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QEI SCADA alarm text for breaker trips and substation alarms

A QEI SCADA alarm text puts the substation, breaker and time on the on-call powerline technician's phone, even when the control room is empty. Setup is one more address on the master station's alarm email list. A feeder breaker that opens at 2:51 a.m. then reaches the crew as one line, and the master station keeps working unchanged.

Text me my substation alarmsBook a demo

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

  • Nothing added to the master station
  • No dialer or phone line
  • No per-user fees

Works by email with

  • QEI

Published:

A substation one-line for Sub 7: breaker 52-3 on feeder 3 opens, the feeder loses power and the RTU reports it to the master station. The email reaches Welco and the phone shows: “Welco: [Sub 7] Feeder 3 breaker OPENED at 2:51 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Animation: a long QEI alert email is trimmed into one short text: "Welco: [Sub 7] Feeder 3 breaker OPENED at 2:51 AM. Reply STOP to opt out."

What a small hydro utility crew gets from QEI texts

  • The trip reaches whoever is home on call

    No control room staffed at night? The text names the substation, the feeder and the breaker state.

  • A storm stays readable

    When freezing rain or wet snow opens breakers across many substations, flood limits cap the texts per phone. The console keeps every event.

  • Priority 1 reaches two phones

    Send breaker trips to the on-call powerline technician and the operations supervisor together. Lower priorities can go to one phone.

  • The SCADA network stays separate

    Welco reads outgoing alarm mail only. It never reaches the master station, an RTU or the console.

Who this setup is for

A QEI system is SCADA (the system that watches and controls remote sites) for a utility. Its master station collects status from RTUs, the field units in each substation.

This page is for small electric and public utility teams, such as a town's hydro utility, often with one powerline technician on call from home. Welco sends SCADA alarms as texts to that phone. You need three things.

  • Alarm email from the master station, or from a reporting or notifier tool that reads its alarm list. Ask your QEI support contact if you aren't sure it's turned on.
  • A Welco account with your utility verified. Start free to begin.
  • Each crew member on the call list, joined from a Welco invite on their own cellphone. Every phone confirms with YES before alarms go to it.

Set up QEI SCADA alarm texts in 5 steps

Your master station's screens depend on its version, so look for the alarm email or SMTP settings in the system you have. Plan for a short window with your SCADA tech or QEI support contact.

  1. Find the alarm email settings

    Look for where the master station, or its notifier, lists email recipients for alarms. That is where your Welco address goes.

  2. Approve the master station as a sender

    Copy the From address on a recent alarm email. Add it to Welco's approved senders, so only your SCADA can text your crew.

  3. Add your Welco address

    Add your Welco address next to the existing recipients. Keep the operations mailbox on the list so the full email is still on file.

  4. Pick which points send email

    If you can, send email only for breaker status, relay trips and loss of station service. Leave analog warnings for the console.

  5. Test on a safe point

    Toggle a test point or a spare breaker status during a planned window. Check the text and the Welco feed before you rely on it. Welco test mode lets you check the feed first with no text sent.

Get the next breaker trip on the on-call phone

Add your Welco address to the master station's alarm email. Your SCADA stays as it is.

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

Text me my substation alarmsBook a demo

An early wet snowstorm hits the service area

Heavy snow on trees that still have their leaves brings down lines fast. Storms are when small utilities need texts most, and when phones are most at risk of a flood. The guide to keeping an alarm flood off the phone covers the master station side.

  1. The master station emails the first trip

    SUB 4 2026-10-06 23:02:11.540 BREAKER STATUS OPENED

  2. The on-call powerline technician sees it first

    Welco: [Sub 4] Feeder 2 breaker OPENED at 11:02 PM. Reply STOP to opt out.

  3. Sub 9 and Sub 11 trip within two minutes

    SUB 9 2026-10-06 23:04:37.112 BREAKER STATUS OPENED

  4. Flood limits hold back the rest

    Each phone gets a few texts that show several stations are out. The console still lists every status change.

  5. The technician answers from the bucket truck

    Rolling to Sub 4 first, roads are slick

  6. The operations supervisor reads the reply in email

    Welco emails replies to the alarm's sender. Send master station mail through a mailbox the supervisor watches.

    Reply from the on-call powerline technician: Rolling to Sub 4 first, roads are slick

Times are an example. Text delivery depends on mobile networks and coverage.

A breaker closing back in, as a text

After a recloser or an operator closes a breaker, the master station sends a matching status email. Some crews want that text too, so they know power is back.

Alert email from scada-master@utility.example.org, subject “SCADA ALARM: SUB 12 BREAKER STATUS”. Welco trims it to one text of 76 characters: “Welco: [Sub 12] Feeder 1 breaker CLOSED at 3:06 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Text received: Welco: [Sub 12] Feeder 1 breaker CLOSED at 3:06 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.

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Animation: the alert email "SCADA ALARM: SUB 12 BREAKER STATUS" is trimmed into one text: "Welco: [Sub 12] Feeder 1 breaker CLOSED at 3:06 AM. Reply STOP to opt out."

Don't want close texts? An alarm rule on the email wording can drop any email that says CLOSED.

Tips for utility alarm texts

A few rules keep the right crew's phone lighting up.

  • Call lists by service area

    If crews cover different towns or districts, a rule can read the substation name and text that area's crew.

  • Nights and weekends

    On-call routing sends after-hours alarms to the person on call and daytime alarms to the operations office.

  • RTU comm fail to the day crew

    A comm fail at a station with a backup path can wait for morning. Send it to the day crew only.

If a QEI alarm doesn't reach the phone

Check these in order.

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Frequently asked questions

Does Welco connect to the QEI master station directly?

No. Welco never touches your SCADA network. It only reads the alarm emails your system already sends through your mail server. That keeps the control system on its own network, and the only new thing is one more recipient address on an outgoing email.

Can a breaker trip text both the crew and the operations manager?

Yes. Once both have joined, put both of them on the rule for breaker alarms. Each phone gets the text once, even if the master station sends the email twice. Lower-priority points can go to just the on-call crew member.

Does a powerline technician's reply acknowledge the alarm at the console?

No. The reply goes back by email to the alarm's sender, so the office sees who is responding. The point stays unacknowledged on the QEI console until someone acknowledges it there.

Will customers ever get these texts?

No. Welco only texts crew members who joined with their own phone and replied YES. It's built for alarms to your own team. If you need to tell customers about an outage, that needs a different kind of service.

What if the on-call technician is out of cell coverage?

Rural and northern service areas often have dead spots between towns. Mobile networks usually hold the text and deliver it when the phone is back in coverage. If a text can't be delivered, the delivery report says why. For weak-signal areas, send priority 1 alarms to a second phone as well, such as the supervisor.

Can we keep our after-hours callout service too?

Yes. Welco sends texts only and never calls anyone or waits for an answer. If your council or your board wants a voice callout with confirmation, keep that service and let Welco add the text beside it.

How are QEI alarm texts priced?

No per-user fees, no hardware, no setup fee. A short breaker status alarm uses one message credit. Longer emails can use more unless you trim them. See Welco pricing for plans, and the SCADA alarm cost breakdown for how other options compare.

Send QEI breaker alarms to the crew on call

Give the master station one more email address and the next trip arrives as a text.

Text me my substation alarmsBook a demo

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