User Guide
User Documentation
Comms Alert- Simple 3CX/Website/Server Monitoring
Contents
1. Introduction:
This documentation provides a comprehensive guide on how users can effectively utilize the monitoring system. It covers the process of monitoring servers, web pages, and 3CX systems, along with detailed instructions on creating public pages and managing incidents. By following this guide, users can gain valuable insights into system performance, ensure web page availability, and effectively handle incidents for a seamless experience.
2. User Registration
- A user have to login to Comms Alert to use the system.
- A new user should register with Comms Alert with their Email, password and contact details.
- Go to register section on right top corner of the home page to register.
- Click on the register button and fill the required fields on the displayed page.
- Then press Register.
User registration:
- After registration a verification Email will be sent to registered Email address. User have to verify the Email by clicking on Verify Email Address button.
- After the verification the page will be automatically redirected to the dashboard of Comms Alert .
- User can re-login to the system with this Email address and password from login page.
User login:
2.1 Reset Password
- If anyone want to reset their password or have forgotten the password, they can use the forgot password link below the login credentials.
- After clicking on forgot password link user should provide their registered Email address for the password reset link.
Password reset link:
- A password reset link will be sent to the registered email address of the user.
- User have to open their Email and click on Password reset button.
- A page with password reset fields will be opened and user can set their new password.
Reset password:
3. Subscription Details
3.1 Add a Subscription
- The available plans will be listed in the plans section of the user or at the home page of Comms Alert.
Available Plans:
- User should subscribe to a plan in-order to use the features of Comms Alert .
- User can see the active plan and expiry dates in the profile section and dashboard
- Trial version can be availed for a limited period. User can access all features in trial subscription.
- The trial version can only be used once. If a user subscribed to a paid plan before using trial version, then the user can’t subscribe to the trial version.
- After selecting a plan user will be redirected to the order confirmation page that is given below.
Confirm Order:
- From this page user can see the invoice details of the plan.
- User can use any gateways that is available and click on the confirm order button to redirect to the checkout page.
- Please wait while the transaction is processing. Do not close or go back after the pay button is pressed.
- In the case of any errors, you can contact the customer support team.
- Available gateways details are provided in section 3.3.
3.2 Plan Update or Upgrade
- User can update or upgrade a plan before or after the current plan is expired.
- If the same plan is chose while there is an active subscription is present, the subscription wil be updated by extending the validity.
- If there is an active plan present while a user upgrade the plan to higher version, the current plan will be removed and will be upgraded with the new plan. At that time the remaining balance of old plan will be deducted from the new plan price.
- Currently we are not providing plan downgrading feature.
3.3 Payment Gateways
Currently we are proving three payment gateways.
- Paypal
- Stripe
4. Dashboard
Dashboard view:
The user is provided with a dashboard which enables them to analyse monitoring details and Incident details quickly.
4.1 Monitor Details
- The user can easily check the monitoring details of Servers, Webpage and 3CX servers.
- They can also get the count of up and down status.
4.2 Incident Details
- In incident details section, the user is provided with the total number of incidents associated with Servers, Webpages and 3CX Servers along with the count of pending and resolved incidents.
- A link is also provided here where the user can quickly jump to the incidents page.
4.3 Subscription Details
- User can also see the active subscription details from dashboard.
- If there is an active subscription, the subscription name and the expiry date will be shown.
- If a user has already purchased a plan and the admin didn’t accept, it will be shown as a message here.
- If the subscription is expired, an expired message will be shown in this section.
- If no subscription is added yet, it will be shown as “You have no subscriptions yet” and user can add subscription by clicking the link given along with it.
5. Server Monitor
One of the core features of Comms Alert is server monitoring. This feature allows user to get:
- Up and Down status of the server.
- Total up and down time percentage.
- Avg.response time
- Weekly status and all other features associated with the server.
- Public page feature to analyse data for users, etc.
List of servers:
- The picture shown above is the listing of servers. The basic information like up and down status, average response time and other details of the server is given here.
- The green circle indicates that the server is up and the red circle indicates that the server is down.
- A user can access this page by clicking the “Servers” link on the monitor section.
- There are some links also to add a server, view details of a server, view public page of a server and updating and deleting of the server.
- User can filter servers by searching with server address or related keywords.
5.1 Add a Server
Add server page:
- User can add a server by clicking “Add Server” link given in the servers page.
- User have to provide server address, port, ping interval (status check interval), and server email (optional).
- Server Address can be website domain or IP address.
- User can provide an email address to receive the server status updates. If no email is mentioned, the mail will be sent to the user’s email address.
- If the server is down at the time of adding (if the details given are incorrect or if the server is actually down), a warning message will appear at the top. If you still need to add, you can check the checkbox appeared at the bottom and click the add button again.
5.2 Update a Server
Update server page:
- User can update a server by clicking edit link given in the servers page.
- User have to provide the updated details as done at the time of adding server.
- As in the case of add server, if the server is down at the time of updating (if the details given are incorrect or if the server is actually down), a warning message will appear at the top. If you still need to update, you can check the checkbox appeared at the bottom and click the update button again.
5.3 View a Server Details
Server details page:
- To get a server’s detailed information, click on the view link from servers page.
- User can get up time and down time percentage, current status, avg response time, last checked time and last five logs of checking status from this page.
- User can also access the public page from this page.
6. Webpage Monitor
As servers, user can also monitor webpages using this software. The user can get:
- Up and Down status of the webpage.
- Total up and down time percentage.
- Avg.response time
- Weekly status and all other features associated with the server.
- Public page feature to analyse data for users, etc.
List of Webpages:
- The picture shown above is the listing of webpages. The basic information like up and down status, average response time and other details of the webpage is given here.
- The green circle indicates that the webpage is up and the red circle indicates that the webpage is down.
- User can access this page by clicking “Webpages” link in monitor section.
- There are some links in this page also to add a webpage, view details of a webpage, view public page of a webpage, updating and deleting of the webpage.
- User can filter webpages by searching with webpage name, URL and related keywords.
6.1 Add a Webpage
Add webpage panel:
- User can add a webpage by clicking “Add Webpage” link given in the webpages page.
- User have to provide a name for the webpage, URL of the webpage, Expected HTTP response status code of the URL, ping interval(status check interval), and webpage email(optional).
- User can provide an email address to receive the webpage status updates. If no email is mentioned, the mail will be sent to the user’s email address.
- If the webpage is down at the time of adding (if the details given are incorrect or if the webpage is really down), a warning message will appear at the top. If you still need to add, you can check the checkbox appeared at the bottom and click the add button again.
6.2 Update a Webpage
Update webpage panel:
- User can update a webpage by clicking edit link given in the webpages page.
- User have to provide the updated details as done at the time of adding webpage.
- As in the case of add server, if the webpage is down at the time of updating (if the details given are incorrect or if the webpage is really down), a warning message will appear at the top. If you still need to update, you can check the checkbox appeared at the bottom and click the update button again.
6.3 View Webpage Details
Webpage details page:
- To get a webpage’s detailed information, click on the view link from webpages page.
- User can get up time and down time percentage, current status, avg. response time, Last checked time and last five logs of checking status from this page.
- User can also access the public page from this page.
7. 3CX Monitoring
Same as general servers and webpages, user can also monitor 3CX PBX servers using this software. The user can get:
- Up and Down status of the 3CX Server.
- Total up and down time percentage.
- 3CX version, Licenced Simultaneous calls and IP address of server
- 3CX Server Disk usage, Memory usage and CPU usage.
- 3CX system Trunks Up and Down status with Logs and alarms
- 3CX Extensions Up and Down status with Logs and alarms
- Public page feature to give to client to display status of specific 3CX server information.
List of 3CX Servers:
- The picture shown above is a list of 3CX Servers and the basic information like up and down status of server/trunks/extension and other details of the 3CX Servers. Trunks and Extensions shows total vs total down.
- User can access this page by clicking “3CX Servers” link in monitor section.
- There are some links in this page also to add an 3CX Server, view details of an 3CX Server, view public page of an 3CX Server, updating and deleting of the 3CX Server.
- User can filter 3CX Servers by searching with 3CX Server name or part of the URL such as port or keyword.
7.1 Create 3CX User Account
Create 3CX User:
- Note: For security we recommend that you create a dedicated 3CX user only used for our Portal to access the 3CX’s API.
- The Password for the 3CX user, we recommend should be a minimum 15 characters, with a mix of Lowercase, Uppercase, Numbers and random symbols included.
- Passwords on our Portal are all Encrypted/Hashed.
- As per above picture the user will either need to have “System Administrator” or “System Owner” Rights. Or “Allow access to 3CX Management Console” access with the same permissions as in the picture.
- To stop the 3CX system blocking the Monitoring Software if you enter the wrong password, we suggest you add the relevant IP of the Monitoring server in your Country.
Australia Server 1- 52.63.19.194
7.2 Add a 3CX Server
Add 3CX Server page:
- NOTE: If you add a 3CX server this will also add the 3CX to Server monitoring, Webpage monitoring and SSL monitoring.
- User can add 3CX Servers by clicking “Add 3CX” link given in the 3CX Servers page.
- User will need to enter name for the 3CX Server, URL of the 3CX, Username and Password of administrator account on 3CX server, Port of the 3CX server HTTPS page (ie 443 or 5001), ping interval (status check interval), and an 3CX down Alarm email address(optional).
- For 3CX monitoring make sure you have at last one default email address in the “Alert Manager” up the top right of the portal. This email address will be used to send 3CX outage and recovery alerts too. If no email is mentioned, the mail will be sent to the user’s email address.
- If a 3CX server is down at the time of adding (if the details given are incorrect or if the 3CX server is really down), a warning message will appear at the top. If you still need to add, you can check the checkbox appeared at the bottom and click the add button again.
7.3 Update a 3CX Server
Update 3CX Server panel:
- User can update a webpage by clicking edit link given in the webpages page.
- User have to provide the updated details as done at the time of adding webpage.
- As in the case of add server, if the webpage is down at the time of updating (if the details given are incorrect or if the webpage is really down), a warning message will appear at the top. If you still need to update, you can check the checkbox appeared at the bottom and click the update button again.
7.4 View 3CX Server Details
3CX Server details page:
- To view the 3CX server detailed information, click on the view link from 3CX servers section.
- User can get up time and down time percentage, current status, avg response time, Last checked time and last five logs of checking status from this page.
- User can also access the public page from this page.
7.5 Setting Alarm events for 3CX monitoring
3CX Alarms:
- You can monitor Trunks, Extensions Disk Usage, CPU Usage, Memory Usage and Physical Memory Usage.
- Users can set percentage a field needs to be up before an alert is sent. When the total of the fields percentage is less than specified percentage, an alert will be sent.
- You can monitor your 3CX servers TRUNKS (SIP Trunks) using this option. Here you can specify a percentage. When the total trunk up percentage is less than specified percentage, an alert will be sent.
- So as minimum a system would have two SIP trunks. The SIP trunks to the provider and the default trunk for the WebMeeting bridge. So to get alerts when the provider SIP trunk is down set your trunk alert percentage to 50%. Either the provider SIP trunk goes down or the WebMeeting one you’ll get an Alert.
- You can monitor your 3CX servers EXTENSIONS using this option. Here you can specify a percentage. When the total extensions up percentage is less than specified percentage, an alert will be sent.
- As extensions connections can fluctuate throughout the day even normal daytime vs nighttime cycles. You need to take this into account when you set you alert percentage up for extensions. Otherwise you’ll get way too many alerts. If you set this high say at 90% you’ll still get alerts when the customer internet is down and hence all phones/users are down.
- You can monitor your 3CX Servers SYSTEM STATUS using this option. Here you can specify a percentage for each field. When the total Disk Usage, CPU Usage, Memory Usage or Physical Memory Usage used is more or above the specified percentage, an alert will be sent.
8. Public Pages
A public status page is a specialized monitoring dashboard designed to publicly showcase the availability status of a server, webpage, or 3CX server being monitored. Here you can add and show the public page of a server, Webpage or 3CX servers and separate links for each type are provided. User can access these from public pages section in the panel.
List of Public Pages:
- The picture shown above is the listing of public pages. The basic information like name or address of the monitor type (Server, Webpage or 3CX Server), name of the public page etc. is given here.
- The green tick and red cross indicates the active and inactive states of the public page respectively.
- There are some links in this page also to add, view, update and deleting of a public page.
- User can filter public pages by searching with monitor name (address in the case of servers), public page name and related keywords.
8.1 Add a Public Page
Add public page panel:
- User can add public page by clicking “Add Public Page” link given in the public pages section.
- There must be at least one data in monitor section to add a public page.
- User have to select the Server/webpage/3CX Server(Note that each type have separate links) and have to provide a name for the public page. Note that no two public pages can have the same name
- It is mandatory to enable the public page in order to show it to the public.
8.2 Update a Public Page
Update public page panel:
- User can update a public page by clicking edit link given to them.
- User have to provide the updated details as done at the time of adding public page.
- From there, you can also enable or disable the public page.
8.3 Public Page Details
Details of public page:
- User can see your public page data from both public page section and monitor section. There is a link provided in both cases to view the public pages.
- User must provide the link of each public pages in order to show it to the public.
- A lot of details are given in this page like:
- Up time percentage of the last 7 days (day wise and total).
- All time up time percentage.
- Average response Time.
- Total number of incidents.
- Also the incidents and it’s updates (Refer section 9 for more details).
9. Incidents
Incidents are the unintended event that disturbs normal operations. If there is an issue in your server, webpage or 3CX Server(, you can add it to inform your users or public.
There are separate links to add incidents for each monitor types (server, webpage or 3CX Server(). User can access these from the incidents section in the panel.
List of Incidents:
- The picture shown above is the listing of incidents. The basic information like name or address of the monitor type (Server, Webpage or 3CX Server() and subject and description of the incident associated with it, status of the incident et. is given here.
- There are some links in this page also to add, view, update and deleting the incident.
- User can filter incidents by monitor name (address in the case of servers) and status (pending or resolved).
9.1 Add an Incident
Add incident page:
- User can add an incident by clicking “Add Incident” link given in the incidents section.
- User have to select the server/webpage/3CX Server (first(Note that each type have separate links).
- Also the subject and the detailed description should be given in the corresponding fields.
- After an incident is added, the status of the incident will be “Pending”.
9.2 Update an Incident
Update incident page:
- User can update an incident by clicking edit link given to them.
- User have to provide the updated subject and description as done at the time of adding incident.
9.3 Update Incident Details
Incident follow up page:
- After adding an incident, a user can add updates of the incident by clicking on follow up link given for each incidents.
- User should select a status (Monitoring, Identified, update and Resolved) and add the description of the status.
- If the selected incident details status is “resolved”, The status of the incident will also change to “Resolved”.
- Previous updates and details of the selected incident is also listed in this page
10. Profile
User profile:
User can view or update their profile from the profile section. They can update their user details, address and login password from there.
Active subscriptions details are also available in the profile section.
Support Hours
Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm AEST
NOTE: All support via support ticket in portal and enquires via email.