Generic Alarms

Generic Alarms in OPSCOM provide a flexible notification system for various non-specific alerts, often stemmingoriginating from external system integrations or unknown user/user and vehicle IDs. The primary purpose of this feature is to help administrators capture and manage unprofiled activities or external system events within a single, actionable feed. This article detailsis howintended for OPS-COM administrators responsible for monitoring dispatch alerts and configuring system integrations.

Setup and Configuration

To utilize generic alarms, administrators must configure the baseline system settings and assign the appropriate viewing permissions to administrative roles.

System Settings

1. Hover over System Configuration and click System Settings.

2. Navigate to the Alarms tab to configure administrator permissions to view these alarms, explains how generic alarms are triggered and rolled up into dispatch logs, and guides administrators on viewing and clearing them from their dashboards.

   Setup & Configuration

   System Settings

   There are a number of system settings you can change on the Alarmsfollowing tab. settings:

   • Generic Alarm Append Threshold: -Define the number of minutes before an alarm will create a new dispatch log entry instead of appending to an existing one.

   • Generic Alarm Dispatch SubID: -Set Youa can set thespecific subID forto consistency.maintain consistency across all generic alarms.

   • Allowed Alert Emails: - You enterEnter the email addresses of the specific external systems that willare beauthorized populatingto populate alerts into OPSCOM.OPS-COM.

     To add recipients of alerts, use the setting in this wiki article. 

Setting up Alarm Permissions

ToAdministrators enablemust administratorshave the appropriate dispatch permissions enabled to view and manageinteract alarms,with proper dispatch permissions must be configured for their roles.alarms.

Setting up Alarm Permissions

1. Hover

   1. Click over System Configuration, Configuration, click Admin Management , and click click Manage Roles.

   2. Select

      Click the Permissions button next to the administrative role you wish to modifymodify.

      by clicking its Permissions button.
   3. Within the 

      Scroll to the Dispatch category within the Editing Permissions screen, underscreen.

      the Dispatch category,
   select

   4. Enable the checkboxes for permissions related to alarmsalarms, (e.g., such as View Alarms,  Clear Alarms,  and Add Alarm Comment).

   5. Click 

      Click Save Permissions at the bottom of the page whento youapply arethe finished.

   changes.

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Using this Feature

Generic alarms streamline incoming alerts by parsing external data and grouping repetitive notifications.

How Generic Alarms Get Pushed to the System

Generic alarms canare betypically triggered by severaltwo main mechanisms:

• Unknown Student/Staff Number: If a People Alarm is sent to the system withfeaturing a student or staff number that does not exist in the OPSCOMOPS-COM database, the alert willis beautomatically categorized as a generic alarm. The resulting message will include details passed from the access pointpoint.

  or any other provided information.

• ITS-Networking Alerts Systems: SomeOrganizations clientscan integrate their ITSexternal (Information Technology Services)IT or networking alert systems with OPSCOM.OPS-COM. In this scenario, anAn email alert is pushed from the external systemsystem, which OPS-COM parses to OPSCOM, which then parses it and issuesissue a generic alert. ClientsThis oftenis utilizefrequently thisused for stolen device alerts, where the external system provides the incidentMAC Address and MACincident Address.details.

This specific integrationIntegration with ITS-Networking Alert Systems mustrequires bespecific set up and configuredconfiguration by the OPSCOMOPS-COM Team before it can be used. utilized. TherePlease maycontact besupport to discuss setup procedures and potential recurring fees associated.fees.

Dispatch Logs and Alert Rollups

To prevent thenotification systemfatigue and administratorskeep fromthe beingalert overwhelmedfeed byactionable, aOPS-COM largemanages volumehigh volumes of alerts,alerts OPSCOMusing implements an alerta rollup feature.

• Dispatch Logs: OnceThe system automatically generates a dispatch report the moment an alert is received, the system automatically creates a dispatch report.received. If a valid incident ID was passed to OPSCOMOPS-COM withalongside the alert, the incident will beis automatically linked to this dispatch log.

• Alert Rollups: If the exact same alert (e.g., for the same MAC address or incident)address) is triggered multiple times within a 30-minute timeframe of the firstinitial alert, all subsequent log records forare that alert will be rolled up and added to a single dispatch log recordrecord.

  / alert. This keeps the alert feed concise and actionable.

Clearing/

Clearing and Viewing Alarms

Administrators have the ability tocan manage thetheir active alerts displayeddirectly onfrom theirthe personal dashboard.

1. To view active alarms, hover

   Hover over the bell icon located at the top-right of your screen.screen This willto display a list of current active alerts.

2. From this list, you can select

   Click a specific alert.alert Youfrom willthe thenlist seeto tworeveal options:the

   available actions.

   • Click Go To Entry: Clickingto this will take younavigate directly to the Dispatch Log Report and search forreview the specific alert,details allowingof forthe detailedalert.

     review.

   • Click Clear Alarm: Clickingto thisacknowledge willthe alert and remove the alert icon from theyour top-rightpersonal ofdashboard view.

Clearing an alarm from your screen,dashboard indicatingdoes not delete the corresponding dispatch log record, which remains securely accessible for historical tracking. Note that you have acknowledged it. Note: Clearingclearing an alarm only removes theit alertfrom foryour youraccount; account. Otherother administrators will continue to see the alert until they clear it for themselves.

Clearing an alarm from the dashboard does not remove the corresponding dispatch log record. The dispatch log remains accessible for historical tracking and reporting.

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Best Practices &and Considerations

• IntegrationMonitor withgeneric Externalalarms Systemsregularly:: IfAdministrators should routinely check generic alarms, as they often indicate unprofiled physical activity or system-level issues that require immediate attention.

• Establish consistent alerting protocols: Organizations should develop internal business rules detailing how different types of generic alarms should be responded to by the administrative team.

• Define clear integration parameters: When integrating with ITS-Networkingexternal AlertsITS Systems,systems, ensure clear communication with the OPSCOMOPS-COM Team during setup to strictly define your required alert types, data formats (e.g., MAC Address, Incident ID), and desired actions.

• MonitorAnalyze Genericdispatch Alarmslogs:: Regularly check the generic alarms section, as these can indicate unprofiled activity or system-level issues that require attention.

• Consistent Alerting Protocols: Develop internal protocols for how different types of generic alarms should be responded to by your administrative team.
• Utilize Dispatch Logs for Analysis: Leverage the Dispatch Log Report to analyzespot trends in generic alarms, identify recurring security issues, orand reviewaudit team responses over time.
• Awareness of Rollup Feature: Understand that the 30-minute rollup window is designed to prevent notification fatigue. If multiple similar events occur in quick succession, they will appear as a single alert on the dashboard.