Renotify users if no response is received

Question 

I want to notify a small group with an on-call schedule when a major issue occurs. The message I have built has two response options: "accept" and terminate the issue; or, "decline" and escalate the issue.

If the first person doesn't respond to the notification within a certain timeframe, it will escalate to the second person. However, if that person declines it, no one ends up owning it and eventually the alert terminates itself.

Is it possible to have escalations "loop" to ensure that a notification is acknowledged?

Environment

All versions of xMatters

Answer

The best way to ensure notifications are responded to is by making sure that users have correctly configured their devices. This way, they will always be notified through device that they're most likely to react to.

Although there isn't a renotify option for an event that has no response, there are other things you can do as a workaround:

1. Use "nested" groups to loop through members. To do this, create a separate group, and add the original group you want to notify as a member. Make sure the Allow Duplicates flag is "On", then, add a time delay, and add the original group as a member again. Repeat this as many times as you want the original group to be notified.
2. Add a management escalation group or user at the end of the notification plan. This way you can notify a specific manager if an issue hasn't been acknowledged, so they can take action.
3. Ask the users to configure their mobile app to receive repeat alerts. Learn more about How to send repeat alerts to your mobile device.
4. Use our voice notifications to retry users if it reaches a voicemail. Check out how to configure the voicemail options here.