People Alarms provide a critical safety and monitoring feature by allowing administrators to flag specific user profiles with alerts. When an event associated with a flagged user occurs, the system triggers a visual alarm, notifying relevant administrators to take appropriate action. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators responsible for monitoring user activity, safety protocols, and system alerts.
## Setup and Configuration Before administrators can effectively use the alarm system, the necessary baseline settings must be established and dispatch permissions must be assigned to the correct administrative roles. ### System Settings Configuration 1. Hover over **System Configuration** and click **System Settings**. 2. Navigate to the **Alarms** tab. 3. Configure the **People Alarm Append Threshold** to set the number of minutes before an alarm will create a new dispatch log entry instead of appending to an existing one. 4. Configure the **People Alarm Dispatch SubID** to establish consistency across your logs. 5. Enter the allowed email addresses into the **Allowed Alert Emails** field to specify which external systems can populate alerts into OPS-COM. ### Setting up Alarm Permissions 1. Hover over **System Configuration**, click **Admin Management** and click **Manage Roles**. 2. Click the **Permissions** button next to the administrative role you wish to modify. 3. Navigate to the *Dispatch* category within the Editing Permissions screen. 4. Enable the **View Alarms**, **Clear Alarms**, and **Add Alarm Comment** checkboxes. 5. Click the **Save Permissions** button at the bottom of the page to apply the changes. ### Adding People Alarms to Users 1. Hover over **User Management** and click **User Search**. 2. Search for and select the specific user you wish to flag. 3. Click the **Edit** button next to the **Basic Profile Information** section to open the Edit User Profile window. 4. Enable the **People Alarm** toggle. 5. Enter a specific, actionable note in the **Alarm Comment** field.The **License Plate Alarm** and **Plate Alarm** messages will both share this exact same comment. Additionally, even if a user's profile does not have alarms explicitly toggled on or an alarm comment associated, the system will still generate an alert if an API call for a specific student/staff number triggers an alarm.
## Using this Feature Administrators view and manage active alarms and dispatch logs directly from the top-right panel on the administrative dashboard. ### Viewing and Managing Alarms [](https://opscom.wiki/uploads/images/gallery/2026-07/mK4image.png) 1. Locate the alarms panel in the top-right corner of the screen to view active notifications. 2. Check the generic alarms section, indicated by a **bell icon**, for alerts routed from an API call containing an unknown student or staff account number. 3. Locate the specific alarm in the panel and click the clear option to dismiss the notification from your active view once it has been addressed.Clearing an alarm only removes the alert from the specific administrator who cleared it. The alarm will remain visible for all other administrators until they choose to clear it for themselves. Cleared alarms can still be accessed and reviewed from the *Dispatch Log Report* for historical reference.
### Visual Cues and Status Indicators - **Alarm Rollups:** All alarms associated with a specific user profile or license plate are automatically consolidated into a single *Dispatch Log* entry if the alarm is triggered within 30 minutes of the very first alarm related to that profile/plate. This prevents a large number of individual, repeated alarms from flooding the system. If more than 30 minutes pass, a completely new dispatch record is generated. --- ## Best Practices and Considerations - **Clear Alarm Comments:** **Always use concise and actionable alarm comments** (e.g., "Student requires escort," "High-risk individual"). This ensures rapid understanding and an appropriate, immediate response from other administrators. - **Role-Based Notifications:** Ensure that only administrators who are actively responsible for responding to people alarms have the correct dispatch permissions configured to avoid unnecessary clutter for non-security staff. - **Timely Clearing:** **Encourage your team to clear alarms immediately once they have been addressed.** This keeps the active alarm panel relevant and significantly reduces notification fatigue. - **Integration with Protocols:** Integrate the use of People Alarms closely with your organization's established emergency or response protocols. Ensure all relevant staff know exactly what actions to take when a specific type of alarm is triggered. - **Regular Review of Dispatch Logs:** Periodically review the *[Dispatch Log Report](https://opscom.wiki/books/the-opscom-admin-portal/page/dispatch-logs "Dispatch Logs")* to monitor alarm trends, identify recurring issues, and ensure the overall effectiveness of your team's response.