Mobile realtime alerting with Web-IO Digital and SIGNL4

In the following we describe how to use Web-IO 4.0 to detect digital I/O states and then pass them to SIGNL4 for mobile realtime alerting.

Equipment overview

The front terminal strip of the "Web-IO 4.0 Digital, 2xIn, 2xOut" allows you to monitor two inputs. If you want to monitor the switching states of potential-free contacts, they can be optionally fed 24 volts. In this example the input labeled "Input 0" is being monitored.

Integration with SIGNL4

This state is detected by the Web-IO and can result in various actions. The action we are using here for integration with SIGNL4 is email. This requires entering the SMTP server data for SIGNL4 in the configuration of the Web-IO. The email server of SIGNL4 is reached at mail.signl4.com and supports all common encryption methods.

Once these data have been entered the email action can be set up. This area is also self-explanatory. Here in the field "Recipient email address" we enter the email address of the SIGNL4 team. The email address of a SIGNL4 team is formatted {team-id}@mail.signl4.com

Subject line and message text can be any. Use placeholders to mark the places where dynamic values will be entered later.

As the subject line we are using:

<in0> switched to <i0> (count:<c0>) on <dn> (<$y>–<$m>–<$d><$h>:<$i>:<$s>)

The message content is as follows:

<in0> = Name des ersten Input-Kanals
<i0>  = Schaltzustand des ersten Input-Kanals
<c0>  = Zählerstand des ersten Input-Kanals
<dn>  = Gerätename
<$y>  = Jahr
<$m>  = Monat
<$d>  = Tag
<$h>  = Stunde
<$i>  = Minute
<$s>  = Sekunde

These placeholders are replaced by the corresponding values before sending. Since in the message contents we have used the form "Name:Value", SIGNL4 has no problem recognizing the transmitted values and displaying them in the app.

How SIGNL4 works

Now as soon as an email is sent by the Web-IO to the SIGNL4 team, SIGNL4 automatically routes the message to all employees who have logged on for service and to the shift using the SIGNL4 app (this is done by pressing a button in the app).

The alert is then sent according to the personal settings, i.e. the type and sequence of the communication channels. For example you can configure so that when there is a new alarm a mobile push is immediately sent and a call is made 10 minutes later.

It is critical that an alarm be acknowledged in SIGNL4, either by a person or all persons in service. If this acknowledgement does not come, either the alert is repeated (every 5 minutes) or there is escalation to a manager after expiration of a certain, configurable time (e.g. 30 minutes). This essentially forces a response.

When an alarm is acknowledged, this is visible in realtime to the entire team in the mobile app. Each alarm can be commented on, and these comments are pushed to other team members in service. This raises the comments to the level of a group chat. Once the fault is eliminated, the alarm can also be marked in the app as "resolved." These actions are logged and are available for later evaluation.

SIGNL4 is thus an alerting, calibration and mini-ticketing system in one. Powerful interfaces (REST API) enable seamless incorporation into business processes and third-party applications.

For more details about mobile realtime alerting with SIGNL4 as well as the option to test the service for 30 days at no cost, go to https://www.signl4.com/de

Screenshots from SIGNL4 and Web-IO

Example view im the SIGNL4 app: