The EMS automatically detects status changes for already imported Escalation tickets (eg "open" -> "closed"). Thus, no adjustments to the external systems are necessary to monitor it through the EMS.

Thus, the most effort is needed to reproduce the organizational structure of the enterprise within the EMS.

Steps required for the installation of the EMS

1. Definition of the recipient properties

Since the EMS is applicable in any external system, the properties of a recipient can also be user-defined. Therefore, the first step consists in defining these properties (for ex. name, surname, department, personnel number, e-mail etc.).

2. Creating recipient sources

Within the recipient source you determine the data sources (e.g. data base, active directory, flat file etc.) by which the information regarding the recipient is imported. Since the EMS updates the recipients through the recipient sources at every run, the EMS system recognizes changes automatically.

3. Defining recipient groups

Since, especially in large organizations, it would mean an unreasonably big effort to define the Escalation sequence referring to each one of them, recipients are classified into groups.
To ensure a constant automatic update of the recipients, they are not classified into groups following rigid parameters, but according to certain conditions, for example: „department = 12 & affiliate =3”

4. Defining Escalation Trees

By the means of the so called Escalation trees, you define which Escalation group is redirected (or »escalated«) to the next Escalation group. Within the EMS you can create as many Escalation trees as desired (for ex. „Sales“ => from the single salesman  to the owner of the company).

5. Defining Communication Channels

A Communication Channel determines the way in which the message is to be delivered to the recipient. The modifiable standard setting within the EMS is forwarding via email. The plug-in structure of the EMS offers many possibilities (SMS, printer, fax, etc.) for sending the messages.

6. Creating Escalation Definitions

The Escalation definition determines how the data to be checked are loaded from an external system (data source) and through which Escalation tree they are escalated. For this purpose, on every Escalation level of the respective Escalation tree a condition is defined. In case the condition is met, the appropriate message about the incident is sent to the recipients of this Escalation level (for ex. „Now() – CreationDate > 5“).

Beispiel eines Eskalationsbaums

Usually the EMS is activated once a day, and then distributes the compressed messages to the respective recipients. Thus the recipient generally receives only one message a day about all his neglects or the ones of his subordinates.
First the recipients are imported from any desired data source (for ex. data base, flat file, active directory etc.) und – if necessary – combined by the means of distinct keys (e.g. if the name of the staff member derives from the ERP, but the e mail addresses have to be read from an Active Directory).

Subsequently a so called group index is created, which states the correlation of the staff members to the single groups.

In the next step the Escalation tickets from the external systems are loaded and the respective Escalation level is detected. Then, by the means of the predetermined Escalation tree the messages to the relevant recipients are created.

Within the last step, the messages are sorted into groups according to the recipient and the Escalation mode and are sent via the associated communi-cation channel.