Write an alert template

Write the exact words a phone call speaks or a text, email or webhook sends, with placeholders for the incident's title and summary.

In the sidebar, open Critical Alerts, then Setup, then Templates. The page address is /critical-alerts/templates.

A template is the wording. A rule picks one for opening an incident and, optionally, another for the all-clear.

Before you start

• Your admin has to give your role permission to manage critical alert templates.
• Decide the channel first. A voice template is read aloud on the call; a text, email or webhook template is sent as written.

Steps

1. Press New template. The Create template drawer opens.
2. Type a Name. The Key fills in from it and cannot change later.
3. Choose the Channel the wording is for.
4. For a voice template, type the Spoken message. For every other channel, type the Body template. Put {incident_title} and {incident_summary} where the incident's own title and summary should appear.
5. For email, type a Subject template. On a voice template the same field is called Internal subject and is only for your own reference.
6. Press Create template. The template is saved as a draft.
7. On its row, press Publish so rules can use it.

Note: Keep a spoken message short and plain. The call reads it exactly as written once the placeholders are filled in, and then plays the keypad prompt.

What you see

• Each row shows the channel, the body text, the subject (or "No subject template"), and a version line.
• The Filters button narrows by Channel and Status.
• Edit reopens the drawer. Version history at the bottom lists earlier live versions with Make live on each.

If something looks different

• The call says the placeholder name instead of the title: the braces or spelling in {incident_title} are wrong.
• The alert still uses the old wording after you edited the template: press Publish on the template's row.
• New template is missing: your role cannot manage templates.

Open Templates