Stale alarms are active alarms that have been active for more than 24 hours. VF tags these alarms as "stale" as an indication to users that these older alarms may need investigation as to why they have been active for so long. There are multiple reasons why alarms could stay active, and VF can help you deal with them.
Reasons an alarm can be stale in VF:
- The alarm is still active in the BAS.
- The BAS has not sent VF a signal that the alarm has returned to normal.
- The alarm may be informational and thus never have an end time.
- The BAS controller may have been decommissioned or gone offline while the alarm was still active.
- The return to normal signal may have been lost due to BAS network connectivity or database issue.
If the alarm is still active in the BAS:
- The alarm should be responded to accordingly. If the issue has been resolved and the alarm has not returned to normal, the alarm configuration (deadband, off-delay, etc.) should be confirmed. Further troubleshooting may need to be performed.
If the alarm is inactive in the BAS, but still active in VF:
- Confirm that the alarm has an end time in the BAS.
- Confirm that the alarm is configured in the BAS to write return-to-normal signals to the API or database that VF has integrated with.
What options do I have in VF to deal with stale alarms?
Action - Clear Alarm
Perform a one-time manual clear of the alarm or alarms by selecting one or more alarms and choosing Clear Alarm from the Actions menu. This will set an end time for the alarm(s) but will not override any end times received from the BAS.
Action - Decline Alarm
The triage action to decline an alarm will move it out of the Intake and into the Declined lens. This will not set an end time for the alarm but it will move it out of the way.
Automation Rules
Create an automation rule to clear specific alarms after a set duration. Use the trigger of "When an alarm turns stale" plus a delay time, and the action to "Clear Alarm and Set End Time" to regularly clear out stale alarms when they get too old.
There are certain BAS alarms that may need automation rules configured because they will never send an end time to Virtual Facility. For example, JCI Metasys "Unreliable" alarms never post an end time, so creating a rule to target alarms with Condition = Unreliable would be appropriate for this case.