Overview

Automation Rules allow organizations to automate monitoring and triage of alarms. This has several benefits including:

• Improving monitoring consistency, so critical alarms don't get overlooked.
• Expanding monitoring coverage, so alarms are not neglected outside of normal business hours.
• Reducing the time and energy required to monitor alarms, so maintenance teams can focus on other maintenance tasks.

This article provides instructions for creating and managing automation rules in Alarm Triage.

Only Administrators have access to Automation Rules. Please contact your organization's administrator(s) if you need access.

Creating an Automation Rule

Administrators create automation rules from the page Settings > Automation Rules. 

Clicking the "Create New Rule" button opens up a creation screen that includes the five sections lists below. 

1. Schedule - when the automation rule is active
2. Trigger - what alarm state the automation rule is looking for
3. Alarm Criteria - which alarms are included
4. Delay - how long the alarm must remain in the Trigger's state before performing the Action
5. Action - what task the automation will perform once the Delay is met

Schedule

Define a window for automation that you would like to run only during a particular time of day or day of the week. A few common scenarios are:

• Night Shift - Every One Day From 10:00PM-4:00AM
• Weekends - Every One Week On Sat and Sunday

An automation rule has a single schedule. If multiple schedules are needed you can clone the rule after it is created and adjust the schedule for the second rule.

Trigger

A trigger is a type of alarm state that can occur. The table below describes the available triggers.

Trigger Name	Description
Alarm enters Intake	The alarm is moved to an Alarm Status of Intake. This trigger normally happens when a new active instance of an alarm comes in, but occurs anytime the alarm enters Intake. For example, an active alarm moving from Dispatched to Intake also satisfies this trigger.
When an alarm turns stale	An alarm turns stale when an alarm has been active for 24 hrs. If the alarm source (BAS) is not sending a Return to Normal message for the alarm, the alarm will become stale.

 

Alarm Criteria

Setting alarm criteria allows users to specify which alarms they would like to be included in the automation rule. 

To add criteria, select the desired field and enter a value, then determine if the condition should be Contains or Does not contain. Multiple values entered within the same Contains field are treated with the OR logic. In addition, groups and subgroups act as parentheses, much like how parentheses are used in mathematical equations.

 

Work Status

The work status field deserves special attention because it help reduce unwanted work. Adding a criteria of (Work Status does not contain Open Work), will help the rule ignore known issues. Note that for very sensitive spaces or equipment, it may still make sense to always create a work ticket regardless of existing open work on the alarm. For example, it is a possible closing of a work ticket got neglected and issuing a new work ticket will create the desired response.

Example 

The below is an example of when multiple criteria are set for an automation rule and the logic used:

 

Status contains Intake

AND((Building contains (1 OR 2))

AND(Parameter contains Air)

AND((Medium contains CO2) OR (Priority contains Highest))

In order for this rule to execute, the Building must be building 1 or building 2, the Parameter must contain AIR, and either Medium contains CO2 or Priority is highest.

Asset Status Criteria

An automation rule will check the status of the selected asset prior to executing. For example, you may want to create an automation rule to create work on your Air Handling Units, but only if the Chilled Water System is not in failure. 

 

Delay

A Delay sets a timer before the action is initiated. When the delay time has been reached, the rule checks that the alarm still meets the criteria and then initiates the Action.

Action

Action is the task performed once the delay has been met. The table below lists the available actions.

Action Name	Description
Create work ticket	Creates a new work ticket and if the Sync To is set to a CMMS it will also generate the appropriate item in the CMMS using the information provided. See Use Case #1 below for more details.
Clear alarm and set end time	Takes the time the action is executed and applies it as an alarm end time to the alarm instance that triggered the rule. This will clear the triggered alarm, setting it from active to inactive within Alarm Triage. (This does not clear the alarm within the system that generates the alarm.) See Use Case #2 below for more details.

Managing Automation Rules

A lab space or testing facility typically has required room specifications to protect research, products, animals, etc. When sensitive space conditions are compromised, lack of awareness and action could lead to damages and/or lost revenue. Automation rules can be used to enable immediate response when space conditions become compromised.