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ComponentsWorkspace
ServiceAutomation
Availability2024.2 or later

How It Works

Global and personal quiet times

When to Use

Compare with alert Quiet Time

Silence an Alert

Mute an alert from its email

View and Stop

See what is silenced now

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Overview

A Quiet Time is a period during which GermainUX holds back repeated notifications for the same alert. It keeps one ongoing issue from filling your inbox, so the alerts that still arrive are the ones that need attention. GermainUX uses Quiet Times in two ways. It starts one automatically for everyone each time an alert fires, and you can start one for yourself only when an alert is not useful to you. The Quiet Times screen lists every Quiet Time that is active right now, and lets you end one early. Quiet Times help you answer questions such as:
  • Why did I stop receiving this alert?
  • Which alerts are silenced at the moment?
  • When will this alert be able to notify me again?
  • How do I stop an alert I don’t need, without changing it for my team?

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How Quiet Times Work

Every Quiet Time belongs to one alert. GermainUX identifies it by the Alert Action name followed by what triggered the alert, for example the KPI, SLA and resource. A Quiet Time for a CPU alert on one server therefore doesn’t silence the same alert on another server. During a GLOBAL Quiet Time, GermainUX doesn’t run the Alert Action again for the same issue, so nobody receives a repeat. When the period ends, the next violation sends a new alert and starts a new Quiet Time. During a USER Quiet Time, the alert still runs. GermainUX removes your email address from the recipients, so you receive neither the email nor the Workspace notification. GermainUX removes expired Quiet Times automatically. You don’t need to clean them up.

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When to Use Quiet Times

The Quiet Time setting on an Alert Action and the Quiet Times you start yourself solve different problems: Use the Quiet Time setting on an alert when a problem that stays open would otherwise send the same alert every few minutes. Pick a period that matches how long your team typically needs to respond, so the alert repeats only if the issue is still there after that. Quiet Time Used is on by default, so unless someone has changed it, each alert already waits for the system default period before it repeats. Start a Quiet Time for yourself when you’re on an alert’s Distribution List but don’t need it, for example while you’re on leave or when a colleague already owns the issue. Your team keeps receiving the alert, and nobody has to edit the Distribution List. Two other mechanisms reduce alert volume in different ways:
  • Activation Count on an SLA delays the first alert until a number of violations occur. See Reduce Alert Volume.
  • Maintenance periods suspend monitoring and actions during planned work. See Maintenance Window.

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Silence an Alert for Yourself

The default alert email ends with two links, Unsubscribe and Resume. Scheduled report emails have the same pair, labeled Mute this report and Unmute this report.
Bottom of a GermainUX alert email showing the Unsubscribe to this alert and Resume this alert links

Unsubscribe and Resume Links in an Alert Email - GermainUX

1

Open the alert email

Open an email for the alert you want to silence.
2

Click Unsubscribe

Click Unsubscribe. For a report, click Mute this report.The GermainUX Workspace opens the Quiet Times screen and shows Quiet time started.
3

Check the Quiet Time

Your new Quiet Time appears in the list with the type USER. It stays active until you resume the alert.
To receive the alert again, click Resume (or Unmute this report) in any email from that alert. You can also stop the Quiet Time from the Quiet Times screen.
You can only silence an alert that is sent to you through its Distribution List. If you receive it through another list, for example an external email list, GermainUX shows “Unable to silence this alert”. Ask your GermainUX administrator to change your alert settings instead.

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Offer a Time-Limited Mute

The default links mute an alert until the user resumes it. To mute for a fixed time instead, add your own links to a custom alert template. See Configure Alert and Report Templates. This example mutes the alert for the reader for 24 hours. Add it to the HTML body of your alert template:
Change 86400 to the number of seconds you want the mute to last. A negative value mutes the alert until the user resumes it.

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Set the Quiet Time on an Alert

The automatic, GLOBAL Quiet Time is configured on each Alert Action. Both fields are advanced settings, so they’re hidden until you show advanced fields.
1

Open the Alert Action

In the left menu, go to Settings > Automation > Alert and open the alert.
2

Show the advanced fields

Click Show Advanced.
3

Set the Quiet Time fields

Enter the values below, then save the alert.
Alert Action form with advanced fields shown, including Quiet Time Used and Quiet Time Period

Quiet Time Fields on an Alert Action - GermainUX

From then on, each time the alert fires, GermainUX starts a GLOBAL Quiet Time for that issue and holds back repeats until the period ends. For every Alert Action field, see the Alert Configuration Reference.

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View and Stop Quiet Times

The Quiet Times screen lists the Quiet Times that are active now: every GLOBAL one, plus your own USER ones. Other users’ personal Quiet Times aren’t shown. Open it in either of these ways:
  • In the left menu, go to Settings > System > Quiet Times.
  • Open Notifications from the header and click the Quiet Times icon. A dot on the icon means at least one Quiet Time is active.
Notifications screen toolbar with the Quiet Times icon and a dot showing that Quiet Times are active

Quiet Times Icon on the Notifications Screen - GermainUX

Use Applies to to filter the list: Any, Me (your USER Quiet Times) or All Users (GLOBAL Quiet Times). Each row shows the alert it silences, its type, and its start and end time.
Quiet Times screen listing active global and user quiet times with their start and end times and a Stop button

Quiet Times Screen - GermainUX

To end a Quiet Time early, click Stop on its row and confirm.
  • Stopping a USER Quiet Time affects only you. You receive the alert again from its next occurrence.
  • Stopping a GLOBAL Quiet Time affects all users. The next violation sends the alert to everyone. You need permission to edit configuration to stop one.
Stop a GLOBAL Quiet Time when you’ve fixed an issue and want to know straight away if it comes back, rather than waiting for the period to end.

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Troubleshooting

Your email address isn’t on the alert’s Distribution List, for example because you receive it through an external list. Ask your GermainUX administrator to remove you from that list.
The row is a GLOBAL Quiet Time, and you don’t have permission to edit configuration. Ask a GermainUX administrator to stop it.
Open the Quiet Times screen and set Applies to to All Users. If the alert is listed, a GLOBAL Quiet Time is holding back repeats, and the alert resumes after its end time.

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Additional Resources

Create an Alert

Configure Alert Actions and templates

Notifications

All notification types

Automation

More Automation Features

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Get Help

Contact GermainUX Support

The GermainUX team helps you get up and running faster, empower your team, turn data into actionable insights, and optimize performance to deliver measurable business outcomes.

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The content of this document is proprietary to GERMAIN SOFTWARE.