System Actions allow for a user to configure logic in relation to notifications and/or Add-on devices. Actions are triggered by a triggering condition or event, and offer the following interactions:
- Send a notification (Email, SMS, or Voice Call)
- Send a Control Unit Command
- Send a Local Alert message (message display, sound, or LED)
- Execute a System Action
Therefore with the above functions, you can execute complex logic to interact with users or devices based on a triggering condition. When an Action is triggered, any configured System Action on the triggering Action will be executed on the target Action (which may or may not be the same triggering Action).
System Action functions
There are four System Actions as listed below. For reference understanding Disarm/Rearm, see this article.
- Acknowledge (also referred to as Disarm)
- Full Reset (also referred to as Rearm)
- Activate
- Deactivate
Acknowledge common use case
The Acknowledge System Action simply Disarms (Acknowledges) an Action. A common use case would be to execute a System Action of an Action to Disarm (Acknowledge) itself after it is triggered. The purpose behind this might be to make a Sensor Reading trigger and send a notification (such as SMS) on that triggering condition, but not continue to send repeat notifications on the Action’s configured Snooze time (which by default is 60 minutes).
In this scenario, the Action with a default 60 minute Snooze time would be triggered by configured condition, send out a single SMS notification to alert a user, and after the notification sent, the Action would Disarm (Acknowledge) itself so it does not continue to send repeat notifications on the Snooze timer if the condition persists. In other words, the user would receive a single notification when the triggering condition was reported, and no repeat notifications. When the triggering condition returned to normal, the Action would be Rearmed (Reset) itself (if the Auto-Acknowledge setting was enabled), and it would be prepared to trigger again on a future triggering condition reported by the sensor.
Full Reset common use case
The Full Reset would Rearm (Reset) an Action when it is executed. A common scenario for this might be a user that wants to be immediately notified via SMS on a triggering condition every time the sensor reports a reading with that triggering condition (as opposed to utilizing the Snooze feature). By executing a Full Reset System Action on itself, the Action is effectively Disarmed/Rearmed every time the sensor reports a reading that triggers the Action. Therefore if you had an Action that executed a Full Reset on itself, it would trigger a notification on every reading triggering reading provided by the sensor.
Activate and Deactivate
The Activate and Deactivate System Actions turn on or off the target Action. This completely enables/disables the Action from triggering. You might use this any time you wish a triggering condition to turn on or off an Action.
Setting a Delay
Each System Action has the ability to set up a Delay. This is useful for when you need to set up logic that happens in a planned sequence. If no delay is enabled, the System Action is executed immediately.
Note: It is often a good idea to set up a delay of 1 minute to make sure the System Action logic is not executed so fast that it is out of sequence from other operations in the portal.
Creating a System Action
To create a System Action, follow the steps below.
- Create an Action
- In the Actions tab, click the System Actions toggle
- A System Action pane appears (you will likely need to scroll down)
- Select the Action to be done
- Select the Delay
- Select the Target Notification Action
- Click Save
Using the Action Schedule
A strategic component to using a System Action would be to create a Scheduled Action. Scheduled Actions run according to a configured 365 day Hour/15 minute schedule. If you create a scheduled Action, you can execute System Actions at desired times. This can be a powerful component to using System Actions.
Note: A scheduled Action is an Action for which the trigger is a particular date/time, as opposed to adding a Schedule to a Trigger Action.
System Action history
To view the history for which a System Action was executed, you can review the Action History and identify the System Action in the sequence it was executed.
- Click the Action
- Click the History tab
- Set the appropriate date
- Select the Set button
- Locate the System Action in the history