Define threshold alarm rules on Modbus register tags, set escalation policies, and get notified before process upsets become incidents. Browser-based. No servers to manage.
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Alarm management is the system that detects abnormal process conditions, notifies the right people, and tracks response. A process alarm fires when a register value crosses a threshold — high pressure, low tank level, motor fault. Without a structured alarm management system, operators face alarm floods, miss critical alerts, and are left guessing about process state during incidents.
Poor alarm management is a documented cause of major industrial incidents. When every alarm has the same priority, the truly critical ones get buried. Effective SCADA alarm management assigns priority levels, routes notifications to the right people, and escalates automatically when an alarm isn't acknowledged in time.
SCADA Cloud by ModbusSimulator includes a complete alarm management module. Connect your Modbus TCP or RTU devices, define threshold rules on any tag, configure escalation policies, and monitor the alarm dashboard from any browser. No on-premise SCADA server required.
A complete alarm lifecycle — from detection to acknowledgement to history
Configure High, High-High, Low, and Low-Low thresholds on any Modbus register tag. Supports absolute value alarms, rate-of-change alarms, and discrete coil state changes (0 to 1 fault detection).
Assign a priority to each alarm rule. Critical alarms demand immediate response — they appear at the top of the alarm list, use distinct colors, and trigger immediate notifications regardless of quiet hours.
Send alarm notifications to any email address. Configure notification templates with tag name, current value, threshold, and time. SMS notifications available via Twilio integration for critical alarms.
Define what happens when an alarm isn't acknowledged within N minutes. Escalate to a supervisor, then to a manager, then to an emergency contact — with configurable time intervals for each tier.
Operators acknowledge alarms directly from the browser alarm panel. Each acknowledgement is timestamped and logged with the user's name. Unacknowledged alarms remain visible until manually cleared.
Every alarm event — trigger, acknowledgement, escalation, and clear — is stored for 90 days. Filter by tag, severity, time range, or operator. Export to CSV for compliance reporting or post-incident analysis.
In the tag configuration, enable alarms and set threshold values. Choose priority (Critical / High / Medium / Low) and whether the alarm triggers on absolute value, rate of change, or coil state.
Configure who gets notified immediately, who gets escalated to after 15 minutes without acknowledgement, and who is the final escalation contact. Set different notification recipients per alarm priority.
The alarm dashboard shows all active alarms sorted by priority. Operators acknowledge alarms, add notes, and clear conditions. All actions are logged automatically for audit trail.
SCADA alarm management across sectors — with example alarm rule configuration
Monitor motor current draw, vibration sensors, and fault coils. A coil changing from 0 to 1 triggers a Critical fault alarm immediately — stopping the production line notification from going unnoticed on the night shift.
Track total power demand register in real time. Set a High alarm at 85% of the contracted demand limit and a Critical alarm at 95%. Get notified in time to shed non-essential loads and avoid demand charge penalties.
Tank level registers are mapped to gauges with Low-Low and High-High alarms. A High-High alarm triggers an immediate SMS to the on-call operator and an escalation email to the site manager if not acknowledged within 10 minutes.
Supply air temperature registers are monitored with setpoint deviation alarms. A temperature drifting more than 3°C from setpoint triggers a Medium alarm. Sustained deviation for 15 minutes escalates to High and notifies the facilities manager.
| Tag | Register | Threshold | Severity | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motor_Current_A | 4x0001 (Holding) | > 95 A (High-High) | Critical | Immediate email + SMS to maintenance team |
| Tank_Level_mm | 3x0010 (Input) | < 200 mm (Low-Low) | Critical | SMS to operator; escalate to manager after 5 min |
| Power_Demand_kW | 4x0020 (Holding) | > 850 kW (High) | High | Email to energy manager; escalate after 15 min |
| Supply_Air_Temp | 4x0031 (Holding) | Deviation > 3°C from SP | Medium | Email to facilities team; no escalation |
| Pump_Fault_Coil | 0x0005 (Coil) | Coil = 1 (state change) | High | Email to maintenance; escalate after 10 min |
| Boiler_Pressure | 3x0040 (Input) | > 12.5 bar (High) | High | Email to plant engineer; SMS if > 14 bar (Critical) |
In the SCADA platform's tag configuration, select a tag mapped to a Modbus holding register and enable alarms. You can set absolute threshold alarms (e.g., register value > 950 = High alarm) or rate-of-change alarms (value changing by more than 50 per minute). Alarm rules support Modbus discrete inputs too — a coil changing from 0 to 1 can trigger a fault alarm.
Yes. Notification policies support multiple email recipients per alarm priority level. Critical alarms can go to the site manager, engineer, and on-call technician simultaneously. Escalation policies let you define what happens if an alarm isn't acknowledged within N minutes — it automatically escalates to the next recipient tier.
Alarm shelving temporarily suspends an alarm rule during planned maintenance. Instead of disabling the alarm entirely (which creates a safety risk if you forget to re-enable it), shelving auto-expires after a set duration (e.g., 4 hours). The alarm resumes automatically. Use it when doing maintenance on the monitored equipment to prevent nuisance alarms during the work window.
Alarm floods occur when many alarms fire simultaneously — common during process upsets or startup sequences. The platform handles floods by grouping related alarms into a single notification digest, showing the alarm count and highest severity rather than sending 50 individual emails. Operators see a clear alarm list sorted by priority, not an inbox flood.
Simulate Modbus devices to test alarm rules and notification pipelines without live hardware.
Simulate register values crossing alarm thresholds to validate your alarm configuration.
Full browser-based SCADA with dashboards, alarms, trends, and multi-site monitoring.
Specialized SCADA for energy management — demand alarms, consumption trends, and tariff KPIs.
Overview of the full SCADA Cloud platform — connect any Modbus, MQTT or OPC UA device.
Real-time PLC monitoring with live register views, trend logging, and alarm management.
Connect your Modbus device, define threshold rules, and get your first alarm notification before the end of your trial. 60-day free trial — no credit card required.
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