xMatters on demand for message recipients

Transcription

This manual provides information about xMatters. Every effort has been made to make it as complete and accurate as
possible; however, the information it contains is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on
the part of xMatters, inc. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means without the prior written consent of
xMatters, inc.
Friday, June 26, 2015
Copyright © 1994-2015. All rights reserved.
xMatters™, xMatters lite, xMatters workgroup, xMatters enterprise, xMatters on demand, xMatters service provider,
xMatters mobile access, Communication Plan, AlarmPoint Systems™, AlarmPoint®, AlarmPoint® Java Client,
AlarmPoint® Mobile Gateway, AlarmPoint® Integration Agent, AlarmPoint® Express, AlarmPoint® Standard,
AlarmPoint® Professional, AlarmPoint® Enterprise, AlarmPoint® Service Provider, and AlarmPoint® Notification
Server are trademarks of xMatters, inc.
All other products and brand names are trademarks of their respective companies.
Contacting xMatters, inc.:
You can visit the xMatters web site at: http://www.xmatters.com
Corporate Headquarters
12647 Alcosta Blvd, Suite 425
San Ramon, CA 94583
Telephone: 925.226.0300
Facsimile: 925-226-0310
Client Assistance:
International: +1 925.226.0300 and press 2
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Other Resources:
Join the xMatters Community: http://support.xmatters.com
Table of Contents
Welcome to xMatters On-Demand
About this guide
Change your passwords
Force a password to expire
Manage your devices
Add a device
Set device timeframes
Modify device details
Change device order
Test and validate your devices
Respond to alerts
How to prepare to receive notifications
Receive and respond to phone alerts
Receive and respond to text and SMS alerts
Receive and respond to email alerts
Call in to retrieve alerts
How to access other xMatters resources
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Welcome to xMatters On-Demand
xMatters connects
people with what
they need to know,
at the exact moment
they need to know it
- so they can act
quickly. It's a simple
concept that packs
huge benefits. It can
save the sanity of an
IT team, or save the
lives of people
caught in a disaster.
It can breathe new
life into a product, or
capture a customer's
attention at just the
right instant.
Our technology
works with your
existing products and
services to deliver
what matters most on time, every time.
Find out how
xMatters can be used in your company, and - even better - why we're the best at what we do.
Communications platform
A flexible platform that lets you create the apps you need.
xMatters communication plan technology is a highly flexible and accurate enterprise communications platform that lets
you design all of the communications applications you need for your business.
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Out-of-the-box enterprise application integration with 40+ applications
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Additional enterprise application support through our Community
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Multiple communication device and protocol support
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Full mobile support
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Full-set of developer and UI design tools
IT alerting
Alert and escalate IT incidents automatically.
xMatters automates the important task of notifying, escalating, and driving collaboration on an IT incident, reducing
response time by up to 80% and leading to faster incident resolution and less downtime. In addition, xMatters provides
full visibility into the process to drive accountability and help you optimize the process.
Welcome to xMatters On-Demand | 1
Mass notification
Personalize mass messages.
With xMatters, your mass notifications evolve into mass personalization. Deliver unique experiences, choices, and
capabilities to many individuals on a broad scale based on any number of factors, such as roles, responsibilities, interests,
schedules, or locations.
Employee notifications
Different tasks. Different employees. One platform.
xMatters offers a number of solutions to help you communicate more effectively with employees on a broad scale:
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Unique communication plans – You can build different communication plans for different roles, functions, and
scenarios (e.g. responding to a fire vs. responding to a product recall)
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Instant collaboration – Our role-based conferencing functionality can get a conference call going with all the key
players in under 60 seconds
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Scheduling and escalation – Rather than combing through out-of-the-office reminders, you can set up on-call
schedules with built-in escalations for months in advance for any functions that require scheduling (e.g. IT,
nursing, security)
Customer notification
Keep customers informed.
xMatters provides you with a number of ways to improve your customer service by proactively sending relevant
messages to your customers when they want to hear them and how they want to hear them (phone, email, SMS, IM, fax).
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Product updates
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Special offers
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Service interruption notices
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Bill and payment reminders
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Fraudulent activity warnings
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Location-based services
About xMatters
xMatters enables any business process or application to trigger two-way communications (text, voice, email, SMS, push
technology, etc.) throughout the extended enterprise. The company’s cloud-based solution allows for enterprise-grade
scaling and delivery during time-sensitive events.
More than 1,000 leading global firms use xMatters to ensure business operations run smoothly and effectively during
incidents such as IT failures, product recalls, natural disasters, dynamic staffing, service outages, medical emergencies and
supply-chain disruption. Founded in 2000 as AlarmPoint Systems, xMatters is headquartered in San Ramon, CA with
European operations based in London. More information is available at www.xmatters.com. Follow us on Twitter and
Facebook.
About this guide
This guide is intended for users whose main interaction with xMatters On-Demand is to receive messages. In particular,
you will learn how to set up and validate your Devices and how to respond to alerts from xMatters.
This guide takes a real-world approach, providing concrete examples throughout, with suggestions about how to deal
with common issues. Each section builds on the information in the previous section so that readers are free to read only
the sections that apply to the way they use xMatters On-Demand.
About this guide | 2
Note:
This guide is meant to complement rather than replace existing xMatters online help. You are encouraged to
take advantage of online help as you explore xMod. You can also access video tutorials from the Tutorials and
Videos link on the xMatters Home page.
Change your passwords
Whether you have security regulations that require you to change your passwords on a regular basis, or you just want to
change your login details to something that is easier for you to remember, you can change your phone and web
passwords from your xMatters home page.
Before changing your web password, be sure to review the rules for creating a password that appear on the Change My
Web Login page. These rules are set by your administrator and can be simple or relatively complex where higher
security is required. The following section discusses these rules in detail.
Note:
A user supervisor can disable the current password for any user they supervise and assign them a temporary
password. For details, see "Force a password to expire" on page 6.
Check your password rules
xMatters administrators can set guidelines for how complex or unique passwords must be, and how often Users must
change their password. The password rules that apply to your Company are displayed below the web login details on the
Change My Web Login page.
Depending on your organization’s password policy settings, your account may be 'locked out' if you enter an incorrect
password more than a specific number of times determined by your xMatters administrator. When you are locked out, a
message appears on the xMatters sign-in page; you will not be able to try again until a certain amount of time has
passed, or an xMatters administrator has unlocked your account.
If your password has expired, you can still log in to xMatters using your old password, but you will be prompted to
create a new password before you can access your information or use any other features. If you forget your password,
your xMatters Administrator can force your password to expire, which will reset it and allow you to create a new one.
Change your web login password
The following table identifies the password rules that may be set for your Company:
Web Login Password Rules
Rule
Description
Minimum Length
Identifies the minimum numbers of characters required for your password to be valid.
Unique History
Identifies how many unique new passwords you must create before you can reuse a
password.
Change Required Every
Identifies how often you must create a new password.
Change Permitted Every
Identifies how often you are allowed to create a new password; i.e., you must use each
password for at least as many days as indicated.
Change Required In
Identifies how many days remain before you will be required to create a new
password.
Rule
Description
Password Complexity
Identifies how complex each password must be. There are three possible settings for
this rule:
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None: There are no restrictions on password strength.
Non-Alpha: Passwords must include at least one non-letter character, such as
numbers (0 through 9) or special characters (e.g., !, $, #, %, @).
Strong: Passwords must:
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Not include all or part of the User’s account name.
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Be at least 6 characters long. Note that for multi-Company deployments
(including xMatters On-Demand) the minimum is 8 characters.
Include characters from at least three of the following four categories:
upper-case letters (A through Z); lower-case letters (a through z); base 10
digits (0 through 9), non-alphanumeric characters (e.g., !, $, #, %, @).
To change your web password:
1. Sign in to xMatters.
2. Click your user name located in the top-right corner of the page, and then click Change Web Login.
Changing web login details
3. On the Change My Web Login page, enter the following information into the form:
Change My Web Login details
Field
Description
Authentication
When available, this setting is used to change the type of Authentication method used
when logging into xMatters. If only one type of Authentication method is available,
this option is not displayed.
Unless otherwise instructed by your xMatters Administrator, ensure that Web Login is
selected.
Web Login ID
Type the User ID you want to use when logging into xMatters. This User ID must be
unique within your organization. Note that depending on your permissions and the
configuration determined by your xMatters Administrator, you may not be able to edit
the contents of this field.
Old Password
To confirm your User ID, type your existing password. Note that the Old Password
field appears only if you are changing your own password (Administrators will not see
this field).
New Password
Type the new password you want to use.
Your password may need to contain a specific combination of letters and characters;
see the section “Password Rules” above for an explanation of these requirements.
Verify New Password
Type your new password again. This helps to eliminate any mistakes in the password.
4. If you are a User Supervisor who is forcing the User's password to expire, you must specify a temporary password
for the User in the New Password and Confirm Password fields. For more information, see "Force a password to
expire", below.
5. To reset the contents of the fields and discard any changes, click Reset.
6. Click Save to apply your changes and return to your home page.
Note:
If you are an Administrator viewing the password settings for a locked-out User, click Unlock to reset the
Lockout Threshold count to zero and unlock the User’s account.
Change your phone password
You can change the password that you key in when you phone into xMatters to retrieve your alerts or perform other
tasks.
To change your phone password:
2. Click your user name, the company name, or the personal settings icon located in the top-right corner of the page,
and then click Change Web Login.
Changing phone login details
3. On the Change My Phone Login page, enter the following information into the form:
Change My Phone Login details
Field
Description
Phone Login
Mandatory alphanumeric code of up to 25 letters that uniquely identifies you. Before
changing this setting, check with your xMatters Administrator to determine whether
your organization has a numbering policy in place.
New Password
Password you want to use for your phone login.
It is usually easier to use numeric values because some companies do not configure their
telephone systems to accept alpha characters. Ask your xMatters Administrator for the
correct format for your organization.
Verify New Password
Type your new password again (this helps to eliminate any mistakes in the password).
4. To reset the contents of the fields and discard any changes, click Reset.
5. Click Save to apply your changes and return to your home page.
Force a password to expire
In some cases, supervisors may need to force a user’s password to expire. For example, manual password expiry may be
necessary if a user has forgotten their password or if they learn that someone else knows their current password. A user
supervisor can disable the current password for any user they supervise and assign them a temporary password. When the
user logs in to xMatters with the temporary password, they are directed to immediately create a new password.
To manually force a user's password to expire:
1. In the xMatters web user interface, navigate to the My Details page for the user whose password you want to reset.
2. On the user’s detail page, click Change Web Login on the Common Tasks menu.
3. On the Change Web Login page, specify a temporary password for the user in the New Password and Confirm
Password fields.
4. Click Force Password Expiry.
5. Inform the user of the temporary password you have set for them.
The next time the user logs in to the xMatters web user interface, they will need to use the temporary password. Once
they have logged in, xMatters will guide them through the process of specifying a new password.
Manage your devices
The xMatters web user interface makes it easy to create, modify, and organize the devices that xMatters uses to contact
you.
To view your devices, click your user name in the top-right corner of the page, and then click My Devices in the
Contact Devices menu.
The following figure shows the device list for Mary McBride:
The following table describes each of the columns in the devices table:
Column
Description
Order
Indicates the order in which you want xMatters to attempt to contact your devices when sending
notifications. For more information, see "Change device order" on page 17.
Name
Identifies the descriptive name of each device. You can click the name of a device to view and
edit its details.
Type
Identifies the device type, such as “Email”, “Voice”, "Text Phone", etc.
Details
Displays different identifying information for each device, depending on its type. For example,
for an email device, this column lists the email address; for a phone device, it lists the phone
number.
Valid
Indicates whether the device has been successfully tested to ensure that xMatters is able to
contact you on it. For more information, see "Test and validate your devices" on page 17.
Status
Indicates whether the device is active and able to receive notifications.
Manage your devices | 7
Column
Description
Default
Indicates whether the device is the default method for xMatters to contact you when none of
your device’s timeframes match a coverage within a group to which you belong.
Timeframe
Displays the main timeframe for each device, indicating when the device is available to receive
notifications. For more information about timeframes, see "Set device timeframes" on page 12.
Delay
Indicates the length of time (in minutes) that xMatters will wait after sending a notification to
this device before trying the next device in your list.
Each entry in the Name column and the Timeframe column is also a hyperlink. You can click the name of any device in
the list to view more details about that device, or click the link in the Timeframes column to view more details about
when the device is set to receive notifications. For more about timeframes and customizing your device schedules, see
"Set device timeframes" on page 12.
Add a device
You can set up your own devices using the xMatters web user interface, and return later to make changes, or to add more
devices. The following section describes how to add each of the different device types in xMatters.
Note that xMatters limits how many devices you can add of each type. For more information, consult your xMatters
Administrator.
To add a device:
1. Click your user name in the top-right corner of the page, and then click My Devices.
2. On the My Devices page, click the Add New link.
3. Select the type of device you want to add from the drop-down list, and then click Continue.
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xMatters displays the Device Details page for the selected device type.
4. On the Device Details page, enter the information for your device into the form.
5. When you are satisfied with the information you have provided, click Save to add the device.
When you add a new device, it is automatically assigned a 24x7 timeframe. This means that the device is ready to
receive notifications 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week. You can edit your device timeframes to specify when you want each
of your devices to be able to receive xMatters notifications. For more information, see "Set device timeframes" on page
12.
Smart phones
To add a smart phone device (also known as a push device) such as an iPhone, iPad, Android phone or Blackberry
device, you must first download the xMatters mobile app from the corresponding app store and install it on your device.
You can then assign the device a name from a list within the app.
xMatters automatically adds this device to your device list and configures it so that it is always active and receives
notifications immediately. You can then log in to the web user interface to view and modify your device settings, such
as setting your device to be active during certain timeframes or to be notified after your other devices. For more
information, see "Modify device details" on page 16.
Set your device details
Consult the tables below for a description of the fields for each type of device.
Email Device Details
Field
Description
Device Name
Select the name that best describes the Email Device you are adding. The choices available
are determined by your xMatters Administrator.
Active
Select this check box if you want this Device to be able to receive notifications. If this
check box is not selected, xMatters will not attempt to contact you on this Device.
Default Device
Select this check box if you want this Device to be the default method for receiving
xMatters notifications when none of your Devices’ Timeframes match a Coverage within a
Group to which you belong.
Email Address
Type the email address you want to use for this Device.
Note that your administrator may have specified the domain names (i.e., the part of the
email address following the @ symbol) allowed for the Device Name. For example, if you
selected "Work Email" as the Device Name for this Device, then your email address may
need to contain your corporate domain name. Click the blue help icon next to the field to
view a list of approved domains.
Provider
This setting identifies the email service provider for this Device. Your xMatters
Administrator specifies the available options.
Delay
Type the length of time (in minutes) that xMatters should wait after sending a notification
to this Device before trying the next Device in your list.
Priority Threshold
Select the priority level of alerts you want to receive on this Device. For example, to avoid
having xMatters use this Device for low-priority events, select “Use for Medium and High
Events”. This feature must be configured by your xMatters Administrator when integrating
xMatters with a management system.
Custom Timeframe
Select this check box to add a custom Device Timeframe for this Device. For instructions
on how to create Timeframes, see "Set device timeframes" on page 12.
Text Pager Device Details
Field
Description
Device Name
Select the name that best describes the Text Pager Device you are adding (for example,
“Work Pager”). The choices available are determined by your xMatters Administrator.
Active
Default Device
notifications when none of your Devices’ Timeframes match a Coverage within a Group to
which you belong.
PIN
Type the Personal Identification Number for the pager.
Field
Description
Provider
This setting identifies the paging service provider for this Device. Your xMatters
Two-Way Device
Select this check box if your Device is capable of sending a return message in response to
a notification.
Delay
Priority Threshold
Select the priority level of alerts you want to receive on this Device. For example, to
avoid having xMatters use this Device for low-priority events, select “Use for Medium and
High Events”. This feature must be configured by your Administrator when integrating
Custom Timeframe
Text Phone Device Details
Field
Description
Device Name
Select the name that best describes the Device you are adding (for example, “SMS
Phone”). The choices available are determined by your xMatters Administrator.
Active
Default Device
Country
Select the country in which the text phone Device is based; the choices available are
determined by your xMatters Administrator. This setting helps ensure that responses are
delivered properly to xMatters when sent through an SMS provider, and is important even
when the provider and Device are based in the same country.
You do not need to change this setting when traveling with the Device. It is only used to
identify the Device's "home" country.
Note: For more about the country code setting for text phones, see "Text Phone
Configuration Changes", below.
Number
Type the area code and phone number for the device, using international dialing formats.
Note: Do not include a leading zero, spaces, or special characters such as brackets or plus
symbols (+).
Provider
This setting identifies the (text) phone service provider for this Device. Your xMatters
Field
Description
Delay
Priority Threshold
Select the priority level of alerts you want to receive on this Device. For example, to
avoid having xMatters use this Device for low-priority events, select “Use for Medium
and High Events”. This feature must be configured by your xMatters Administrator when
integrating xMatters with a management system.
Custom Timeframe
Text Phone Charges
You may incur charges when receiving or responding to xMatters notifications on a text phone Device. The Text Phone
Device Details page contains a summary of the information you need to know before creating a text phone Device,
which includes the numbers to which you can send STOP or HELP codes to opt-out or get more information. These
numbers update dynamically based on your Provider and Country settings.
Whenever you add, modify, or activate a text phone Device, xMatters sends two text messages to the Device: a
confirmation message and a sample alert. The text of these messages is set by your xMatters Administrator, but usually
include a reference to how the number of alerts can vary with usage, an indication that message and data rates may
apply, and the numbers to which you can send STOP or HELP codes.
If you decide to opt out of the service by sending a STOP code in response to the confirmation message or sample alert,
xMatters deactivates the text phone Device within xMatters (i.e., by clearing the Active check box) and sends a
notification to your User and Group Supervisors.
Text Phone Configuration Changes
In xMatters, text phones have two separate modes of operation that allow them to be configured in different ways. This
was introduced to meet new SMS requirements like simple replies and MMA compliance.
Prior to xMatters version 5.0 and version 4.1 patch 006, in what is known as "legacy mode", text phones could be
configured by specifying the phone number as a free-form text field. This allowed each phone to be configured with the
necessary requirements for their provider; for example, a User could include the country code or other characters in the
phone number, such as +440735559995 or 212-555-2125.
The new text phone Device configuration requires the country code to be specified separately, and enforces stricter
validation on the number. This is necessary for xMatters to provide support for short code compliance, simple
SMS responses, and other features and MMA requirements.
Note that this change impacts web services, the web user interface, and data synchronization. Updating an existing
system from legacy mode requires that each text phone Device be updated to have the correct country code and its
phone number formatted to meet the new validation requirements. For assistance with this upgrade, contact xMatters
Professional Services.
Voice (Phone) Device Details
Field
Description
Device Name
Select the name that best describes the Device you are adding (for example, “Mobile
Phone”). The choices available are determined by your xMatters Administrator.
Field
Description
Active
Default Device
Country Code Override
If the phone you want to use is from another country, select the country in which the
service for this phone is based.
Area Code
Type the area code for the Voice Device you are adding.
Phone Number
Type the phone number for the Voice Device you are adding.
Extension
Type the extension for the Voice Device you are adding. Phone extension support is
available when xMatters uses certain phone providers to send voice notifications. To find
out if your system supports phone extensions, contact your Client Success Manager.
Provider
This setting identifies the (voice) phone service provider for this Device. Your xMatters
Delay
Priority Threshold
Select the priority level of alerts you want to receive on this Device. For example, to avoid
having xMatters use this Device for low-priority events, select “Use for Medium and High
Events”. This feature must be configured by your xMatters Administrator when integrating
Custom Timeframe
Note:
Some Voice (Phone) Devices can be configured so that callers hear an alternative ring (e.g., music, a
customized message, or other recording) rather than the standard ring. However, when xMatters calls a phone
that is configured with a custom ring, an error may occur, or xMatters may assume that it has reached
voicemail.
Set device timeframes
Each device has a timeframe that tells xMatters when that device is available to receive notifications. By default, each
device is available 7x24 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week), but you can specify different timeframes for each device to
ensure that you are always contacted on the right device whenever xMatters sends a notification.
A timeframe schedule might include a timeframe for your work phone specifying that it can be called on weekdays
excluding holidays; two or more timeframes for your home phone specifying that xMatters can call it evenings,
weekends, and on holidays; and a 7x24 timeframe for your work email address.
For example, the figure below shows the timeframe schedule for Mary McBride’s home phone:
An example timeframe schedule
Mary has only one timeframe assigned to her home phone: evenings from 18:00 to 22:00, not including holidays. If she
wanted to be able to be notified on her home phone on weekends, she could add another timeframe. Note that the
extension field is not available on xMatters On-Demand.
Note:
For more detailed information, or to see any other timeframes assigned to a particular device, click the link in
the Name column to review the device details.
Add a timeframe
Depending on your permissions, you can add timeframes to your devices.
For example, assume that Mary wants to add an additional timeframe to her home phone device to make sure that
xMatters can reach her on the weekends. The following steps describe how she could create that timeframe.
To add a timeframe:
2. Click your user name located in the top-right corner of the page, and then click My Devices.
3. On they My Devices page, click the name of the device to which you want to add a timeframe.
4. On the Device Details page, in the Timeframes for Device section, click the Add New link.
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xMatters displays a blank Timeframe Details page.
Creating a new device timeframe
5. Change the settings to specify a new timeframe.
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Mary gives the timeframe a descriptive name, and specifies when she wants her home phone to be available
to receive xMatters notifications on the weekend:
Specifying device timeframe settings
6. Click Save.
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xMatters returns to the Device Details page, and displays the new timeframe in the Timeframes for Device
table.
Device with two timeframes
Note:
The order in which timeframes are listed has no effect on how xMatters determines the availability of your
devices. If one of the timeframes indicates that the device is available, then xMatters will attempt to contact
you on it.
Edit or delete timeframes
You can edit your timeframes at any time to reflect a new work schedule or other change in availability.
For example, if Mary McBride changed her office hours from an 8:00am to 5:00pm schedule to a 9:00am to 6:00pm
schedule, she would adjust her work phone timeframe to reflect her new hours.
To edit an existing timeframe:
1. Browse to the Device Details page of the device you are editing.
2. In the Timeframes for Device page, click the name of the device you want to edit.
3. Modify the timeframe settings as desired.
4. Click Save to apply the changes and return to the Device Details page.
To remove a timeframe:
1. Browse to the Device Details page of the device you are editing.
2. In the Timeframes for Device page, select the check box next to the timeframe you want to delete.
3. Click Remove Selected.
Modify device details
If your devices are already configured, either by you or your xMatters Administrator, you can change details such as
phone numbers, descriptions, and email addresses. For example, if you change your home phone number, you can change
your home phone device details to the new number.
To modify a Device:
3. Click the name of the Device that you want to modify.
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xMatters displays the details for that device.
Device Details for Mary McBride’s home phone
4. On the Device Details page, edit the settings you want to change.
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Note that you cannot change the name of an existing device.
5. When you are satisfied with your choices, click Save to apply your changes and return to the My Devices page.
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To discard your changes and reset the fields to their original values, click Reset.
Change device order
Changing the order of your devices affects how xMatters notifies you. When attempting to contact you, xMatters checks
the timeframes of the first device in your list to see if it is available to receive notifications. If it not, xMatters then
checks the timeframe of the next device, and so on.
To change the order of your devices:
3. Click Reorder.
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xMatters displays the Order My Devices page.
Reordering devices
Reordering devices
4. Click the device you want to move to select it, and then click Move Up or Move Down to reposition the device
in the list.
5. Repeat as necessary to create the desired device order.
6. Click Save to apply your changes and return to the My Devices page, or click Reset to discard your changes and
reset the device order.
Resolve your device order and delay settings
If you have more than one device eligible to receive an alert, and your delay settings are set to zero, you may receive
more than one alert at once. For example, if you have an email device and a text phone device, then xMatters may send
an email immediately, and then send a message to your text phone device even as you are receiving the email message.
Test and validate your devices
Whenever you add a new device, or make a change to an existing device, you should validate that the device is
configured correctly. xMatters includes a testing and validation tool to make sure that your devices are configured
properly and working as expected.
Testing your devices in xMatters is a three-step process:
1. Send a test message to the device.
2. Confirm that the validation message was received on the target device.
3. Reply to the validation message using the device to update its validation status.
The current validated status of your devices is indicated in the Valid column of the Devices table on your home page,
and on your My Devices page. The following table lists and explains the symbols used to represent the status of each
device.
Device requires validating.
A validation message has been sent to this device, and is pending a response.
Device has been validated.
Device has been invalidated because an attempt to contact it has failed.
Device invalidation
When xMatters detects that a device cannot be contacted, it invalidates and deactivates the device. If your device has
been invalidated, correct the contact information and then validate and reactivate the device.
xMatters supports device invalidation for certain email, voice, and SMS devices. Contact your Client Success Manager to
learn which protocol providers support device invalidation or to turn off the device invalidation feature.
To validate a device:
3. In the Existing Devices section, locate the device that you want to validate, and click the icon in the Valid
column. Clicking the icon sends a validation message to the device.
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You can resend a validation message to devices that have already been validated or are pending validation.
4. Retrieve the test message from your device and follow the response instructions.
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In the case of an email device, for example, you will receive a message containing a validation link. You can
reply to the email as defined in the message, or just click the included validation link.
5. Confirm that your device has been validated.
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Once the validation response has been received, the device status (the icon in the Valid column) is updated
on your My Devices page.
My Devices page
Note that if you are unable to log in to the xMatters web user interface, you can still validate your device in one of the
following ways:
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Your xMatters supervisor can use the Mark as Valid button on the Devices for User page to validate a device
they know is accurate and able to receive notifications.
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The first time you respond to a communication plan message using a device, it is automatically updated to Valid.
Respond to alerts
How you respond to alerts from xMatters depends on the devices you have configured, and the time and location of the
event that requires your attention. When xMatters notifies you, it may ask you to respond by acknowledging that you
have received the notification, or it may require a more detailed response.
How to prepare to receive notifications
To ensure that you are able to receive notifications from xMatters On-Demand, do the following:
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Add Caller ID for xMatters to your mobile phone (if you do not know the xMatters call-out phone number, contact
your xMatters administrator). This will help prevent you from mistaking xMatters calls for nuisance or other
unrecognized calls.
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Add the xMatters notification email address to the contacts in your email client (if you do not know the xMatters
notification email address, contact your xMatters administrator). This will help prevent xMatters notification emails
being incorrectly routed to "Spam" or "Junk" folders. Note that if you have a separate spam filter set up for your
email client, you should also configure it to allow mail from xMatters to appear in your Inbox.
Note:
The default security settings on many email and webmail clients (e.g., Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, etc.) hide
graphics in email messages from unknown or 'untrusted' senders. However, you will typically be given the
option to display hidden graphics by clicking a provided link or button (some clients also provide an option to
add the sender to your 'safe senders' list). To view your notifications in the intended format, it is recommended
that you select the option to display images in notifications.
Respond to alerts | 19
Receive and respond to phone alerts
The following steps occur when xMatters calls you with an alert:
1. xMatters dials your number and waits for a response.
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If you answer, xMatters will greet you and prompt you to enter your password.
If you do not answer the phone, xMatters will try dialing a set number of times. Then, depending on your
user and group details, xMatters will attempt to contact you via another device, or attempt to contact the
next user in your group or team.
If an answering machine answers, xMatters detects it and will leave a message asking you to call in to the
system. You can then call xMatters to retrieve the alert.
2. After xMatters reads your User ID, enter your phone password.
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If your phone password was entered correctly, xMatters will read the alert to you.
3. If there are response choices, listen to them carefully, and then press the number that corresponds to your choice.
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There will be an option to repeat all of the response choices in case you need to hear your xMatters options
again.
After you choose your response, xMatters will thank you and, if you have no further pending alerts, end the call. If there
are more alerts waiting for you, xMatters will proceed to read them to you.
Receive and respond to text and SMS alerts
You can receive xMatters Alerts on text phones and pagers, and respond to the alerts if your device is capable.
One-way pager
If you have been notified via a one-way pager, you must call in to xMatters to respond.
Text phone or two-way pager
If you are notified via a two-way pager or text-enabled (SMS) phone, you will be given response options within the
message itself.
When replying to an alert with an SMS device, it is important to remember the following:
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Your response should always be on a separate line from the remainder of the reply.
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Depending on your xMatters deployment, the response may include additional information; do not alter or delete
this information in any way.
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Most SMS responses do not include support for additional annotations or notes. Keep your responses short, and
limited to the options described in the notification.
Example
The following example shows how you could respond to an alert on a text phone.
Note:
Alerts may appear differently on your device, and the message for your Alert may have been formatted by your
xMatters Administrator to include different options and display features.
On a text phone, this menu shows that you have an outstanding alert:
Text phone with outstanding alert
The following figure shows the message text of the alert:
Sample alert on a text phone
The sample message contains the Incident ID, a short description of the problem, and the date and time of the incident. If
you choose to reply, the phone displays the response options. This example alert presents three response options,
“Acknowledge”, “Own”, or “Ignore”:
Sample text phone alert response options
To respond to this alert, you would type "RES", followed by your response choice; for example:
RES Acknowledge
Respond to simple SMS messages
If your xMatters deployment has simple SMS replies enabled, the response options are associated with a number (e.g., 1 Acknowledge, 2 - Reject, etc.). To respond to a simple SMS message, enter only the number of your response choice, and
do not include its associated text.
When you press Send, your phone communicates your response choice back to xMatters, where it will be associated
with the event that prompted the alert.
Receive and respond to email alerts
When responding to an alert via email, the response options and instructions are included in the body of the message.
For plain-text messages, you will be asked to reply to the email with a specific keyword in the subject line, followed by
your response choice. HTML emails will include any configured response choices as links within the body of the
message. Ensure that you follow the instructions outlined in the message text exactly as specified.
About email formatting
The email notifications you receive from xMatters are displayed in either HTML or plain-text format. HTML email can
include rich content such as different fonts, colors, tables, hyperlinks, and so on. Plain-text email, as its name suggests,
displays only basic alphanumeric characters, typically in a standard font.
Some devices and email clients cannot display HTML messages and will convert such messages to plain-text. In other
cases, formatting is configurable on the device or email client itself (for example, in Microsoft Outlook). xMatters will
display the message in HTML or plain-text based on the device or email client and its format settings.
HTML email response example
The following screenshot shows an HTML email as it is displayed in Microsoft Outlook:
Email alert example in HTML
To respond to an HTML email Alert, click one of the response links (in this case, Accept or Reject).
Note that HTML emails can be highly customized to include more information about the event, and may provide several
response links that enable you to directly control the event on the management system. For example, the following
screenshots illustrate how an HTML email from an integrated management system might appear on a mobile phone
equipped with an email browser:
Email alert on a mobile device
Note how the available responses allow the recipient to control the event flow, or even open the event on the
originating management system.
Plain-text email response example
Depending on your email client and its settings, plain text email will be displayed in one of two ways:
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Some email clients (e.g., Microsoft Outlook) display text that is identical to an HTML email including clickable
response links, but with other HTML elements such as color and graphics removed
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'Pure' plain-text email clients display an alternative plain-text message that requires the recipient to respond by
typing a response in the subject line and sending the message back to xMatters.
The following screenshot shows a plain-text email as it is displayed in Outlook:
Plain-text email alert as displayed in Microsoft Outlook
To respond to this style of plain-text alert, click one of the response links (in this case, Accept or Reject).
The following screenshot shows a plain-text email with response instructions rather than response links:
Replying to an email alert
To respond to this style of plain-text alert, type the keyword “RESPONSE” in the subject line, followed by a single
space, and then one of the options listed. For example, you might respond with "RESPONSE ACCEPT".
Note:
It is important to include the entire message in the response. Without the message text, xMatters may not
recognize to which event the response refers. Once the email reply reaches xMatters, your response will be
associated with the original event that started the notification process.
Respond with a comment
You can include a comment when you respond to an email notification. Use comments to record additional information
about your status on the Tracking tab of the events report.
To respond to an email notification with a comment, reply to the email the same way you reply to a plain-text email
notification and type the comment after the response choice. For example, to reply ACCEPT to a message with the
comment "Servers are experiencing a DDOS attack", reply to the email message and replace the subject with
"RESPONSE ACCEPT Servers are experiencing a DDOS attack".
Note:
You cannot include a comment if you respond to an event by clicking the response links within the body of an
HTML email notification.
Call in to retrieve alerts
You can call in to xMatters to hear any alerts you may have missed, or to respond to alerts that you received on a oneway device. If you do not know the number to call, contact your supervisor or xMatters Administrator.
Note that when you call in to retrieve alerts, or when you answer a call from xMatters, the system will prompt you to
respond to all of your active alerts. In some cases, this may include alerts to which you have already responded, but that
are still assigned to you. This is due to the response choices configured by your xMatters administrator, and the options
they have configured in the system that dictate what action each response means for the underlying event.
For example, if you answer a phone call from xMatters and respond to the notification with "Acknowledge", your
administrator may have configured that response choice to mean that you are the sole person responsible, and to instruct
the system not to notify anyone else about it, but not to close the original event. If you then call in to xMatters later to
retrieve another voice notification for an unrelated event, you might be prompted to respond to both the new notification
and the original notification again.
You can respond to those alerts again, which will update your original response, and may affect the status of the event
in the system.
Note for Administrators
The call-in behavior described above is not specific to a single event domain. For example, if you were targeted for
notification based on a message from the Messaging Panel and then initiated another notification to create a recording,
when xMatters calls you may be prompted to respond again to the first notification after you respond to the recording
request. (By default, xMatters will play the newest notification first, but this behavior can be adjusted in the scripting.)
To retrieve an alert by phone:
1. Dial the number for xMatters.
2. When prompted by xMatters, enter your User ID.
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This is the same ID that appears in the xMatters web user interface, on your Change My xMatters Phone
Login page.
Mary McBride’s Change My Phone Login page
3. When prompted by xMatters, enter your phone password.
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xMatters will then read all of your pending and active alerts, and allow you to respond to them if there are
response options.
26 |
How to access other xMatters resources
Now that you have begun to learn about xMatters On-Demand, you may want to explore other resources:
Resource
Additional Information
xMatters Online Help
Most pages in the xMatters interface include access to online help via the
question mark icon and Help link. As you explore xMatters, click the help
button for context-sensitive assistance and tips, or go to
https://help.xmatters.com.
xMatters online
This is the main xMatters web site, providing detailed company and
product information, as well as links to xMatters On-Demand and
xMatters community.
www.xmatters.com
xMatters community
support.xmatters.com
xMatters client assistance
International: +1 925.226.0300 (and
press 2)
US/CAN Toll Free: 877.XMATTRS
EMEA: +44 (0) 20 3427 6333
Australia/APJ Support: +61-2-80385048 opt 2
xMatters provides a community for customers, partners and guests to find
and share ideas, access important information and documents, proactively
address support issues, and download products and updates. You can also
view and contribute to FAQs and community forums, browse upcoming
events, white papers, case studies and collateral, access new product
release information, inquire about support issues and download new
integrations. (Note that you must register to use the xMatters Community
web site.)
You can contact xMatters client assistance by email or phone for help
with technical issues.
Online: http://support.xmatters.com
Sales and advisors
925.226.0300
Toll Free: 877.XMATTRS
You can contact xMatters sales and advisors to learn about how to make
your xMatters experience even more relevant.
How to access other xMatters resources | 27
28 |

xMatters on demand for message recipients

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