Since numeric pagers can only send numbers and spaces, Alerting options are very limited. Every Monitor created in ipMonitor contains a "Custom Data" field. This provides a mechanism that can be used to numerically identify different monitors.

If you enter a numeric code into the "Custom Data" field, ipMonitor will add, 1 for ok (Recovery) or a 0 not ok (Failure). For example, assuming a monitor you have decided to call number twenty-two: ipMonitor would transmit, 0 22 if bad, 1 22 if good. A couple of monitoring schemes that use beepers:

1. The "Custom Data" field is not used and the Alert code sent by ipMonitor simply tells you that a service you are monitoring is not working correctly. This might be adequate when a small number of services are monitored.
2. The "Custom Data" field is used to identify groups of Monitors or individual Monitors. The Alert code sent by ipMonitor tells you that a group of services or an individual service is not responding correctly. This method works, however it lacks the descriptive qualities of alphanumeric paging.

1. Com Port for your modem.
2. Modem. Hayes compatible or Winmodem 2400 baud or faster.
3. A telephone line is required that will not be used by any other device when ipMonitor needs to page administrators.

Notes regarding Beeper Alert:

1. Telephone Line: Ideally only the ipMonitor will use the telephone line. It will work in a shared use arrangement if the other services or devices also use it only for short connects.

2. RAS: The telephone line you use for the ipMonitor cannot be shared with a RAS (Remote Access Server). The RAS, even when idle, owns the communications port, that's how it watches for and connects to incoming callers.

3. "Alert Name" really doesn't have anything to do with binding. Multiple alerts can have the same name, without interfering with each other. It's simply for organization of the configured content.

4. "Alert Range" makes it possible to select which triggered Alerts will be acted on. For example, a senior administrator might be Alerted only if the event is not handled in a timely manner by someone else. By default the value of 1- is supplied (note, no terminating number), meaning numeric pages will be sent the first Alert and all subsequent Alerts. Ranges work in exactly the same manner that printing ranges work in Microsoft Word.
   • 1-3 would Alert 1st, 2nd & 3rd Alerts.
   • 1,2,4 would Alert 1st, 2nd & 4th Alerts, skipping the 3rd.
   • 1-3,6-9 would Alert 1st through 3rd, then skip 4th & 5th and resume alerting for 6th through 9th.

5. "Tokens" can be placed between alphanumeric characters, words, or sentences. When a Token is found, it is replaced with dynamic content represented by the token. Tokens are shown below.

   Tokens
   %%	a single "%"
   %D	date (YYYY-MM-DD)
   %T	time (HH:MM:SS)
   %a	Monitor: address field (short format)
   %A	Monitor: address field (long format)
   %b	Monitor: status (1 for UP, 0 for down)
   %s	Monitor: status full text
   %t	Monitor: type
   %i	Monitor: internal ID
   %n	Monitor: name
   %c	Monitor: comment
   %f	Monitor: frequency
   %F	Monitor: error frequency
   %N	Monitor: notify failures
   %m	Monitor: maximum duration
   %M	Monitor: maximum alerts
   %S	Monitor: number of alerts sent
   %x	Monitor: continuous failures
   %X	Monitor: continuous critical failures
   %p	Profile: name
   %P	Alert: name
   %qa	SNMP Trap: IP address from last Trap received
   %qb	SNMP Trap: Specific Trap identifier from the last Trap (applies to    Enterprise specific Traps only)
   %qc	SNMP Trap: Community from the last Trap
   %qd	SNMP Trap: Textual description of the Trap from the last Trap:    "Cold Start", "Warm Start", "Link Down", "Link Up",    "Authentication Failure", "egp Neighbor Loss",    "Enterprise Specific"
   %qe	SNMP Trap: Enterprise used for the last Trap

   example:
   %b %c %T
   0 22 4 20 00