Alert Rules
Alert Rules allow you to set up automated monitoring for your traffic links, routes, and sensors in iNode Pulse. Instead of checking traffic conditions manually, you can configure alerts that send you an email notification as soon as a threshold is crossed. This page walks you through the Alert template menu, how to create a new alert, how to assign it to a target, and how to interpret the results with worked examples.
Alert Template Menu
The Alert module in iNode™ is designed for real-time traffic monitoring. When traffic conditions change and cross a threshold you've defined, iNode sends you an email notification automatically - so there's no need to constantly check road conditions yourself. Alerts can monitor travel time and speed across links and routes.
The Alert menu displays a list of all your created alerts along with their key details. Each entry shows the Alert Name, Status (Active or Inactive), Number of Assigned Items, Target, Target Field, Target Value, Edit Time, and Create Time.
Create an Alert
To create a new alert, follow these steps:
- Navigate to Alert Template > Create.
- Enter a Name for the Alert Template.
- In the Type field, select the type of alert you want to create. There are two modes:
- Static: compares live data against a fixed constant value that you define.
- Historical: compares live data against historical averages from the same day and hour over the past 12 weeks (when data is available).
- In the Target dropdown, select whether the alert applies to links or routes.
- In the Target Field, choose the data type to monitor - travel time or speed for links and routes, or status for sensors.
- Set the Operator and Value based on your alert type:
- If you selected Historical, the Operator options are Rises Above or Drops Below, and you enter a percentage as the threshold.
- If you selected Static, the Operator options are Equal, Greater or Equal, Greater, Less or Equal, or Less. You then enter a constant value as the threshold.
- Configure the Advanced Settings to control when the alert triggers:
- Aggregation Function: choose Maximum, Minimum, or Average. This function is applied to the data points within the Aggregation Period.
- Aggregation Period: set the number of data points to group together using the Aggregation Function. Once grouped, all points in the period are represented by a single value.
- Evaluation Period: set the total number of data points to evaluate when determining the alert state. This must always be a multiple of the Aggregation Period.
- Number of Violations: set the minimum number of threshold violations required within the Evaluation Period to trigger the alert.
- Schedule: if you only want the alert to run during specific days of the week or hours of the day, configure your time windows here.
- Click Save.
Add or Update Alerts
When creating an Alert Template, you need to specify the Target - the iNode element (sensor, link, or route) you want the alert to monitor. Once the template is created, you assign it to individual elements.
For example, if you created an alert targeting links, navigate to the relevant link's page and click on its Alert tab. From there, you can Add the alert to that link or Update any previously assigned alerts. Keep in mind that you can assign multiple alerts to a single link.
Alert Settings Tab
On the Alert Settings tab, you can modify your alert's settings and schedule at any time based on your needs.
Historical Alert Example
The Historical alert follows the same evaluation logic as the Static alert, with one key difference: instead of comparing against a fixed value, it compares against historical data.
In this example, the Alert Type is Historical, set to trigger when values rise above 20% of the historical travel time data from the same day and hour over the past 12 weeks. The Aggregation Function is set to Maximum.
- Aggregation Period = 2 data points (shown by green braces)
- Evaluation Period = 6 data points (shown by the red brace)
- Number of Violations = 1 (out of 6 ÷ 2 = 3 aggregated values)
The diagram below shows the same grouping structure as the Static example — green braces indicate the Aggregation Period groupings, and the red brace spans the full Evaluation Period. The historical baseline is shown alongside the current values for comparison.
Because the evaluation results show no violations, the alert state does not change from Normal.
Static Alert Example
The following example walks through how a Static alert is evaluated so you can understand how your configuration translates into a triggered alert.
In this example, the Alert Type is Static, applied to travel time on a link. The threshold is set to five (5) minutes using a Greater or Equal operator, and the Aggregation Function is set to Average.
- Aggregation Period = 2 data points (shown by green braces in the diagram)
- Evaluation Period = 8 data points (shown by the red brace)
- Number of Violations = 2 (out of 8 ÷ 2 = 4 aggregated values)
The diagram below illustrates the data points across the Evaluation Period, with the green braces grouping each pair of points into an aggregated value, and the red brace spanning the full Evaluation Period.
Since the results include two violations out of four aggregated values, the alert is triggered.
