Alerts configuration

Exchange Reporter Plus allows you to create alert profiles to get real-time updates while auditing the actions you prefer. These alerts provide insights on the critical events happening within the Exchange environment and are categorized based on severity levels.

Alerts for specific events that require immediate action like a non-owner user gaining access to a mailbox or database dismounting can be configured and sent to admin or other stakeholders. This can help in detecting the issues soon and taking a quick follow up action. Alerts are sent as email or SMS notifications.

Alerts can be configured using the Exchange Server → Alerts option in the LHS under Audit tab. When the Alert option is clicked, a window appears using which the following actions can be done.

• View received alerts and export report
• Creating a new alert profile
• Customizing the existing alert profiles

View received alerts and export reports

All alerts are displayed with the severity of the alert, the alert message received and the alert time stamp in the default view. The alert view can be customized using the period selection and the view type. By applying the period selection and view option, only the alerts of selected severity level within the specified time period will be displayed.

Dashboard view of alerts

Alerts are notifications about important events that require immediate attention. Audit Alerts on the product’s home page at the top-right corner show the alerts in dashboard form for quick access. The Alerts option on the top-right corner of the Exchange Server and Online auditing tab also displays notification of alerts under various severity levels.

• Click on the Alerts displayed at the top-right corner in the dashboard.
• An alert notification is displayed indicating the recent alerts available under each severity level.
• To view all the alert information of a particular severity level, click on a severity.

In addition to the alert notification, you can also get details of its severity, alert message, and alert time. You can export these reports to CSV, PDF, HTML, or XLS formats using the Export As option available on the top-right corner of the window.

Creating a new alert profile

To create a new alert profile, follow the steps given below:

1. Click New Alert Profile in the top-right corner.
2. Enter a suitable name for the Alert Profile.
3. Choose the level of Severity (Critical, Trouble, or Attention).
4. Select the category of report, and choose various reports under the selected category.
5. Type the alert message you want to be displayed in your notifications. You can also add various other attributes such as mailbox display name, domain, and time as macros.
6. Under Advanced Settings → Notification, you can enable Email Notification, SMS Notification, or both.
   
7. Configure corresponding Email or SMS Server information.
8. Click Save Settings.
9. Under Advanced Settings → Filter Criteria, you can set the Threshold limit for alert notifications (number of alerts within specified time span).
10. Click Create.

Customizing alert profiles

All the alert profiles can be customized after creation. Navigate to Alerts → Customize Alert Profiles where all the alert profiles are listed and can be customized as follows:

• Enabling or disabling an alert profile
• Editing an alert profile
• Deleting an alert profile
• Configuring notifications

Enabling or disabling an alert profile

To enable or disable an alert profile:

1. Click on the icon to disable the enabled profile.
2. To enable a disabled profile, click on the icon.

Editing an alert profile

To edit an existing alert profile:

1. Click on the icon corresponding to any alert profile.
2. Change the name, severity level, description, reports, and alert message.
3. Click Update.

Deleting an alert profile

To delete an alert profile:

1. Click on the icon corresponding to any alert profile.
2. Click Yes.

Configuring notifications

If an email or SMS notification was not configured for an alert profile initially, you can use the Configure option corresponding to the alert profile to add it now. To configure email or SMS notification:

1. Check the Enable E-mail Notification or Enable SMS Notification box.
2. Configure the corresponding server information.
3. Click on Update.

Note: You can also use the Alert Settings options at the top-right to choose the number of days you want to retain the alerts for. You can choose to retain the alert indefinitely.