Notification Channels Overview

How It Works

StatusApp's notification system separates where alerts are sent from which monitors trigger them. This lets you:

• Create reusable notification configurations
• Route different monitors to different destinations
• Use multiple channels simultaneously
• Manage alerts from a central location

Process:

1. Create notification channels (Email, Slack, SMS, etc.)
2. Assign channels to monitors
3. Receive alerts when monitors detect issues

Available Channels

Communication Channels

• Email Notifications - HTML-formatted emails with full context
• Slack - Real-time alerts in Slack with threading
• Discord - Rich embeds in Discord channels
• Telegram - Mobile-first messaging

Escalation & Incident Management

• PagerDuty - On-call management and escalation (Pro+)
• Opsgenie - Alert management with routing (Pro+)
• Microsoft Teams - Teams adaptive cards (Pro+)

Direct Alerts

• SMS - Text message alerts to phones

Custom Integration

• Webhooks - Custom HTTP endpoints for any integration

Creating a Channel

1. Go to Settings → Notification Channels
2. Click Create Channel
3. Select channel type
4. Enter configuration (email, webhook URL, etc.)
5. Click Test to verify setup
6. Click Save

Assigning Channels to Monitors

Add to New Monitor

1. Create a monitor
2. Go to Notifications section
3. Select channels from dropdown
4. Save monitor

Add to Existing Monitor

1. Edit the monitor
2. Go to Notifications section
3. Select or change channels
4. Save changes

Bulk Assignment

1. Go to Monitors list
2. Select multiple monitors (checkboxes)
3. Click Bulk Actions → Assign Notification Channels
4. Choose channels to add/remove
5. Apply changes

Recommended Alerting Layers

Build a layered approach based on severity:

Tier 1 - Informational

Purpose: Awareness, not immediate action

Channels:

• Email (daily digest)
• Slack (general channel, no mentions)

Monitors: Non-critical services, monitoring-as-record

Tier 2 - Action Required

Purpose: Team should investigate

Channels:

• Slack (team channel with mentions)
• Email (immediate)

Monitors: Standard production services

Tier 3 - Critical/Urgent

Purpose: Immediate escalation to on-call

Channels:

• PagerDuty or Opsgenie (automatic escalation)
• Slack (critical channel with mentions)
• SMS (on-call backup)

Monitors: Mission-critical services, revenue-impacting

Alert Thresholds

Configure when alerts trigger:

Confirmation Checks

How many consecutive failures before alerting:

• 1 check: Immediate alert (high sensitivity)
• 2-3 checks: Balanced approach (standard)
• 5+ checks: Low sensitivity (fewer false positives)

Multi-Region Requirements

Only alert if failures occur in multiple regions:

• 1 region: Catch regional issues
• 2+ regions: Only real outages (fewer false alerts)

Event Types

Configure which events trigger alerts:

• Monitor DOWN (status change to failed)
• Monitor UP (recovery)
• Monitor DEGRADED (partial failure)
• SSL expiration warnings
• Performance regressions

Managing Channels

Edit Channel

1. Go to Settings → Notification Channels
2. Click channel to edit
3. Update configuration
4. Click Test to verify
5. Click Save

Note: Changes immediately affect all monitors using this channel

Delete Channel

1. Go to channel list
2. Click delete icon
3. Confirm deletion
4. Monitors no longer receive alerts via this channel

Tip: Check which monitors use a channel before deleting (shown in channel details)

Test Channel

Every channel has a Test button:

• Sends sample alert
• Verifies configuration is correct
• Confirms connectivity
• Shows any errors

Test Often:

• When creating new channels
• After configuration changes
• Monthly for validation
• Before on-call rotations

Notification Best Practices

1. Layer Your Alerts

Don't send everything to everyone. Use different channels for different purposes:

• Email for records
• Slack for team awareness
• PagerDuty for urgent escalation
• SMS for on-call backup

2. Reduce Alert Fatigue

• Don't assign low-priority monitors to critical channels
• Configure confirmation checks (2-3 failures before alert)
• Use multi-region thresholds
• Archive/remove old monitors
• Pause noisy monitors and investigate

3. Test Everything

• Test when channels are created
• Test after configuration changes
• Monthly validation tests
• Include tests in on-call rotation changes

4. Document Your Setup

Keep a reference of:

• What each channel covers
• Who receives each type of alert
• Escalation procedures
• Current on-call contacts
• Emergency runbooks

5. Maintain Your Channels

• Monthly: Review alert volume and usefulness
• Quarterly: Update recipient lists and routing
• Quarterly: Review and optimize thresholds
• Annually: Full audit of all channels

6. Redundancy for Critical Services

• Multiple channels for mission-critical monitors
• Don't rely on single notification method
• Have backup contacts for all channels
• Test failover procedures

Troubleshooting

Not Receiving Alerts

Check Channel Configuration:

• Verify channel is active
• Test the channel
• Confirm credentials (API keys, phone numbers) are valid
• Check if external service (Slack, email) has issues

Check Monitor Assignment:

• Confirm monitor has channel assigned
• Verify monitor is active (not paused)
• Check if monitor is actually failing

Check Event Type:

• Verify alert type is enabled (DOWN, UP, DEGRADED, etc.)
• Check confirmation thresholds are being met
• Review alert filters if configured

Duplicate Alerts

Cause: Monitor assigned to same channel multiple times

Fix: Review monitor settings and remove duplicate channel assignments

Too Many Alerts

Solutions:

• Increase confirmation thresholds (2-3 before alert)
• Require multi-region failures
• Consolidate related monitors
• Create separate lower-priority channel

Delayed Alerts

Check:

• StatusApp status page
• External service status (Slack, email, etc.)
• Network connectivity
• Alert volume and queue

Channel Types by Plan

Channel	Starter	Professional	Business	Enterprise
Email	✓	✓	✓	✓
Slack	Plan-based	✓	✓	✓
Discord	Plan-based	✓	✓	✓
Telegram	Plan-based	✓	✓	✓
SMS	✗	✓	✓	✓
PagerDuty	✗	✓	✓	✓
OpsGenie	✗	✓	✓	✓
Microsoft Teams	Plan-based	✓	✓	✓
Webhooks	Plan-based	✓	✓	✓

Note: "Plan-based" means the feature availability depends on your specific plan configuration. Check Settings > Plan for your enabled features.

Next Steps

• Email Notifications - Set up email alerts
• Slack Integration - Connect Slack
• PagerDuty Integration - On-call management
• Incident Management - Handle incidents when they occur
• Team Collaboration - Coordinate with your team