Alarms

Alarms are notifications that trigger when certain predefined conditions are met by elements in a plant.

The Alarms module allows you to monitor, manage, and analyze alarms by notifying you when something needs your attention. Alarms can trigger when one or more activation conditions are met. In the Alarms module, triggers are grouped by plant and by alarm.

Note: For more information, see the article about Alarm triggers and activation conditions.

The system uses a smart mechanism that constantly checks for new alarms by scanning devices hierarchically, from the highest to the lowest. When the system detects an alarm, it stops checking lower devices to avoid displaying too many Alarms related to the same issue.

Note: By default, after an alarm is triggered, the system notifies you every 24 hours that the alarm is still active. It is possible to customize this notification period when configuring the alarm conditions.

Alarms are also automatically hidden if the issue detected was reported in another alarm.

Important: After you customize your filter, you must click the

to apply the new criteria.

You can open the Context Menu for alarms by selecting one or more alarms and right-clicking them. For more information, see the Alarms Context Menu below.

You can also access the Alarm Information by selecting it from the Context Menu. This menu contains detailed information and data analytics tool for the specific alarm. For more information, see Alarm Information window below.

Figure 1. Alarms module

Quick filters: Toggle an alarm type to display or hide related alarm:

Communication
Stop
Warning
Preventive

Toggle a status to display or hide related triggers:


Status	Color code	Description
Active		The criteria that caused the alarm activation are still valid and no operator has been assigned to the alarm.
Notified		The criteria that caused the alarm activation are still valid, but an operator has been assigned to the alarm.
Inactive		The alarm deactivation criteria have been met.
On hold		A user put the alarm on hold for a specific period of time.

Note: The default icons and colors are customizable. Contact your GPM representative if you want to change them.

Period picker: select a date range from the drop-down list to display alarms that were activated during that period:
- Current day
- Custom period
- Last 15 days
- Last 30 days
- Last 7 days
- Unrestricted period
Note: When you choose Unrestricted Period, the system automatically disables active alarms to avoid generating too many queries.
Plant filter: select a plant from the drop-down menu to display only the alarms related to it.
Keyword filter: enter a keyword to filter alarms by their name, Alarm ID, or global Alarm ID:
- Use # before a number to search by Alarm ID.
- Use * before a number to search by global Alarm ID.
- Use ; to separate multiple criteria.
Saved filters: select a filter from the drop-down menu to apply it to the alarm list.
Apply filters: click to apply the combination of filters you have selected.
Advanced filters: click to display the Advanced Alarms Filters window and customize your filter with more advanced options. For further information, see Advanced Alarm Filters.
Total tiggers: displays count of the alarms that are currently displayed.
More actions: click to display more actions:
- Export Alarms: click to export alarms that are currently displayed to a Microsoft Excel format. For further information, see Export Data to File.
- Audible Alarms: toggle to enable or disable audio alarms.
- Blinking Alarms: toggle to enable or disable blinking alarms.
- Group Alarms: toggle to group or ungroup the alarms. When alarms are ungrouped, you can select multiple triggers and perform bulk actions on them.
Alarms table: displays groups of alarms with their triggers, automatically collapsed, and sorted in descending order by severity, status and activation time.

Double-click a group of alarms to expand it and display related triggers.

Click a plant to open its hierarchy tree in the Navigation module.

Click a column header to sort the table by the values of that column. Rearrange columns by dragging and dropping the headers.

Right-click a trigger to open the context menu and perform quick changes.


Figure 2. Context menu
Option	Description
Assign alarm	Click to open a dialog that allows you to assign the alarm to an operator.
New ticket	Select a new ticket type to create a new ticket and automatically pair the selected element to it.
Add to ticket	Place your cursor here, enter a ticket ID in the search field, and press enter to add the selected element to an existing ticket.
Search tickets	Choose a ticket type to open the related tickets in the Tickets view.
Add exception	Click to create an exception and add the alarm ID in the exception description. For further information, see the Commands section.
Put alarm on hold	Click to put the alarm on hold. You must specify the time period for which the alarm remains on hold. Once the time is up, the alarm reverts to its previous status. You can also input the reason for putting the alarm on hold. It is also possible to delete an existing hold. This resets the alarm to its previous status.
View alarm information	Click to open the Alarm Information window and see further information about the alarm.
Deactivate alarm	Click to deactivate the alarm. Important: This action requires the administrator password.
Delete alarm	Click to delete the alarm. Important: This action requires the administrator password.

Alarm Information window

In the Alarm Information window, the upper displays the alarm priority and the timestamp of Activation, Allocation, and Deactivation, which are the core events of an alarm. In the upper area, you can also create tickets and automatically link them to the alarm by clicking the icon.

The area below the upper bar is organized in tabs. Each tab contains a different piece of information. When it is possible to perform actions on the data displayed, the tab will include Action buttons.


Tab	Description
Activation	Includes the activation condition and the latest values of each criteria used in the activation condition.
Follow-up	Includes all the actions performed by operators on the trigger since it was triggered.
Deactivation	Includes the deactivation condition and the most recent values of each criteria used in the deactivation condition.
Repercussion	When the triggering of the alarm affects availability, users can see the timestamp of the issue as well as its total duration. If the status of the trigger is "On hold", this tab also includes the time that the alarm has been on hold.
Description	Includes the alarm description.


Figure 4. Advanced alarm filters Action buttons: click to perform actions on the alarm: Apply: apply the filters to the list without saving. Save: save the filters for future use. Delete: delete the selected filter. Status: select the alarm status: Communication Stop Warning Preventive Production loss exclusion: select whether to include or exclude alarms that caused losses in production. Time zone: select the time zone for the plant. Severity: select the alarm severity. You can select more than one option. Treatment: select whether the alarm have been included in a ticket. Name or ID: enter the alarm name or ID. Type: select one or more alarm types. Origin: select the plants or devices that the alarm is associated to. Note: The alarm origin allows you to filter alarms by plants or devices using the pre-defined groups of your portfolio. Period: select the alarm time criteria and period.