Each monitor can use its own email and SMS destinations. This is useful when different websites are managed by different people or when only important monitors should send SMS alerts.
Set alerts while creating a monitor
On the New Monitor page, find the Alerts section:
- Turn Email alerts on or off.
- Select an Alert email from the verified addresses on the account.
- Turn SMS alerts on or off.
- Select an Alert phone from the verified Canadian or US numbers on the account.
- Finish creating the monitor.
The form starts with the account-wide alert defaults. You can change those choices before creating the monitor without changing the defaults for other monitors.
Change an existing monitor
- Open Monitors and select the monitor.
- Open Alert Channels in Monitor Tools.
- Turn email or SMS on or off for this monitor.
- Select the verified destination for each enabled channel.
Channel and destination changes save automatically. Wait for the saved confirmation before leaving the page.
How account defaults and monitor settings work together
The account page supplies the starting choices for new monitors. After the monitor is created, the monitor's saved channel setting controls delivery:
- Account > Alerts provides verified destinations and the defaults shown during monitor creation.
- Monitor Details > Alert Channels enables the channel and selects the destination for that specific monitor.
Changing an account default later does not silently disable an existing monitor. Turning a channel off for one monitor does not affect other monitors.
Choose a destination
A monitor can select only a destination that has already been verified on the account. To add another recipient, go to Account > Alerts, add the email address or phone number, complete verification, and then return to the monitor.
Changing the account's primary destination does not automatically replace a destination explicitly saved on an existing monitor.
Send a test notification
Use Send test email or Send test SMS under Alert Channels to confirm that the selected destination can receive a message.
A test notification:
- Is queued through the normal delivery system.
- Does not change the monitor's Up or Down status.
- Does not create an outage or performance incident.
- Can take a short time to reach the email provider or mobile carrier.
If a test cannot be sent, confirm that the destination is verified and still selected. SMS also requires a supported destination and available service configuration.
What these channels can notify you about
The monitor's selected channels are used for eligible monitor notifications, including confirmed Down and recovery transitions and slow-response incident transitions when those features are enabled. SSL and domain-expiry settings provide their own warning behavior.
A single failed check does not immediately send a Down alert. Availability alerts follow the multi-region and consecutive-check confirmation policy.
Troubleshooting checklist
- Confirm the monitor is Active rather than Paused or Archived.
- Confirm the channel is enabled for the monitor.
- Confirm the selected destination has a Verified status.
- For SMS, check the plan's remaining monthly SMS segments.
- Send a test notification.
- Review Alert History and the monitor's incident history.