# IoT Alarm Escalation & Incident Management | Widgelix URL: https://greenmesh.org/platform/incident-escalation > Escalation chains for IoT alarms: assign alerts to people, set acknowledgement deadlines, escalate step by step over Email, SMS, Slack or SIGNL4, and track every incident until it is resolved. --- [Platform](https://greenmesh.org/platform) / Incident Escalation Platform · Escalation # IoT alarm escalation that ends with someone taking ownership An alert nobody reads is the same as no alert. Widgelix assigns every critical alarm to a person, waits for acknowledgement, and escalates to the next person if the deadline passes, until the incident is handled and resolved. Step by step escalation to the next person or team lead Ack deadlines per step, in seconds, minutes or hours Full history who was notified, who acknowledged, when ![Widgelix Events page with an open incident, escalation progress “Step 3 of 3”, acknowledgement deadline and timeline](https://greenmesh.org/images/platform/escalation-incidents.png) The problem ## Alerts get sent. Then nothing happens. A freezer warms up on Saturday night, a leak sensor fires in an empty building, a pump fails at a remote site. The notification goes to a shared inbox or a channel everyone assumes someone else is watching. By Monday the damage is done, and nobody can say who saw the alert. - Alerts land in shared inboxes with no owner - No way to know whether anyone actually saw the alarm - Night and weekend alarms wait until the next shift - No record for post-incident review or compliance How it works ## From alarm to resolution, tracked end to end - 01 ### An action opens an incident Turn on the escalation chain on any action. When the condition is met, Widgelix logs the event and opens an incident assigned to the first step. - 02 ### Each step has an owner and a deadline The assigned user is notified by email and in-app pop-up, plus any SMS, Slack, Discord or webhook channels you add. If nobody acknowledges before the deadline, the next step is notified. - 03 ### Acknowledge, act, resolve Acknowledging stops escalation and assigns the incident. It stays open until someone resolves it, or closes automatically when the condition clears if auto-resolve is on. Capabilities ## On-call discipline, built into your IoT platform No separate paging tool required for most teams, and it works with SIGNL4 when you already use one. ### Multi-step escalation chains Add as many steps as you need: on-duty engineer first, then the team lead, then the facility manager. Each step names a user and an acknowledgement window (default 15 minutes). ### Channels per step Email and in-app notification are added by default. Add SMS, Slack, Discord or webhook per step, so the second step can be louder than the first. ### One-click acknowledgement Acknowledge from the in-app pop-up or from the Events page. The incident is assigned to you and escalation stops immediately. ### Auto-resolve When the temperature is back to normal or the leak sensor is dry, the incident can close itself, so the active list only shows what still needs attention. ### Live incident board The Active tab shows severity, asset, current step (“Step 2 of 3”), time left to acknowledge or how long it is overdue, and who owns it. ### Audit-ready history The Resolved tab and each incident's timeline show who was notified at every step and when, and who took ownership. Use it for post-incident reviews and to evidence response times. ## Configure escalation inside the action Escalation runs in addition to the action's regular responses: the Slack message still goes out, and the chain makes sure one person owns the alarm. ![Escalation chain configuration in a Widgelix action with steps, acknowledgement windows and channels](https://greenmesh.org/images/platform/escalation-chain.png) At a glance ## Escalation and incident features | Steps | Multiple steps per action, one assigned user each | Acknowledge window | Seconds, minutes or hours per step (default 15 min) | Channels per step | Email, in-app, SMS, Slack, Discord, Webhook | Incident states | Open, acknowledged (assigned), fully escalated, resolved | Closing | Manual resolve or auto-resolve when the condition clears | Views | Active, All events and Resolved tabs with filters and time ranges | Paging tools | Native SIGNL4 action for teams that already use it ## Where escalation matters most [Fridge & freezer monitoring in retail Make sure a warm freezer is handled before stock is lost.](https://greenmesh.org/solutions/retail) [Leak detection Escalate a leak in an unoccupied building until someone is on the way.](https://greenmesh.org/case-studies/leak-detection) [Smart restroom Route service requests to cleaning staff and escalate if they are not picked up.](https://greenmesh.org/case-studies/smart-restroom) [Mould & damp prevention Evidence how fast each damp alert was acknowledged and handled.](https://greenmesh.org/solutions/mould-prevention) ## Questions about alarm escalation #### What happens when nobody acknowledges an alert? When the acknowledgement window of a step ends, the incident moves to the next step and its recipients are notified. After the last step the incident is marked fully escalated and stays on the Active tab until resolved. #### Does acknowledging close the incident? No. Acknowledging stops escalation and assigns the incident to you. It stays open until someone clicks Resolve, or until the condition clears if auto-resolve is enabled. #### Do I still need a separate paging tool? Many teams don't: escalation with SMS, Slack and email is built in. If you already run SIGNL4, Widgelix can raise alerts there directly, and webhooks connect other tools. #### Can I see who handled an incident? Yes. Each incident has a timeline with every step, who was notified and when, and the Resolved tab shows who acknowledged it. #### Can AI agents work with incidents? Yes. Through the Widgelix MCP server an agent can list, analyse, acknowledge and resolve incidents within the permissions of the connected user. [Read the escalation documentation → How incidents are opened, escalated, acknowledged and resolved, and how to configure escalation chains.](https://docs.widgelix.com/events/incidents-and-escalation) ## More platform features [IoT Alerts & Automation Actions that react to sustained real-world conditions, not noisy single readings.](https://greenmesh.org/platform/iot-alerts-automation) [IoT Dashboards No-code dashboards for every device, site and role, with 20+ widget types.](https://greenmesh.org/platform/iot-dashboards) [Payload Decoders How asset templates work, and how to write your own JavaScript decoder for any device.](https://greenmesh.org/platform/payload-decoders) [Integrations The Things Stack, ChirpStack, Actility, LORIOT, Helium, Sigfox, MQTT, webhooks and more.](https://greenmesh.org/platform/integrations) ## Make sure every critical alarm has an owner Tell us which alarms matter most and who should respond. We'll show you an escalation setup for your team. - Escalation design for your shifts and roles - Channel setup: SMS, Slack, SIGNL4 or webhooks - Incident reporting for reviews and compliance