Office Alerts and Issues - FAQ

Getting started

We set up office alerts but I don't see anything. Where do I find Office Alerts?

Look for the bell icon in the top-right of any Skimmer page. Click it to open the panel. Settings live at Settings → Office Alerts. If the bell isn't visible, your role may not have access.

How long after enablement until alerts start firing?

Alerts begin firing as soon as the team starts syncing service stops, work orders, and payments. There's no warm-up period. For Readings & Dosages alerts specifically, the company needs to configure their rules first. Those won't fire automatically because each company has different thresholds.

Email recipients and notification routing

I removed an email from "Send Alerts To" and it also disappeared from "Email All Alerts To". Why?

These two fields share the same underlying recipient list. They're not independent. It's the same list shown on two pages.

How can I send a specific alert to a specific person without putting them on the main list?

Use the per-alert Additional emails field. Recipients added to this field get the alert in addition to everyone on the main list.

I want my billing person to receive only Work Order Finished alerts, not chemistry alerts. How do I do this?

Work Order Added/Finished alerts only route to the main recipient list today. An Additional Staff Emails field for Work Order alerts is coming in the next release.

How do I add multiple email recipients?

The field accepts a comma-separated list.

Can I route alerts about specific routes or specific employees to specific people?

No, per-employee/per-route routing is noted as a future enhancement.

Alert configuration — thresholds and frequency

What does Grace Period mean on Not Enough / Too Much Time at Stop?

It's a grace period around the expected stop time. Example: 30-minute expected stop + 5-minute grace period = no alert between 25–35 minutes. Alerts fire under 25 or over 35.

I can't set my Readings & Dosages alert threshold to 0. How do I enable that?

Add 0 as an allowed value on the Readings & Dosages settings page. It will then become selectable in the alert threshold dropdown.

"Increased by X%" / "Decreased by X%" alerts only allow a percentage. Can I use a flat value?

No, these are change-based alerts only. For flat-value alerts, use Higher Than / Lower Than instead.

My dosage decreased alert is set to "last 1 reading recorded" and emails don't show the tech name. Why?

By design, using the Last X Dosages Recorded option strips tech attribution because multiple techs may have contributed. To avoid this, switch the frequency to Every Dosage Recorded. The math is the same, and tech names appear.

The No Dosages alert shows a customer count in the bell instead of a name. Is this broken?

No, this is a tech-performance signal, not a per-pool signal. It fires when a single tech completes N consecutive routine stops without entering any dosages. The footer shows a count because the alert spans multiple customers.

Can I set different alert rules for different bodies of water?

No, alert rules are at the company level. Body-of-water-level customization is on the roadmap.

Roles & permissions

Who can see the bell and configure Office Alerts by default?

Owners and Admins can see the bell and configure settings from day one. Everyone else needs the permission granted manually.

Does the bell show different content to different users?

No, the bell shows the same alerts to everyone who has access. Only email delivery is per-user.

Work order alerts — special setup

How do I enable email for Work Order Added / Finished alerts?

These are not configured on the Office Alerts page. Path: Settings → Work Order Types → click into any type → under Basic Information, check Alert office when added / Alert office when finished. Those alerts then send to the global Email All Alerts To list.

I tried to add an email to "Work Order Finished" directly and was told to configure it in Work Order Type settings. Why?

Work Order alerts use Work Order Types configuration rather than the per-alert Additional emails field. A future release will add the Additional Staff Emails field to Work Order alerts to match other alert types.

Alert display and behavior

I resolved an alert by accident. Can I get it back?

Yes. Open the Resolved tab in the panel, find the alert, and mark it back to Open. It moves back immediately.

What if I want history beyond 14 days?

The panel only shows alerts from the last 14 days (Open) or 7 days (Resolved). For longer-term history, the underlying events still live on the customer's record and in service history.

Can I filter the bell to show only certain types of alerts?

The only filtering available today is "show urgent alerts only." Filtering by category (Service vs. Chemistry vs. Payments, etc.) is noted as a future enhancement.

Can I see and resolve Office Alerts on the mobile app?

No, Office Alerts are currently web-only.

Issues — mobile reporting

What's the difference between a service note and an issue?

A service note is free-form text that the tech types in the moment. An issue is a structured, named problem (Bad Weather, System Down, etc.) that the company has pre-defined. Issues are templated so the office gets consistent reporting and can decide which ones are Urgent, which trigger customer emails, etc. Techs can use both.

Can I add my own issue types or rename the defaults?

Yes. Under the Issues card in Office Alerts settings, you can rename, delete, or add new issue types. The five defaults are just starting examples and they're fully editable.

I created a new issue type but my techs don't see it on mobile. Why?

Issue types only appear on mobile once Panel or Email is turned on for them in settings. If both are off, the issue type is treated as inactive and won't show up for techs to choose.

Can I require the tech to add a photo or description for certain issue types?

Yes, on each issue type in settings, you can toggle Photo Required and Description Required independently. If required, the mobile app shows a red asterisk and won't let the tech save until the requirement is met.

My tech reported an issue but the photo didn't show up. What happened?

Photos sync separately from the issue record. If the device was offline or had a weak signal at sync time, the photo may still be uploading. Ask the tech to check the mobile app's sync status. Photos typically appear within a few minutes of sync completing.

What's the photo limit per issue?

5 photos per issue. If a tech needs to document more, they can use service notes or create a follow-up issue.

Issues — office view and customer email

Where can the office see issues that have been reported?

Several places:

The alerts panel (if Panel is on for that issue type).
Email (if Email is on).
The Issues tab on the Service Notes/Issues page, with filters, search, and an Edit Issue view.
The Service History view alongside service notes.
The customer's Recent Activity feed.

When does the customer email actually send?

Once the office has turned on Customer Email for that issue type and the tech syncs the issue. The email sends with a 30-minute delay so accidental issues can be deleted before reaching the customer. It only sends once per service stop, not on re-sync.

Can I customize the customer email subject and body?

Yes, on each issue type in settings, you can edit the Customer Email subject and body. Skimmer ships default text but your company can fully rewrite it to fit your brand and tone.

Does the customer get the photos the tech took?

No, the customer email is text-only by design. Photos stay internal to the office for context.

I turned on Customer Email but my customer didn't get the email. What should I check?

Verify in this order:

Customer Email is on for that specific issue type.
The customer has at least one email address on file.
The 30-minute delay window has passed.
The issue wasn't deleted within the delay window.

If all four check out, contact Skimmer for assistance.

Issues — resolving and reopening

I resolved an issue in the panel. Does it also resolve in the Issues tab (Service Notes/Issues page)?

Yes, the panel and the Issues tab stay in sync. Resolving an issue in either place automatically resolves it in the other. Same with reopening.

How is resolving an issue different from resolving a regular alert?

For most alerts, resolving just clears the panel entry. For issues, resolving also updates the issue record itself. The resolved-by name, resolved-at time, and resolved status are stored and visible in the Issues tab. An issue is the only alert type that carries a full audit trail of who handled it and when.

Can I reopen a resolved issue later?

Yes, you can reopen a resolved issue from:

The alerts panel (if enabled for the issue type)
The Service History view (web and mobile)
The customer's Recent Activity feed
The Issues tab under Service Notes/Issues on the web

What's the difference between Office Alerts and Issues again?

Office Alerts is the notification system — the bell, the panel, the email setup. Issues provide a structured way for techs to flag specific problems in the field. When a tech reports an issue, it can trigger an office alert (panel and email). So Issues feeds Office Alerts, but they're separate features and a company can use Office Alerts without using Issues.