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WebCTRL alarm SMS: text building alarms to the on-call operator

When a lab room loses negative pressure at 1 a.m., the on-call operator gets a WebCTRL alarm SMS with the building, room and state. WebCTRL already runs a send-email action when an alarm comes in, so you aim it at your Welco address. Your categories, sources and workstation stay the same.

Text me my WebCTRL alarmsBook a demo

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing

  • No add-on for WebCTRL
  • One send-email action
  • No per-user fees

Works by email with

  • WebCTRL

Published:

A floor plan of Bldg 4: Room 112 (dp · in. w.c.) goes into alarm, off normal, its room turns orange and WebCTRL server emails the alert. The email reaches Welco and the phone shows: “Welco: [Bldg 4] Room 112 pressure OFF NORMAL, lost negative at 1:36 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Animation: a long Automated Logic WebCTRL alert email is trimmed into one short text: "Welco: [Bldg 4] Room 112 pressure OFF NORMAL, lost negative at 1:36 AM. Reply STOP to opt out."

What WebCTRL alarm texts change on campus

  • Critical rooms get a person, not a log line

    A room pressure, freeze stat or boiler alarm reaches the on-call phone with the building and the room.

  • The lab manager hears it too

    Labs and clinics can add a second phone to the alarms they care about, so the operator is not the only one who knows.

  • WebCTRL keeps its categories

    Nothing loads on the server, and alarm sources stay as your controls contractor built them. Acks still happen in WebCTRL.

What you need

WebCTRL is a BMS, or building management system. It watches and runs the heat, cooling, air flow and room pressure across your buildings.

Universities, colleges, research labs and hospitals lean on it for rooms that must stay in range overnight. Like any building alarm text notification, setup starts with one email. Here is what to have ready.

  • A WebCTRL server you can sign in to with rights to change system settings and alarm actions.
  • The name of your outgoing mail server and a login for it, if IT requires one.
  • A Welco account with your business verified. New to Welco? Start free first.
  • Building operators invited to join by email. Each one enters their own cellphone number on the join page and replies YES before WebCTRL alarms reach them.

Set up WebCTRL alarm texts in 5 steps

Screens differ a little between WebCTRL versions. The two parts you need are the mail server settings and a send-email alarm action. Alarm actions you already run keep running beside it.

  1. Approve WebCTRL as a sender in Welco

    Note the From address WebCTRL will use, such as webctrl@bas.example.ca. Add it to your allowed sender addresses so Welco accepts its mail and refuses everyone else.

  2. Enter your mail server in WebCTRL

    In WebCTRL's system settings, fill in the SMTP host, port and From address. SMTP is just the way a server sends email. Add a username and password if your mail server asks for one.

  3. Create a send-email alarm action

    Add a new alarm action that sends an email, and put your Welco address in the To field. Keep the message to the location path, the alarm state and the time.

  4. Attach the action to the right alarms

    Add the action to your critical alarm category, or to the single alarm sources you care about most. Routine categories can stay on the workstation and in email.

    • Room pressure, freeze stat and boiler alarms are good first picks before the first cold snap.
    • Choose whether a return to normal should also send. Many crews skip it at night.

  5. Test with one real alarm

    Switch on Welco's dry-run test mode so nothing reaches a phone yet. Force a harmless alarm, then read the logged text and adjust the message before going live.

Your WebCTRL alarms can reach a phone tonight

Sign up, verify your business and add one email action in WebCTRL.

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing

Text me my WebCTRL alarmsBook a demo

A WebCTRL boiler alarm, before and after

It is -28 C before dawn, and the campus heating loop is losing temperature. WebCTRL packs the alarm into one comma-separated line with a long location path. Welco pulls out the building, the point, the value and the time.

Alert email from webctrl@bas.example.ca, subject “WebCTRL Alarm - OFF NORMAL - HW Supply Temp”. Welco trims it to one text of 91 characters: “Welco: [Bldg 2] Hot water supply 48 C, below low limit at 4:52 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Text received: Welco: [Bldg 2] Hot water supply 48 C, below low limit at 4:52 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.

Characters215911 credit

Animation: the alert email "WebCTRL Alarm - OFF NORMAL - HW Supply Temp" is trimmed into one text: "Welco: [Bldg 2] Hot water supply 48 C, below low limit at 4:52 AM. Reply STOP to opt out."

You choose what the text keeps. Alert rules can also send each building to its own phones.

Make WebCTRL texts easy to act on

Four settings in Welco shape what your crew sees. None of them touch WebCTRL.

  • Match texts to the shift

    Weekday WebCTRL alarms can go to the maintenance shop. Nights and weekends, routing by on-call shift points them at whoever carries the phone.

  • Loop in the lab manager

    A pressure alarm in a lab may need the night operator and the lab manager. Sending one alert to several phones gives each of them a copy.

  • Trim the location path

    WebCTRL paths like Building 4 EMS / Room Pressure Monitoring eat characters. One-text alerts keep the useful part so each alarm costs one message credit.

  • Handle a comm-loss storm

    If a network switch goes down, WebCTRL can raise a comm alarm for every controller behind it. Limits on alarm bursts hold that wave to a few texts.

Why is my WebCTRL alarm text missing?

Start at WebCTRL and work toward the phone.

  • No email left WebCTRL. Check the SMTP settings, and ask IT if the server may send mail out on that port.
  • The action isn't attached. An alarm only sends if its category or source carries the email action.
  • The sender isn't approved. Welco turns away mail from unknown addresses and shows why in the feed.
  • The phone isn't ready. It may not have replied YES, it may be a landline, or its owner texted STOP.

Frequently asked questions

Does WebCTRL need an add-on to send alarm texts?

No. WebCTRL can already send alarm email through its own send-email action. Welco takes that email and turns it into a text. You fill in your mail server, add one action with your Welco address, and approve WebCTRL as a sender. There is nothing to load on the server.

What does the on-call operator see, and do they need an app?

A plain text from your alarm number that starts with Welco: and names the building, the room and the state. It works on any mobile phone without an app or a WebCTRL login. Operators join from your email invite and confirm with YES.

Does Welco reach into WebCTRL or the campus network?

No. WebCTRL sends an email out through your mail server, and Welco reads only that email. No VPN, no open port and no access to the controllers is needed. Welco also refuses mail from any address you have not approved.

Which WebCTRL alarms should become texts?

Text the alarms someone must act on before morning. Good picks are room pressure, freeze stat, boiler and pump failures, since a Canadian winter night punishes a late response. Keep filter and schedule alarms in email or on the workstation. Fewer texts means people trust the ones they get.

Can WebCTRL alarms go to different people by building?

Yes. WebCTRL puts the building name in the location path, so a Welco alert rule can match it. Send Building 2 to one operator and the research building to another. You can also attach separate email actions to separate alarm categories in WebCTRL.

Will a WebCTRL return to normal also send a text?

Only if you set it up that way. If the email action runs on return to normal, Welco texts it like any alarm. To keep those in email, leave that event off the action, or add a Welco rule that skips messages saying NORMAL.

Can the on-call operator acknowledge a WebCTRL alarm by replying?

No. The reply goes back by email to the WebCTRL sender address, and it uses message credits like any text. The alarm still needs an ack in WebCTRL. Treat the text as the call to look, and the workstation as the place to clear it.

How much does a WebCTRL alarm text cost?

Welco plans carry no per-user fees, no setup fee and no hardware cost. A short alarm uses one credit, and a trim rule stops a long location path from using more. New accounts get a 7-day trial with 15 credits, and no plan charges overage. Plans are priced in US dollars on the pricing page.

Get tonight's WebCTRL alarms as texts

Add one send-email action in WebCTRL. Welco texts the right phone.

Text me my WebCTRL alarmsBook a demo

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing