Why Your Website Monitoring Solution Needs a Do-Not-Disturb Feature

Why Your Website Monitoring Solution Needs a Do-Not-Disturb Feature

It is so low-tech that Gen Z’ers and other digital natives may faint (or perhaps the avatar in a VR game that they are playing may faint) to learn that one of the greatest inventions in the history of our species is the humble do-not-disturb sign. Indeed, this magical placard is like having a very own private Gandalf shouting: YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

However, the glory of do-not-disturb is not limited to hotels, motels, and teenagers’ bedrooms. It is also a must-have feature in website monitoring solutions.

Why is a Do-Not-Disturb Feature So Important?

It does not take a Jeopardy! champion to know that do-not-disturb means (…wait for it…) “do-not-disturb” — which seems like the very last thing that organizations would want if there are site performance issues. On the contrary, the alarm bells via SMS, email and/or phone call should ring loud and clear. Or…maybe not.

In some cases, it makes perfect sense to pull individuals or teams off the notification list. For example:

• An individual such as a CTO or SysAdmin is on leave (vacation, illness, personal, etc.).
• A site is being tested, migrated or updated, and as such it will go offline for a specific and predictable period of time.
• Per policy, certain individuals/teams do not get alerted to website performance issues during specific times (e.g. after hours, weekends, holidays, etc.).

What to Look For

A do-not-disturb feature is essential. But this does not mean that all website monitoring solutions that claim to offer this are in the same class. Here is what to look for:

• An extremely easy-to-use dashboard. Advanced technology is dizzyingly complex. But if you need a PhD in computer science and a wall full of industry certificates to use the do-not-disturb feature, then keep looking. Easy does it.
• The ability to create as few or as many do-not-disturb events as required, and to see all of them at-a-glance through the extremely easy-to-use dashboard.
• The option to add notes so that everyone understands why a do-not-disturb schedule was created. For example: “we are migrating to new site on 2/15 and as a result the site will be down from 12:00am to 4:00am”.
• The option to select individuals or teams who will not get notified.
• The option to schedule the do-not-disturb as a one-time or ongoing event.
• The option to select what sites the do-not-disturb applies to. For example: the Dev Team will not be alerted to uptime issues for, say, the “ACME Anti-Roadrunner Anvils” site from 12:00am to 5:00am on 2/15, but they will be alerted to performance issues for all other sites that are being monitored.

The Bottom Line

 Without a versatile do-not-disturb feature, members of your organization will be very disturbed — because at certain times, they will be alerted to website performance issues that they cannot and should not do anything about. This is a waste of time and resources, and can trigger confusion and chaos (and, let’s face it, it’s not great for blood pressure levels, either).

AlertBot’s website monitoring solution has a built-in do-not-disturb feature that checks ALL of the boxes described above. Learn more with a free trial. There is nothing to download and install, no billing information required, and you will be 100% setup in minutes. Get started now: click here.