The alarm page
On this page
Every duress alarm message carries a Manage incident link. It opens the alarm page: a single page, made for a phone, where the people alerted can see what's happening and, depending on the facility's settings, acknowledge the alarm, post updates, unlock doors and resolve it. This page is for anyone who opens that link, such as a practice manager at a clinic, a duty manager at a hotel, a teacher on call or a store manager, and for the people who decide what the alarm page shows.
Quick reference
Where to find it: The Manage incident link in an alarm text, email or chat message
Who can access: Anyone who opens the link. Response plan contacts can act from their own link without logging in. People who get the message in a group chat or shared inbox see the alarm, and log in to Performance Hub to act.
Purpose: See an alarm at a glance from your phone, say you're responding, and coordinate until it's resolved
Who gets a link
"Messages carry one Manage incident link. Response plan contacts get their own link and can act from it." Nobody needs to log in to open it.
Where the link goes depends on the facility's Alarm page link setting. See Alarm page links.
| Who | What the link does |
|---|---|
| A response plan contact alerted by SMS or email | Opens the alarm page as that person. They can act from it, as far as the facility allows. |
| A group chat, team channel or shared inbox, with Shared alarm page (default) | "Anyone who gets the message sees everything a texted contact sees, and logs in to Performance Hub to act." See Group links are view only. |
| Anyone, with Log-in only | "The message links to the alarm in Performance Hub, which needs a log-in." |
Performance Hub users with Duress at the facility also get a push notification and an entry in the notification bell. Those open the alarm in Performance Hub, not the alarm page. See When an alarm comes in.
How long a link works
A link works until 24 hours after the last alarm message sent to that person. The bottom of the page shows the time: "This link works until" a date and time. After that, the link opens a notice instead. See This link has expired.
Keep your link to yourself
Alarm pages aren't indexed by search engines. Your own link lets anyone who has it act as you, so don't forward it. To bring someone else in, ask whoever looks after Duress to add them to the response plan.
What's on the page
Figure 1: The alarm page for an open alarm, on a phone
The page keeps itself up to date while it's open, so you don't need to refresh it. Its sections only show when they apply, so what you see depends on the alarm and the facility's settings.
| Section | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Status | The facility, the button and its room, when it was pressed and where the alarm is up to. See Status. |
| Acknowledge: I’m responding | Tell everyone you're responding. See Acknowledge. |
| Resolve alarm | Close the alarm with an outcome, where the facility allows it. See Resolve. |
| Updates | Share what's happening with everyone responding. See Updates. |
| Doors | Unlock doors or lock the facility down, where the facility allows it. See Doors. |
| Cameras | Live view and recordings from the button's cameras, where the facility allows it. See Cameras. |
| Contacts | Call or email the others alerted, the facility and the organisation. See Contacts. |
| What happened so far | The alarm's timeline. See What happened so far. |
On a desktop screen the same sections show in a single column.
Figure 2: The same alarm on a desktop screen
Status
The top of the page names the facility, the button and its room, and when it was pressed, for example "Pressed 4 minutes ago". Under that, it shows where the alarm is up to:
| Status | What it says |
|---|---|
| Open | "No one has acknowledged this alarm yet." |
| Acknowledged | "Acknowledged by" the person responding, with the time. |
| Resolved | "Resolved by" the person who resolved it, the time and the outcome, for example Genuine emergency. |
Figure 3: An acknowledged alarm, with an update from the person responding
Figure 4: A resolved alarm
A test alarm is marked TEST: "This is a test alarm. No one needs help." Once it's resolved, the page says "This alarm was resolved as a test."
Figure 5: A test alarm
Acknowledge
Tap Acknowledge: I’m responding as soon as you're responding. "Everyone alerted will see your name, and the alarm stops escalating." The page confirms: "Acknowledged. Everyone alerted can see you’re responding."
If someone else acknowledged it first, the page names them: "… acknowledged this alarm first." You can still post updates and use anything else the page offers.
Resolve
Resolve alarm only shows when the facility turns on Contacts can resolve from the alarm page. See Response actions.
Figure 6: Resolving an alarm from the alarm page
- Tap Resolve alarm.
- Choose the Outcome: Genuine emergency, False alarm, Test or Unknown.
- Add a note: "Recorded on the incident for the facility’s staff. Required for a genuine emergency."
- Tap Resolve.
The page confirms: "Alarm resolved. Everyone alerted gets the all-clear."
Updates
Updates: "Share what’s happening with everyone responding." Post text, or add a Photo, a File or Share my location, then tap Send. Updates are added to the incident in Performance Hub, where the facility's staff see them too. Use updates for what everyone responding needs to know, for example "Security is at the front desk now." or "Police have arrived."
Updates close 24 hours after the alarm is resolved: "Updates closed 24 hours after this alarm was resolved."
Figure 7: Updates close 24 hours after the alarm is resolved
On a group link, the card says "Log in to Performance Hub to post an update."
Doors
Doors only shows when the facility turns on Allow door controls on the alarm dashboard and uses Door & Gate Access. It lists the doors linked to the pressed button. If no doors are linked to it, every door at the facility is listed instead: "No doors are linked to this button, so every door at" the facility "is listed."
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Unlock | Unlocks one door. |
| Unlock all | Unlocks every door listed. It shows when the alarm has more than one door and isn't listing every door at the facility. |
| Lock down the facility | Locks the facility down while you deal with the alarm. |
| Lift lockdown | Ends the lockdown. |
Each one asks you to confirm first. To unlock: "Unlock this door?" "Each door opens for its normal hold time, then locks again. This is added to the timeline with your name."
Figure 8: Confirming a door unlock
To lock down: "Member access is blocked at every door of" the facility "until the lockdown is lifted. Doors that unlock on a schedule are locked too."
During a lockdown, the card says the doors are locked down, with Lift lockdown: "You can still unlock a door below, for example to let emergency services in."
Figure 9: Doors during a lockdown
The card explains when doors can't be used from the page:
- "Doors can’t be unlocked from a test alarm."
- "This alarm is resolved, so its doors can’t be unlocked from here."
- "Door/Gate Access isn’t turned on at this facility."
- "There are no doors at this facility."
On a group link, the doors are listed without any controls.
Cameras
Cameras only show when the facility turns on Show cameras on the alarm dashboard. Each of the pressed button's cameras shows Live video, or still pictures where live video isn't available ("Still pictures, updated every … seconds."). Open recordings opens the camera's recordings.
Anyone with the alarm's Manage incident link can watch the cameras live and open recordings for 24 hours, and that includes group links. Facilities should weigh this before turning it on. See Response actions.
Contacts
Contacts lists who else you can reach: Also alerted (the other people alerted about this alarm), the facility and the organisation, each with Call and Email buttons. Phone numbers and email addresses aren't displayed.
Figure 10: Contacts, with Call and Email buttons
What happened so far
What happened so far is the alarm's timeline: when it was raised and acknowledged, updates, door actions and when it was resolved. On a phone, it's at the bottom of the page.
The footer
The bottom of the page shows who the link was sent to, "Sent to" the person's name, and "This link works until" a date and time.
Group links are view only
A link shared with a group chat, team channel or shared inbox doesn't belong to one person, so it's view only: "This link was shared with a group, so Performance Hub doesn’t know who you are. Log in to acknowledge, post updates, unlock doors or resolve this alarm." Log in to Performance Hub opens the alarm in Performance Hub.
Figure 11: A view-only group link
If the page loses its connection
If the page can't reach Performance Hub, for example when your phone loses signal, it shows "Can’t reach Performance Hub. Retrying…" and keeps trying. What's on the page may be out of date until it reconnects.
Figure 12: The page has lost its connection and is retrying
When a link doesn't open the alarm
This link has expired
"This link has expired" "Alarm links stop working 24 hours after the last alarm message. Log in to Performance Hub to see this alarm."
Figure 13: The link has expired
This link isn't valid
"This link isn’t valid" "Check that you opened the whole link from the alarm text, email or chat message." Open the link straight from the message.
Figure 14: The link isn't valid
This alarm no longer exists
"This alarm no longer exists" "Log in to Performance Hub to see the facility’s alarms."
Figure 15: The alarm no longer exists
Can't load the alarm
"Can’t load the alarm" "Check your connection and try again." Tap Try again.
Figure 16: The alarm can't be loaded
If you can't open the alarm page during a real emergency, don't wait: call the facility or emergency services, and log in to Performance Hub when you can.
Theme and language
The alarm page follows your phone's light or dark theme and language. If you're logged in to Performance Hub, it uses your Performance Hub settings instead.
What the facility controls
These response actions decide what the alarm page offers. They need Duress Configuration at the facility.
| Setting | What it adds to the alarm page |
|---|---|
| Alarm page link | Whether messages link to the alarm page or to Performance Hub. See Alarm page links. |
| Contacts can resolve from the alarm page | Resolve alarm for response plan contacts. |
| Allow door controls on the alarm dashboard | Doors, with unlocking, lockdown and lifting a lockdown for response plan contacts. Never for test alarms. |
| Show cameras on the alarm dashboard | Live view and recordings for anyone with the link, group links included. |
Related pages
- Responding to alarms: acknowledging and resolving in Performance Hub
- Alerts & notifications: the response plan, response actions and alarm page links
- Door & Gate Access: the doors an alarm can unlock or lock down
- CCTV (VSaaS): the cameras linked to duress buttons