FlowWorks' ability to trigger alarms and notifications lets you alert those who need to know when data is late arriving from a site, or when data from one or more channels falls outside specific bounds. This permits you to respond to an adverse situation in a timely manner.
FlowWorks supports two 'levels' of data-based warnings: Alarms and Notifications. Both are user programmable and can be configured to trigger on any measurement or combination of measures the site is capable of collecting. While the setup, triggering and functionality of alarms and notifications are the same, when an alarm is triggered, the site's icon in Map View will turn red and any email or text messages to be sent will say "Alarm"; when a notification is triggered, the site's icon in Map View will turn orange and any email or text messages to be sent will say "Notification". Thus, you could setup both a notification and an alarm for the same site, such that the notification provides a 'heads up' that a site could be approaching an alarm condition, while the alarm indicates that a critical condition has been met, and 'immediate attention is required'.
For example, an Alarm can be configured to trip when a measured level reaches a particular point AND the velocity of flow has slowed to another measurement. This might indicate that something downstream is blocking the normal evacuation of the fluid being observed. A Notification can be set just for the measured level, to tell you when level is rising but the velocity of flow is still within normal range. This could indicate that there is just a lot of fluid being move through this location at that particular time.
In Map View, the alarm status of a site is represented by the color of the site's icon:
About site icons
The table below describes each site icon, in order of severity / importance.
| Site Icon | What Does It Mean? | Details |
|---|---|---|
 Alarm |
User-defined, critical condition has been met. |
This Icon will override all other Site Icons (including orange for Notification). Alarms cannot be configured for Inactive Sites. Note: In many circumstances, a single site's Alarm and Notification can be active simultaneously. At any time, the red Alarm will take precedence and the Site will be displayed as an Alarm (red). Only the Alarm's programmed messages will be dispatched. |
 Notification |
User-defined, non-critical condition has been met. |
This Icon will override all other Site Icons (except red for Alarm). Notifications cannot be configured for Inactive Sites. |
 Late |
The Site is late in providing data. | This Icon will be overridden if a Notification or an Alarm trigger is met. In such cases, a notice of Late Data can be seen when you reveal the Site' details (by clicking the Site's map icon). |
 Active |
Everything is normal. Data is arriving as expected; no issues to report. | |
 Manual |
Data is received by FlowWorks only when some function (human or automatic) connects and transfers data. |
Manual sites cannot be on any kind of clock or calendar schedule. Hence, incoming data can never be considered 'late'. Notifications and Alarms can be configured for Manual Sites. This ability allows users to address compliance issues where immediate response is not required. |
 Inactive |
Data collection from this site is disabled, or it only receives historical data. |
Clients can request their Sites to be set as 'Inactive' without removing them from the FlowWorks database. This is typically used for seasonal sites. Historical data permits users to include past data in their analyses. |
Important note about icon clustering
Zooming out on your FlowWorks map causes site icons to cluster. The color of a clustered icon will take the same color as the site within the cluster that is in need of the most attention.
For example, if you have four sites in close proximity and the most urgent site of the four is colored orange (site is in a notification state), then the clustered icon will also appear orange, when you zoom-out.
Clustered icons have numbers - this number indicates the amount of sites contained within.
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