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Getting Started with On-Call

This guide walks you through initial setup and creating your first on-call schedule end-to-end.

  1. Sign in to The One Hub at your organization's Hub URL.
  2. Click the waffle menu (grid icon) in the top-right corner of the Hub Bar.
  3. Select On-Call from the product list.
  4. You will be redirected to app.theoneoncall.app and automatically signed in via Hub SSO.

The On-Call dashboard opens showing active incidents, current on-call coverage, and MTTA/MTTR metrics.

Key Concepts​

Before building your first schedule, understand the four core building blocks:

ConceptWhat It Is
ScheduleA named rotation that defines which technicians are on call and when. Schedules have one or more layers.
LayerA single rotation within a schedule — a list of users that rotate at a fixed interval (daily, weekly, or custom hours). A schedule can have multiple layers running simultaneously (e.g., primary + backup).
Escalation PolicyA chain of steps — each step targets a user, schedule, or team. If nobody acknowledges within the step's delay window, On-Call advances to the next step.
ServiceA logical grouping that ties together an escalation policy, a schedule, and an alert source. Alerts arrive at a service and trigger incidents routed by the service's escalation policy.
IncidentA triggered event that requires acknowledgment. Incidents move through states: triggered → acknowledged → resolved.
AlertThe raw incoming signal (from a webhook or product integration). Multiple alerts can be grouped into a single incident.

Initial Setup Checklist​

Complete these steps before inviting technicians:

  • Add team members — Go to Teams, create a team, and add your technicians
  • Create an escalation policy — Define the escalation chain (who gets paged, in what order, with what delay)
  • Create a schedule — Define your rotation (who is on call this week, next week, etc.)
  • Create a service — Assign your escalation policy and schedule to a service
  • Connect an alert source — Wire RMM, Defend, or a custom webhook to your service
  • Set notification preferences — Each technician sets their preferred contact method under Notifications
  • Verify on-call now — Check On-Call Now to confirm the correct person shows as on call

Creating Your First On-Call Schedule​

This walkthrough creates a simple weekly rotation for a team of three technicians.

Step 1: Create Your Team​

  1. Click Teams in the left sidebar.
  2. Click New Team.
  3. Enter a name (e.g., Tier 1 Support).
  4. Click Add Member and search for each technician by name or email.
  5. Click Save.

Step 2: Create an Escalation Policy​

  1. Click Escalation Policies in the left sidebar.
  2. Click New Policy.
  3. Enter a name (e.g., Tier 1 → Lead → Manager).
  4. Add Step 1:
    • Target: select your on-call schedule (you will create this in Step 3 — come back to update if needed)
    • Delay: 0 minutes (notify immediately on incident creation)
    • Notify via: Email
  5. Add Step 2:
    • Target: select your lead technician (User type)
    • Delay: 15 minutes
    • Notify via: Email
  6. Add Step 3:
    • Target: select the manager (User type)
    • Delay: 30 minutes
    • Notify via: Email
  7. Set Repeat Count to 2 (escalation repeats from the top twice before giving up).
  8. Click Save.

Step 3: Create the Schedule​

  1. Click Schedules in the left sidebar.
  2. Click New Schedule.
  3. Fill in the schedule header:
    • Name: Tier 1 Weekly Rotation
    • Timezone: Select your local timezone (e.g., America/Chicago)
    • Team: Select the team you created in Step 1
    • Start Date: Today's date
  4. Under Layers, click Add Layer:
    • Name: Primary
    • Rotation: Weekly
    • Users: Add your three technicians in rotation order
    • Start Time: 09:00 (or 00:00 for 24/7 coverage)
  5. Click Save.
  6. The schedule detail view shows a text list of upcoming rotations and who is on call now.

Step 4: Create a Service​

  1. Click Services in the left sidebar.
  2. Click New Service.
  3. Fill in:
    • Name: Tier 1 Alerts
    • Criticality: High
    • Escalation Policy: Select the policy from Step 2
    • Schedule: Select the schedule from Step 3
    • Alert Grouping: Time-based (5 minutes) — groups rapid-fire alerts into one incident
    • Auto Resolve: 24 hours — incidents auto-close if not manually resolved
  4. Click Save.
  5. Note the Integration Key displayed on the service detail page — you will need this to send alerts.

Step 5: Connect an Alert Source​

  1. Click Alert Sources in the left sidebar.
  2. Click New Integration.
  3. Fill in:
    • Name: RMM Critical Alerts
    • Type: Webhook
    • Service: Select Tier 1 Alerts
  4. Click Save.
  5. Copy the generated Webhook URL (format: https://api.theoneoncall.app/api/webhooks/ingest?key=<key>).
  6. Paste this URL into your RMM alert channel or webhook configuration.

Step 6: Verify On-Call Now​

  1. Click On-Call Now in the left sidebar.
  2. Confirm that the correct technician appears as on call for your schedule.
  3. The Until column shows when their shift ends and the next rotation begins.
💡Send a test alert by POSTing to your webhook URL with {"title": "Test Alert", "severity": "high"}. An incident will appear on the dashboard within seconds.

Notification Preferences​

Each technician should configure their preferred contact method:

  1. Click the Notifications icon in the sidebar (bell icon).
  2. Click Add Notification Rule.
  3. Select method: Email, SMS, Phone, Push, or Slack.
  4. Enter the contact address (email address, phone number, or Slack webhook URL).
  5. Set Delay: 0 minutes for immediate; increase for backup rules that kick in if no action is taken.
  6. Click Save.

Technicians can add multiple rules — for example, email immediately plus a phone call after 5 minutes of no acknowledgment.

ℹ️SMS and phone call delivery require Twilio integration. Contact your administrator if these options are unavailable.