: 5125 County Road 101, Suite 100
 --        Minnetonka, MN 55345
 --        USA
 --
 --        Tel: 888-479-0741; Fax: 888-794-3554
 --
 --        E-mail: Support@Dotcom-Monitor.Com


 -- This file describes the Dotcom-Monitor Inc Enterprise MIB.
 -- It includes object identifiers and object definitions for the 
 -- Dotcom-Monitor Inc only, and should be used for compilation by a management
 -- tool in order to extend the tool to support the Dotcom-Monitor Inc MIB.  

    DOTCOM-MONITOR-MIB DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN

    IMPORTS
        TRAP-TYPE
                FROM RFC-1215
        DisplayString
                FROM RFC1213-MIB
        OBJECT-TYPE
                FROM RFC-1212
        enterprises
                FROM RFC1155-SMI;
                    
 -- tree structure

	dotcom-monitor			OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { enterprises 31201 }
	variables			OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { dotcom-monitor 255 }
  -- variables
  
  notificationInfo OBJECT-TYPE
    SYNTAX  DisplayString
    ACCESS  read-only
    STATUS  mandatory
    DESCRIPTION
     "Information about the source of notification."
    ::= { variables  1 }
    
	-- Generic Traps
	
	event	TRAP-TYPE
	ENTERPRISE	dotcom-monitor
        VARIABLES       { 
                        notificationInfo
                        }
	DESCRIPTION	"This indicates that the trap contains info about Device Events"
	::= 1
	
	uptime	TRAP-TYPE
	ENTERPRISE	dotcom-monitor
        VARIABLES       { 
                        notificationInfo
                        }
	DESCRIPTION	"This indicates that the trap contains info about Device Uptime"
	::= 2
	
	error  	TRAP-TYPE
	ENTERPRISE	dotcom-monitor
        VARIABLES       { 
                        notificationInfo
                        }
	DESCRIPTION	"This indicates that the trap contains info about Device Errors"
	::= 3

	test	TRAP-TYPE
	ENTERPRISE	dotcom-monitor
        VARIABLES       { 
                        notificationInfo
                        }
	DESCRIPTION	"This is the trap that used for test purposes only."
	::= 4
END

This is a common method of sending alerts to wireless phones and pagers in the U.S. Wireless e-mail messages provide basic error information, such as the device name, monitoring agent location, error code, and a brief error description. Dotcom-Monitor formats wireless e-mails as 180 characters to improve readability on most pagers and phones. Within the U.S. and Canada, the sending address is displayed as a phone number followed by a domain name, such as 6125551212@vtext.net. Outside of these regions, wireless text alerts are available using the SMS option. There is no additional cost for wireless e-mail; however, there is a charge for SMS when this option is used.

If you need specialized notification options, such as creating “problem tickets” in your help desk system or specially formatted e-mail, these can be accomplished using our customizable alert scripts.

Custom Notification Script can perform almost any operation. For example, you may want it to navigate given URL(s) depending on monitoring results.

If you need a custom script for alerts, go to the Support tab above and contact Technical Support.

Once a script is created, provide the script name in the Custom Script file field of the delivery address settings.

Pager alerts allow you to send an alert message to pager devices. To send a message to a pager you must add the pager number to a group by editing the group and adding a new address of type Pager.

If the pager is capable of receiving text messages, you can select a template, otherwise, you simply enter the pager number, and the numerical message to send.

Templates can contain detailed information about the monitored device, the task name, the affected monitoring agent location(s), the error code and the error description.  Numerical messages often contain a phone number to call or a numerical code that is known to the recipient.

For pager numbers outside the US, you must first enter 011 then the country code plus the rest of the number.

If you already have a PagerDuty account customized for your incident notification system you can use this account to receive alerts from Dotcom-Monitor.

To send alerts from Dotcom-Monitor to the PagerDuty account you need to configure integration with Dotcom-Monitor at the PagerDuty side, and then add the PagerDuty address to a Notification Group assigned to your device.

See Integration with PagerDuty to set up the integration and alerting.

If you already have a Zapier account you can use this account to receive alerts from Dotcom-Monitor.

See Integration with Zapier to set up the integration and alerting.

From Dotcom-Monitor account you can post alert messages into Slack channels using incoming webhooks.

To do so create a Slack app from your Slack account and activate Incoming Webhooks for it. Follow instructions given in Slack documentation to create a new webhook for your channel.

When ready, specify the Slack webhook URL in the settings of the Notification Group assigned to your device.