Notifications Management
- Go to the ‘Setup’ menu and click ‘Users’
- Select the User from list
- Click ‘Edit Management’
- Click ‘Add New’ located in the upper right corner on the “User Notification” bar
- Select user’s Email/SMS address
- Select the notification type
Notification Types
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- Site: Set notifications for events within site
- Area: Set notification for events within area/s
- Machine: Set notifications for events by machine
- Value Stream: Set notifications for events within value streams
- Dispatch Awaiting Resource: Set notifications based on unassigned dispatch event
- Resource Idle: Set notification if a resource has been Idle for a specific period of time.
- Assigned Resource: Receive a notification when you are assigned to a Dispatch.
- Dispatched Resource: Supervisors or Line Leaders may choose to be notified every time a resource is dispatched to a particular Dispatch Type.
- Notifications Groups: Set notifications based on notification group settings
- Line Total Downtime: Set notifications based on line total downtime during day/shift/etc
- Past Due: Notified when schedule events, work orders exceed due date
- Select ‘Trade’ if notifications will be base on Trade
- Enter Time in minutes
- Select ‘Repeat Interval’ if repeat notifications are desired
- Note: User will be notified depending on “Time in minutes” threshold and “Occurrences per Machine” (i.e. “Time in Minutes” set at 240 min and “Occurrences per Machine” set at 1, User will be notified when machine is down 240 min one time or “Time in Minutes” set at 0 and “Occurrences per Machine” set at 3 User will be notified when machine is down 3 times in 24 hours (per setting)
- Note: Number of repeats User will be notified depending on “Repeat Interval in Minutes” setting (i.e.” Number of Repeats” set at “Infinite” and “Repeat Interval in Minutes“ set at 60, User will get notified every 60 min until machine is up)
- Select Shift or Days plus ‘Start’ and ‘Stop’ times for notification
- Note: Start and stop times can be used to set notifications based on time of day. For example you can set notifications only for certain times of day. You could also use this feature to set your text message notifications for day time hours while setting your email notifications during the evening & night time hours.
- Select Critical Machines Only or Non-Critical Machines Only from the dropdown or leave the default as Both.
- Notify on Complete - this checkbox will make sure you are notified when the Dispatch has been completed.
Troubleshooting
- If you go into notification management to edit a users notification setup and you click on the user account and the screen is blank
- The user may not have any notification setup currently (this would also show as none on the main notification management screen)
- The user has disabled their notifications from their user settings on their home screen
- You will need to have the user re-enable their notifications before you as an admin can go in and make any changes.
- If you have notifications set up to be received when you are the assigned resource, they will not work if you assign yourself.
- See the last section of this article for information on changing Dispatch Types and Notifications.
This will walk you through how to set up Notifications for groups of Users or for an entire User Role. If you have access to the Setup Menu and are an Administrator in the Security Settings for Resource Manager and User Manager, you can add Notification Groups.
First, you'll click on the Notification Groups and click 'Add New'.
- The Site should auto-populate to the site you are in, but if you have access to more than one site and want to create the notification group for a different site, you can choose from the dropdown.
- Fill out the Description which will serve as the Title of the Notification Group.
- If you are setting up the Notifications based on Users, Roles, or both, select from the dropdowns.
Next, select 'Add Rule' under Notification Rules.
Toggle the 'Deliver to Mobile Devices' to on, if you want notifications delivered to the L2L Mobile App.
Choose your Delivery Method (Defaults to Email)
Choose the Type of Notification:
- Set Notifications for Events based on Area, Machine, Technology, or Value Stream.
- Dispatch Awaiting Resource: Set notifications based on unassigned dispatch event
- Resource Idle: Set notification if a resource has been Idle for a specific period of time.
- Assigned Resource: Receive a notification when you are assigned to a Dispatch.
- Dispatched Resource: Supervisors or Line Leaders may choose to be notified every time a resource is dispatched to a particular Dispatch Type.
- Machine Notifications Groups: Set notifications based on machine notification group settings.
- Line Total Downtime: Set notifications based on line total downtime during day/shift/etc.
- Past Due: Notified when schedule events, work orders exceed due date.
You can then narrow the notification down by Dispatch Type and/or Trade.
Next, you can choose the time in minutes. This means it will send a notification X number of minutes after the dispatch is launched.
You can also choose to receive notifications for X number of Occurrences per machine.
Next, you can choose to only receive notifications for certain Shifts. This is useful if you are concerned about a particular shift or are assigned to only one shift and don't want to know about dispatches being launched on other shifts.
Then you'll choose which days you want to receive notifications on. (defaults to weekdays)
You may want to select start times and end times. This will work like the Shifts but can cover a broader time range. You can also choose to leave them blank.
If you only want to receive notifications for critical machines, you can select that in the drop-down, or you can select for all machines.
You can also toggle 'Notify on Complete' which will notify you when a Dispatch has been completed.
The last toggle will send you 'Repeat' Notifications at select intervals of time.
Be sure to select Save!
Notifications Groups are designed to setup a group of machines for notification. This makes it easier when setting notifications for individuals that all have similar notification requirements. For example: If you have a team of people that get notified for a unique group of machines. You can set up a notification group and select that group from the notifications setup for each individual on the team (instead of having to set up each machine, line or area for every person). This is a great time saver and makes it much easier when changing notification requirements. Just change the group settings and everyone in the group will change accordingly.
- Go to the ‘Setup’ menu and click ‘Add Machine Notification Groups’
- Enter notification group name in description
- Select applicable notification group criteria (area, value stream, line, technology, etc.)
- Click ‘Save’
Notifications Formats are used to configure the content of notification emails & text messages. Notification information can be sequenced to best suit the site's current needs for information. Notification Formats are not configurable for individual Users.
- Go to the ‘Setup’ menu and click, ‘Notification Formats’
- Select the Dispatch Type you desire to format
- Select one of the three options for type of notification
- Downtime
- Assigned Resources
- Completed
- Select the appropriate boxes should you desire to include
- Title of the information line
- A link to the actual dispatch
- The Site in the subject line
- Select in what order you wish the pre-determined options to be within your notification.
- Click ‘Save’
Please Note: links to Dispatches are not always included in every Notification
- Dispatch link is included with Assigned Resource Notifications
- Dispatch link is included with Dispatched Resource Notifications
Broadcast Messages are used to communicate information to Users. Broadcasts will be displayed on all screens.
*Note: you must have Administrator level access to add or edit Broadcast Banner Messages.
- Go to the ‘Setup’ menu and click, click on ‘Broadcast’
- Enter Broadcast message in text box
- Click the ‘Set Broadcast’ button
As seen on the top of the Home page.
One of the really great things about L2L is the ability to have alerts sound when you wish to be made aware of an event.
While this is a great feature all the way around, in this article, we are going to discuss troubleshooting Sound Alerts in the Spares Module in particular. As with so many facets of the wonderful world of software, features and functionality are potentially affected by the browser you use to access the Internet.
We occasionally hear from customers that their Spares Sound Alerts are either not working as they expected or are working just fine and then not at all. Intermittent performance can be almost as frustrating as never hearing the Sounds at all.
While this behavior is driven by the browser, and all browsers do this, there are some things you can do to minimize the problem and make the Sound Alerts transmit more consistently:
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Make it a habit to completely log out of L2L on a regular basis, if not daily.
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This means consciously using the 'Logout' functionality available in the flyout immediately adjacent to your user avatar. Don't just X out of your L2L session or close the window.
- This is a best practice across all software platforms and devices. Logging out ensures better housekeeping and greater security.
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This means consciously using the 'Logout' functionality available in the flyout immediately adjacent to your user avatar. Don't just X out of your L2L session or close the window.
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Completely Power Down your devices (laptop, PC, desktop, monitor, phone, tablet)
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Just closing will not mitigate browser issues.
- This should also be done on a regular basis, once a week at minimum.
- In addition to being a good housekeeping measure (literally and figuratively), this allows your operating system software to perform updates.
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Just closing will not mitigate browser issues.
- Download, install, and run the latest version of software available for both your operating system and browsers, again across all devices.
- While most organization firewalls prevent pop-up ads, it's still a good idea to make sure you have pop-up blockers enabled on your browsers.
Here's how to get around the inherent design of all browsers to perpetuate sounds when in the Spares Module:
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When you load the spares queue, MAKE SURE YOU ACTUALLY CLICK ON THE PAGE.
- Then do the spares request
- Conversely, if you load the spares queue, and you DO NOT CLICK ON THE PAGE, then open a different tab and request a spare within a Dispatch, the sound alert notification will not work the majority of the time.
You've set up your notifications in L2L, but you are not receiving text messages as expected.
If it's been a while since you set up your notifications, you may want to verify the SMS Gateway Address in your notifications to make sure it is accurate. If you've changed service providers, even if you kept your previous mobile phone number, you may want to verify the SMS Gateway Address in your notifications to make sure it is correct.
Wireless providers use a mobile number plus an email domain to route email messages through their SMS gateway.
All major wireless carriers in the United States, and throughout most of the world, offer a Short Message Service (SMS) gateway, a technology 'bridge' that allows one form of communication (email) to conform to the technical requirements of a different form of communication (SMS).
Perhaps the most typical use of the SMS gateway is forwarding email to a mobile device. An email message going through an SMS gateway is limited to 160 characters, so it will likely be broken into several messages (truncated) if it exceeds that limit. As a result, the recipient may receive the message in two or more segments, and not necessarily in the intended order.
Here's a tip: Try turning Mobile Data OFF. Wait 30 seconds, then turn it back on again. Is your software up to date? Check is there are any available software updates.
Here's another tip: We often forget to turn off, completely power down, our phones and other mobile devices. Why? We don't leave any other personal electronics powered up and running 24/7/365. Shutting down your phone is strenuously recommended by not only your carrier, but by most phone manufacturers. Making this easy best housekeeping practice a habit could save you a lot of time and frustration in the long run.
Straight Talk Wireless:
L2L uses the Notification Management tool to set up escalations in the system. Notifications are set up for individuals based on the time-frame you choose to push the escalation.
Example:
A Dispatch 'Code Red' is launched, and we would like for the escalation process to kick in so that different levels of management receive notifications as time passes with the Dispatch open. This would be something like:
- Line Lead receives notification immediately after Code Red is entered
- Line Supervisor receives notification 30 minutes after Code Red is entered
- Area Manager receives notification 1 hour after Code Red is entered
- Plant Manager receives notification 4 hours after Code Red is entered
This escalation is accomplished by setting up a notification for each individual based on the criteria.
This is done by an L2L Administrator with the 'User Level' Administrator rights
1. In Setup page, under 'Notifications' choose 'User Notifications'
2. Use the search field to locate the User for whom you wish to set up a notification.
3. Select 'Add New'
4. Select the 'Site' and choose 'Next'
5. Set up the notifications as you choose for your site's escalation process. Choose the Time In Minutes based on when you want the individual to receive the escalation.
Note: This must be done for each individual user in the escalation process at the proper time.
An Operator fix is an open and closed Dispatch; therefore, no notifications are sent. The intention behind Operator Fix Dispatches is to give Production Associates a way to account for Micro Stoppages. These Micro Stoppage events are addressed by Operators on the line and are not tied to support groups who are responsible for the issue.
The Operator Fix will show the Time Completed as the time the Operator Fix screen was accessed, so that when a Duration is entered, it will calculate the Time Reported based on the Time Completed less the Duration.
Larger events requiring Resources in addition to Operators should be captured with non-Operator Fix Dispatches. Events that require notifications and escalation should be designated under Dispatch Types other than Operator Fix.
A good rule of thumb is to not configure Operator Fix Dispatch Types as Code RED, signifying equipment downtime. Code Red should generally not be used as the default for Operator Fixes.
If you are not receiving reports that were previously emailed directly to your inbox, or have stopped getting notifications on your mobile device, here are some troubleshooting tips to help resolve the issue.
1. Not receiving reports and notifications via email: When did this begin?
2. Are these Scheduled Reports that were set up for regular, recurring delivery to your inbox via email?
*Is the person reporting this issue also the 'Owner' (author) of these Scheduled Reports?
*Was the recurring report created by someone who is no longer with your company? Has the author's account been inactivated?
3. Are other notifications, like for Dispatches, not being received?
4. Have all notifications stopped? Or just emails? Or just text messages? Or just mobile devices?
5. Have you run a Notification History Report to see a list of all notifications sent for your site?
Reports => Notification History Report (Filter by dates, events, and people. Includes notification history for both mobile devices and email addresses. Successful deliveries, failures, and errors.)
6. Have you checked junk and spam folders?
7. L2L can confirm that we have sent the information, report, notification, etc. to the intended recipient. We can also confirm that it was received by your company network. We cannot confirm that it was successfully received by individual inbox or mobile device.
8. If there is a problem with an email address, when someone is no longer with the company, for example, we get an immediate response from that company's network telling us that this is not or no longer a valid email address.
9. After verifying the items above, the issue most likely lies with some action taken at the local plant or network level. This is where your IT and IS departments can help.
10. You can test this by adding a non-work email address as a recipient to a Scheduled Report you have authored, unless your company policy prohibits this.
11. If the report is delivered successfully via the above test, follow up with these questions for your IT, IS, or local Network Administrators:
- Have any changes been made to firewalls or email servers?
- Were any new restrictions put in place for previously allowed domain names? IP Addresses?
- Did any new whitelisting or un-whitelisting take place?
*If you have tried all these options, please reach out to L2L support too see if there is a chance the email is blocked in our 3rd party messaging.
Notifications are sent based on the initial Dispatch Type under which the Dispatch was created and the notifications related to that Dispatch Type, as well as your other selected options. Notifications are not re-triggered when the Dispatch Type changes after first creating it and you don't have Notifications set up for the new Dispatch Type.
For example, Dispatch #3004 was originally created as Dispatch Type Code Red, for which there is a notification set up to be sent. You received it. Then Dispatch #3004 was then edited and the Dispatch Type changed to Code Yellow. If you have a Notification set up for this Dispatch Type too, you'll receive another Notification; if you do not, you will not receive one.