Alert details

In the Alert Details section, enter specific information for the alert that will be created and added to a survey record, as follows.

• Alert Name — Unique name for the alert.

• Display Name — Brief and easily identifiable name for the alert that will appear in feedback and on reports.

• Description — Text that describes the functionality of the alert. This text is for internal use only.

• Description to Display to Users — Text that describes the functionality of the alert. This text will be displayed to users.

• Roles with access to filter and find this Alert by its display name — Users assigned to these roles will have the ability to filter and find alerts by the Display Name. Click the plus icon to select roles. Click the X to the right of a role to remove it from this field.

Alert rules

Select Alert Rule from the left side of the alert details screen to create an alert for feedback in a completed survey and determine the records that the alert will automatically be added to if conditions are met. Add conditions to the alert as follows:

1. Click Add Condition in the IF section to show the Rule builder to add logic to the alert. These conditions define the criteria of an event that requires follow-up action, which you can set in the THEN section. 

2. Click Test Condition to see up to 100 survey records that the alert would have been created for if the alert was active.

   

3. In the Rule builder, select All or Any from the dropdown to determine what conditions need to be met for the alert to be created.

   

4. Click Add a condition and select Field, Text Analytics Topic, Action Intelligence Insight, or Social.

   

5. The fields and components that appear in Rule builder are added dynamically based on your field and operator selections. Select and/or enter values in the fields that appear. To delete a condition, click the trash icon to the right of the line. Click Save.

   Conditions that you can create can be based on the following:

   • Field — This can be based on data in feedback fields and event fields.

   • Text Analytics Topic — Create a condition based on a topic that has been tagged on a survey record. For more information, see Configure topic alerts.

   • Action Intelligence Insight — Create a condition based on an insight made on a survey record.

   • Social — Create a condition based on feedback received from Social.

   Note: For more information about creating conditions, including correct syntax, see Logic, rules, and conditions.

   The following image shows an example of a rule set up based on values entered in fields on a survey.

   

6. In the THEN section of the Alert Rule, enter details for follow-up action that occurs if the conditions set in the If section are met.

   If you select Assign the Alert, these assignment options are available:

   Assign to a User on a record

   Use the Select a field with a username dropdown to specify a text field on the record that contains a username. Only one user can be assigned with this method.

   Important: There is a known issue with the Assign to a User on a record selection dropdown. The label instructs the user to "Select a field with an email", but the selected field must contain a username.

   If the value of the specified text field changes, the assignment option is updated as well, and new alerts are assigned to the username that matches the new value. For example, if the alert is assigned to a field on a unit for "store manager", and a new username is entered in the "store manager" field, new alerts are assigned to the new username. Assignees for existing alerts are not changed.

   If the specified user doesn't exist or is inactive, when a new alert is generated, the alert is not assigned, and an event ticket is created for the survey and field.

   If the specified user doesn't have access to the record, when a new alert is generated, the alert is assigned to that user, but the user is unable to see the alert's record.

   Assign to a User

   Use the dropdown to specify a user. Only one user can be assigned with this method. If the specified user changes, new alerts are assigned to the new user. Assignees for existing alerts are not changed.

   Assign to a Role

   Use the dropdown to specify a user role. All users with that role can interact with the alert. If the specified role assignment changes, new alerts are assigned to the specified role. Assignees for existing alerts are not changed.

   

   If you select Send an Email, click Create Email to open the Email Builder.

   

   Specify who should receive the email. When you select User Assigned to the Alert, the email is sent to the user to whom an alert is assigned. For more information about alert assignments, see the Alert assignments section of View and configure alerts. For more information about other ways to assign alerts, see the Alert assignments section of Closed loop feedback.

   When you select Email on a record, and then a survey or unit field from the dropdown, this option enables you to automatically send the email to an email address stored in a field at the time the email is sent.

   

   If you select Specific email addresses, enter email addresses separated by commas:

   

   Specify who is sending the email. If you select Customize, enter a From Name and From Address. Next, enter text for the Email Subject and Email Body. Then click Done.

   

7. Click Test Condition to view records in Experience Cloud that match your conditions.

   

Formula fields (K-fields) with topics in alerts

Medallia does not recommend using formula fields (also known as K-fields) that reference topics as conditions in alerts, as this may lead to inaccurate evaluations and alerts that do not trigger as expected.

If, despite these limitations, a customer use case requires using formula fields with topics in alert conditions, a workaround is available. To delay alert condition evaluation until text processing has completed, add an auxiliary condition that directly references the topic. This auxiliary condition must be designed in such a way that it always evaluates to false; otherwise, it may affect the intended evaluation result and cause erroneous alert triggering.

Because the auxiliary topic-referencing condition must always evaluate to false, the condition operator that connects the auxiliary and primary conditions must be OR. For example:

• Auxiliary condition (FALSE) OR primary condition (TRUE) yields a final result of TRUE, and the alert triggers.
• Auxiliary condition (FALSE) OR primary condition (FALSE) yields a final result of FALSE, and the alert is not triggered.

If the auxiliary condition ever evaluates to TRUE, the alert triggers erroneously. If the AND operator is used to connect the auxiliary and primary conditions, the alert triggers erroneously or not at all.

Escalation paths

Select Escalation Paths from the left side of the alert details screen to add one or more escalation paths to the alert. Escalation paths define actions that occur automatically if the alert remains in a certain state or assignment after a specific amount of time has passed and are comprised of a condition (IF), possibly a delay, and an action (THEN). Configure the escalation path as follows:

1. Click Add Escalation Path.

   

2. In the IF section, click the plus icon to set a condition based on an alert state. You can add multiple alert states. To delete an alert state that you have added, click the X to the right of the alert name.

   

3. In the AND section, optionally set a condition based on the alert assignee on the user or role. Select User or Role from the dropdown followed by the name of the user or role. Then select one or both of the delay options to associate with the alert. Use the arrows to set the number, then select either Days or Hours from the dropdown.

   

4. In the THEN section, select the check boxes to set the action to be taken if the conditions are met. Select Change status and then select the status to which the alert should be changed if conditions are met. All statuses are available in the dropdown, regardless of the originating condition of the alert. See step 5 in "Alert Rule" for details on the Reassign the alert and Send an email options.

   

Business days

Select Business Days from the left side of the alert details screen to select days of the week that users can handle and close alerts. Timers used in escalation paths are paused for days that are unchecked. This keeps overdue, escalated, and excluded actions from happening when there is no one at work to handle it. For example, when Saturday and Sunday are excluded and an overdue timer is set to expire at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, it will not actually expire until Monday at 11:00. By default, business days are set to Monday through Friday.

Holiday calendars

Select Holiday Calendars from the left side of the alert details screen to specify days of the years where delay timers are paused. By default, there are no holidays configured. For example, if an alert created on December 31 has a holiday calendar tied to it that includes January 1 of every year and an escalation path does not allow for the status to remain unchanged for 24 hours, then the defined escalation would occur on January 2 or the next business day.

To create a new holiday calendar that will be available to add to alerts or edit an existing one, see Alert settings. Modifications to a calendar will affect all rules using that calendar.