Alarms

Alarms are indicators of disturbance. They can be used as event sources, for example to notify that a temperature range has been exceeded, or can be used to trigger a Job or an action, for example, an alarm can trigger a batch to start. Alarms are split into two types:

  • Process Alarms - These are user definable, derived from processes configured on your system and are indicated by a bell symbol .

  • System Alarms - These are derived from hardware related occurrences, for example, recorder failure or archive media full and are indicated by a triangle symbol .

These types are in turn divided by priority:

  • High - Indicated by three exclamation marks, for example .

  • Medium - Indicated by two exclamation marks, for example .

  • Low - Indicated by one exclamation mark, for example .

See Understanding Alarm Symbols for further details.

Alarms can be:

  • Active Unacknowledged - The tolerances set that trigger the alarm are exceeded and continue to be exceeded, for example, a temperature may have risen above the acceptable range and has not fallen. This alarm is yet to be marked as recognized and any appropriate action taken, see Acknowledging Alarms for details.

  • Inactive Unacknowledged - The tolerances set that trigger the alarm have been exceeded, but have now returned to an acceptable range, for example, a temperature may have spiked and then returned to within tolerance. This alarm is yet to be marked as recognized and any appropriate action taken, see Acknowledging Alarms for details.

  • Active Acknowledged - The tolerances set that trigger the alarm are exceeded and continue to be exceeded, for example, a temperature may have risen above the acceptable range and has not fallen. This alarm has been marked as recognized and any appropriate action taken, see Acknowledging Alarms for details.

  • Inactive Acknowledged - The tolerances set that trigger the alarm have been exceeded, but have now returned to an acceptable range, for example, a temperature may have spiked and then returned to within tolerance. This alarm has been marked as recognized and any appropriate action taken, see Acknowledging Alarms for details.

EPM Data Management provides various methods of alarm notification:

  • Status bar - Visible from any EPM Data User Interface, see Understanding Alarm Symbols for details. Select the alarm required and the Alarm Summary screen displays, filtered by the type of alarm selected.

  • Groups screen - Groups with one or more channels in alarm display a notification on their Group card. Select the Alarm symbol to display the Alarm Summary screen filtered to the selected Group.

  • Live view - Alarm symbols display on live linear and bar charts and within the numeric plates (also known as 'face plates') on the numeric screen, see Using the Live View for details.

  • Alarm Summary screen- Enables you to monitor, acknowledge and action any alarms triggered, see Using the Alarm Summary Screen for details.

Related topics - Using the Alarm Summary Screen, Acknowledging Alarms and Configuring an Alarm.

Last update - June 2026