You can configure ClearSCADA to send alarm redirection e-mails to Third Party telephony software. The telephony software can then process the e-mails, and relay the alarm information to engineers as automated telephone calls. Depending on the type of telephony software being used, engineers may be able to respond to the alarms by using the telephone keypad.
To use Voicemail redirection, your system needs to have appropriate telephony hardware and software installed.
Typically, Voicemail Redirection is set up so that an E-mail Action sends an e-mail to the telephony software e-mail address when a relevant alarm occurs. The telephony software constantly monitors for incoming e-mails and so is able to process the e-mail quickly. After processing the e-mail, the telephony software telephones the recipient user, and when the call is answered, it relays the alarm details using a text-to-speech system.
When the recipient user receives the telephone call, they will be presented with the alarm information, and may be able to respond to the alarm using the telephone keypad. This is dependent on the configuration of the telephony software. Typically, a user will receive a call that describes the alarm message and then gives the user a series of options, for example, ‘Press 1 to acknowledge the alarm’. When the user responds to the alarm, they may be required to enter information such as the alarm reference number, User ID and PIN. The alarm reference number is the alarm cookie which is included in the alarm message that ClearSCADA sends to the telephony system (in the redirection e-mail). The User ID and PIN are defined in the Voicemail settings on the recipient’s User Form.
After the recipient has responded to the call, the telephony software sends a message to ClearSCADA. If the message contains an appropriate response and has the required authentication details (User ID, PIN etc.), ClearSCADA applies to the response to the alarm.
When using E-mail Actions for voicemail redirection, you need to:
- Set the e-mail to be in a format that is supported by the telephony software. Many telephony applications have specific requirements for the format of incoming messages. For more information, please refer to the telephony software manufacturers’ documentation, and then configure your redirection e-mails to use the appropriate format.
- Configure the recipients’ User accounts so that appropriate voicemail settings are in place. For more information:
- see Configure a Redirection Action,
- see Define the E-Mail Action Details,
- see Configure a User Roster (if User Rosters are used on your system).
NOTE: You should set ClearSCADA to use an e-mail format that is supported by your telephony software (some telephony applications may only support the Plain Text format). To set the format of e-mails sent by ClearSCADA, you need to configure the E-Mail Contact settings for the recipient User accounts (see Define the E-Mail, Pager, and Voicemail Contact Settings for a User in the ClearSCADA Guide to Security).