# Escalating Alarms

[![Alarm escalations on OpManager: Cisco router configuration backup](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/images/alarm-escalting-alerts.png)](https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hyXucB8MKeA)

The alarms of critical devices should not be left unnoticed for a long time. For instance, the mail-servers, web-servers, backup-servers, switches, and routers are so critical that if their faults are not solved within a specified time, the networking functionality will be brought down.

OpManager's alarm escalation rules ensure critical network issues receive prompt attention. By defining criteria like severity and category, you can automatically escalate unresolved alarms to the designated technician. This streamlines troubleshooting, minimizes downtime, and empowers IT teams to proactively address potential outages even before they impact business operations. You can configure OpManager to escalate such unnoticed alarms by sending an e-mail to the person concerned.

However, you have an option to exclude the alarms that are acknowledged from being escalated.

To configure a new alarm escalation rule, follow the steps given below:

1. Click **Settings → Configuration → Alarm Escalation Rules**.
2. Click **Add Rule** to create a rule.
3. Assign a name to the rule in the **Rule Name** field.
4. Select the **Severity** and **Category** of the alarm.
5. Select the **Business View** in order to associate the rule only to the alarms of the devices of the selected business view. If not select None to associate the rule to the alarms of all the devices.
6. Then configure the interval (**Not Cleared Within**) in either hours or minutes to wait for the alarm to get cleared.
7. In the **Run this check every** box, set the interval in minutes to execute this rule.
8. You can exclude the acknowledged alarms from being escalated by selecting **Exclude Acknowledged Alarms** option.
9. Type the values for the fields under **Notifications > Email** to send an e-mail if the alarm is not cleared within the specified interval.
10. Configure the **To Email Address**, **From Email Address**, the **Subject** and the **Message** of the escalation mail.
11. Type the values for the fields under **Notifications > SMS** to send a SMS if the alarm is not cleared within the specified interval.
12. Configure the **Mobile Number** and **Message** of the escalation SMS.
13. Click **Save**.

![Alarm escalation on OpManager: Escalation rule addition](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/images/alarm-escalting-alerts.png)

If you configure a new alarm escalation rule, by default it will be enabled. To disable an alarm escalation rule click on Edit icon, deselect the **Enable this rule** option and click on **Ok**.  
Alarm escalation rule can be deleted by clicking the Delete icon ![Alarm escalation on OpManager: Delete icon](https://www.manageengine.com/network-monitoring/help/images/delete-icon.png) in the Actions column of the particular rule.