Learn about an alert, types of alerts and how to view and close alerts.

Alerts notifies user of important events occurring in VHQ. The user can specify the type of alerts and the method of notification (e-mail message or status screen). Some alerts are available, only if the specific module is implemented, such as Diagnostics or Content Management modules.

There are alerts generated by, VHQ Server, VHQ Agent and applications. All these alerts can be individually configured as Enable/Disable in the VHQ UI.

EXAMPLE:
When the VHQ Server determines that an active device has not sent any heartbeat message for more than 24 hours, then it raises the Device Missing alert for this device.

The alerts generated by the VHQ Agent in the device can be individually configured as ON/OFF based on the value of the alert mask that is specified in the VHQ Agent configuration file. Alerts have a severity level associated with them (High/Medium/Low), and the severity levels for these alerts can be configured from the VHQ GUI. Only High severity alerts will spawn a visual notification on the top most panes of the VHQ GUI. E-mail notification for all types of alerts can be configured on a per-user basis.

The Alerts chart displays information about alerts that were generated during the past seven days. If no alerts are generated during the past seven days, then the status message No Alerts found is displayed. The No Alerts found status message is displayed when the VHQ GUI is unable to avail chart data to be sent by the VHQ server.

Types of Alerts

The table lists the various Alert types:

Open Alerts

The Open Alerts option can be used to generate a report of all open alerts in the VHQ system, and it also has an option to close one or more of these open alerts.

This report has a filter condition for the Alert Type field. To generate all types of alerts, the value All Alert Types must be selected from the Alert Type drop-down list, else the required alert type should be selected from the Alert Type drop-down list.

The supported alerts are:

The following alerts are supported only if the VHQ Diagnostic module is licensed. To create custom alerts, contact VHQ Support.

• Low Battery
• Low Flash Memory
• Low RAM Memory

NOTE: Alerts that are in the OPEN state will get automatically purged from the VHQ system after 90 days have elapsed from the date these alerts were generated. This purge duration is a configurable value and you should check with your VHQ administrator if you want to change this duration or if you want to verify the current purge duration for alerts in the OPEN state.

To view open alerts:

• Go to Device Management > Manage Alerts > Open Alerts.

When an alert is initially generated, it will be in the OPEN state. Once a VHQ user has reviewed the generated alerts and has taken the required action (if applicable), then the user must mark these alerts as CLOSED from the Open Alerts screen.

Before you use the Open Alerts Report, ensure that you have set the correct device search criteria from the Device Search.

NOTE: If you have set your device filter to the hierarchy Verifone >> South >> Texas >> Dallas in the Device Search tab, then the data in the Open Alerts Report will be for the devices that are in the hierarchy Verifone >> South >> Texas >> Dallas.

The data from the Open Alerts Report can be exported to an Excel file by clicking the Export to Excel icon.

NOTE: Click on the Device Serial link for an individual alert to view the Device Profile of the relevant device. 

Closing an Alert

There are two ways to close an alert:

1. Closing an alert from Dashboard screen.
2. Closing an alert from Device Profile screen.
3. Closing an alert(s) from Open Alerts screen. 

Closing an alert from Dashboard screen

To view and close an alert:

1. Select the option sequence Dashboard > Open Alerts.
2. Click on Open Alerts chart to view a pie chart. The pie chart gives a breakup of the number of high, medium and low severity alerts generated on the day that is represented by that bar. The relevant alerts are also displayed in the lower pane in this screen that has the details of the alerts that were generated during the past seven days, with an Open status value.
3. Select the respective Device ID or Serial # of the alert. Device profile screen of the selected Serial # or Device ID is displayed.
4. Select the alert and click to close the alert.
5. Click Confirm to delete an alert.

NOTE: An alert is generated to the user based on the configuration set (Enabled/Disabled). The alert cannot be assigned to the severity levels (High/Medium/Low), as reported by the application. Automatic Close:
• If set to Disabled (Default), VHQ will generate alerts whenever Device reports application alerts, even if one open alerts exists.
• If set to Enabled, VHQ will generate alerts whenever a Device reports application alerts even if one open alerts exists. You can view the alert information under the following screens under Description column. Hover over the description to view the details. Dashboard Screen, Alert History Screen, Open Alerts Screen and Edit User Screen.

Closing an alert from Device Profile screen

To view and close an alert:

1. Select the option sequence Device Profile screen> Alerts tab.
2.  Select the alert and click to close an alert.  A popup window appears asking for confirmation. The user can enter the notes. You can add new notes after closing an alert.
3. Click Confirm to delete an alert.  

Closing an alert(s) from Open Alerts screen

To view and close alert(s):

1. Go to Device Management > Manage Alerts > Open Alerts.
2.  Select the alert(s) and click to close alert(s).

Alert History

The Alert History Report can be used to generate a report of all alerts in the VHQ system. The following filter conditions are available in this Report.

NOTE: Alerts that are in the CLOSED state are automatically purged from the VHQ system after 30 days have elapsed from the date these alerts were generated. Alerts that are in the OPEN state will get automatically purged from the VHQ system after 90 days have elapsed from the date these alerts were generated. Once alerts are generated, it should be reviewed by VHQ users and the status of these alerts should be marked as CLOSED from the Open Alerts screen in the VHQ GUI.

The purge durations given above are configurable values. You can contact VHQ Administrator if you want to change these values or if you want to verify the current purge duration for alerts.

To view alert history:

1. Go to Device Management > Manage Alerts > Alert History. Before you use the Alert History Report, please ensure that you have set the correct device search criteria from the Device Search.

NOTE: If you have set your device filter to the hierarchy Verifone >> South >> Texas >> Dallas in the Device Search, then the data in the Alert History Report will be for the devices that are in the hierarchy Verifone >> South >> Texas >> Dallas.

1. The data from the Alert History Report can be exported to an MS Excel file by clicking on the Export to Excel icon.
2. Click on the Device Serial link for an individual alert to view the Device Profile of the relevant device.
3. On the Device Profile screen, click Alerts tab to view more information.

   NOTE:

   Severity of an alert - The severity of the alert can be configured through Administration > Alert Administration option sequence.

   Alert notification - An alert notification email can be configured through Administration > User Administration > User Profile option sequence.

   Subscribe alerts - At the top-right corner, logged in user can view their details. The Profile option is selected in order to display the User Profile window. To configure email, click Edit Profile and     Subscribed Alerts. Enter your email address and then click Save.

Editing Alert Parameters

The user can edit the following alert parameters:

1. Severity 
2. Alert Status
3. Automatic Close
4. Always Generate New Alert 

For more details on how to edit an alert parameters, refer to the Alert Administration section.