Notification Templates

Add email template

Add web template

Add text template

Removing Notification Templates

Adding Notifications

Email Notifications

Alert Notifications

Driver Feedback

More Options

Notification Types

Removing Notifications

Reprocessing Data

Distribution List

Auxiliary Rules

Adding an Auxiliary Rule

Applying Auxiliary Rules to Vehicles

User Access

When exception rules are broken, you have the choice to send out automatic notifications to the relevant parties. A notification can be sent out in the following ways:

• • An email to one or more recipients.
  • An alert that is displayed inside the application to a specified user.
  • An audible in-vehicle alert from the Telematics Device.
  • Additional alerts — such as SMS — as made possible by third-party systems.

Note: There may be a minor delay between when data is sent from the vehicle to when the server sends a notification depending on the type of notification and exception being handled.

Notification Templates

Before you can add notifications to your exception rules, you must configure notification templates. Notification templates define the information contained within notifications and use variable tokens and static text to allow the delivery of customized notifications to recipients. There are three types of notification templates: email templates, web templates, and text templates. 

Some use cases of customized notifications are:

• • Sending compact notifications to mobile devices to conserve data usage;
  • Including a contact phone number in emergency situations; and
  • Offering a web link to a map containing directions to a service station when an engine failure is detected.

The Notification Templates page can be reached by navigating to Rules & Groups > Rules and then selecting the Notification templates button at the top of the page.

The Notifications templates page displays a list of all currently available templates. You can edit existing templates by selecting them from the list, or create new templates using the three Add buttons at the top of the page.

Add email template

Email templates are used to customize the emails sent when an exception rule is broken. An exception report can also be attached to the template to provide an in-depth look at the rule infraction. The application provides a generic email template by default.

Selecting Add email template on the Notification Template page allows you to create a custom template name, subject, and body, specify the email attachments, and define the infraction information.

Add web template

Selecting Add web template on the Notification Template page allows you to configure exception rule infraction information to be sent out as a GET or POST request to a web server. 

Add text template

Text templates are used to customize the information included in a popup alert within the application. Selecting Add text template on the Notification Template page allows you to name your template, create the appropriate text for your alert, and define the infraction information.

Note: For convenience’s sake, notification templates can also be added directly through the Rules page. Simply select the envelope icon to the right of the appropriate rule, select the type of notification, you would like to set up, and select Add new from the template dropdown menu.

Removing Notification Templates

Because notifications encapsulate notification templates, make sure to delete notification templates with care. Deleting a notification template will delete all notifications using that template — potentially leaving users without notifications.

Adding Notifications

Once you have set up the appropriate notification templates, you can add notifications to your exception rules. To add notifications, navigate to Rules & Groups > Rules and select the rule to which you want to add a notification from the list. Select the Notifications tab of the Exception Rule Edit page.

You can choose from a variety of notification types. Select the most appropriate type from the list below.

Email Notifications

To add an email notification, select Add email. Choose the appropriate template from the dropdown Template menu, or select Add new template to create a new email template. Add your intended recipients to the Email feed. When you are satisfied, select Add to prepare the notification.

Alert Notifications

The application offers three choices for alerts. A Popup notification displays a yellow, low-priority alert at the top of the screen. An Urgent Popup displays a red alert for each instance of the exception. Log only alerts log a notification in My Notifications. 

Choose the type of alert you wish to send, and then select a template from the Template dropdown menu. Then select the recipient from the dropdown list below. When you are satisfied with your selections, select Add to prepare the notification.

Driver Feedback

Driver feedback notifications use the telematics device to alert the driver to infractions, either by issuing a series of beeps or communicating through a third-party device.

To add a driver feedback notification: 

1. 1. Select Add driver feedback button.
   2. Toggle Allow late notifications on or off depending on your needs. Allowing late notifications is useful when you would like notifications to be sent to the vehicle even if the exception has already passed. This is best used in situations where connectivity is poor.
   3. Select one of the driver feedback options from the dropdown menu. 
   4. The driver feedback option is automatically added to the exception rule upon selection and appears below the notification recipients field.

Note: Adding driver feedback does not require a direct recipient. If this notification type is assigned to a device, the device produces driver feedback. 

More Options

The More… button to the right of the notification options reveals additional notification choices: Web request, Assign to group, Email to group, Distribution list, and Assign as Personal/Business. Using these options, you can further customize the conditions that need to be met for a notification to be sent out. You can combine multiple conditions together to specify exact business cases such as dangerous driving detected from engine measurements; seat belt use when in motion; and arrivals and departures from zones outside normal working hours.

Notification Types

Removing Notifications

Notification can be removed from an exception rule by selecting the small × beside the notification under the Notifications tab on the Rule Edit page. Select Save to finalize your changes.

Reprocessing Data

By default, the application generates exceptions starting from the time the rule is created. It does not apply the rule to vehicle activity that occurred in the past, i.e., retroactively. If you wish to apply the rule to previously generated data, you can use the reprocessing feature. The reprocessing feature allows users to specify a new start date, then recalculates all exceptions from that date onward. Trips are reprocessed as of version 1802.

To reprocess your data:

1. 1. Navigate to Rules & Groups > Rules from the main menu.
   2. Click the Reprocess data button located in the top menu.
   3. From the popup window, select a Start date, one or more vehicles, one or more rules, then click Apply changes.

Note: The maximum range for reprocessing data is 13 months from the current date. If an older date is selected in the calendar, the application will automatically move it to the last date in the 13-month window.

Distribution List

A distribution list is a reusable collection of multiple recipients and their corresponding notification types. A distribution list is useful when configuring the same group of users to receive notifications of different exceptions.

To create a distribution list, navigate to Rules & Groups > Rules and select Distribution lists from the top menu. Select Add from the top menu on the Distributions Lists page and create a name for your list using the Name field. You can then configure your distribution list using the following options:

Auxiliary Rules

Auxiliary rules are exception rules that help you manage sensors and external input devices connected to the Telematics Device. As with exception rules, auxiliary rules are handled in real-time.

Note: Auxiliary Rules were formerly known as Auxiliary Groups.

Adding an Auxiliary Rule

Auxiliaries are best managed from their own Group branch under the Company group. To create a new group, go to Rules & Groups > Groups and do the following:

1. 1. Add a new group called Auxiliaries.
   2. Add a subgroup under Auxiliaries named, for example, “Salt Truck”.

Once you have created the appropriate group, you can begin adding auxiliary rules to it. To create an auxiliary rule:

1. 1. Go to Rules & Groups > Rules and select Add to begin adding a new rule.
   2. Under the Name tab, give the rule a name, for example, “Salter”.
   3. Select the appropriate auxiliary rule subgroup as the group this rule is published to.
   4. Select the Conditions tab and select the connected auxiliary port from the More… menu.
   5. Select True for the value from the opened Condition Value Selection then select Add to associate the new rule with this auxiliary input.
   6. Add any additional conditions you might require — such as the ignition being on, a minimum duration, or a vehicle speed — and save the rule.

Note: Your new rule applies to future data. If you would like to apply the auxiliary rule to archived (historical) information, you must first reprocess your archived (historical) data using the Reprocess data button on the Rules page.

Applying Auxiliary Rules to Vehicles

1. 1. Navigate to Vehicles from the main menu and select one or more vehicles to which you wish to apply the auxiliary rule.
   2. Select the Groups tab and choose the appropriate auxiliary rule subgroup from the Groups dropdown and save.

User Access

Because Auxiliary Rules are applied on a per group basis, a user will need access to that specific auxiliary group to be able to work with it. Note that giving a user access to an auxiliary group in their “Data Scope” may result in them having access to vehicles they are not intended to see. For this reason you can give a user access to the auxiliary group within their reporting scope. This will allow the user to view the exceptions on the map, as well as to create reports from these exceptions.

If the user in question does not have the Entire Organization data scope, then select the auxiliary group you would like the user to be able to make reports of under the Additionally allow reporting by these groups label on the User Edit page (Administration > Users) for that user.