Shopfloor Management

Digital Call System: Shorten Downtime with Rule-Based Escalation

How a digital call system shortens downtime: workers trigger a call at the push of a button and the responsible team is alerted automatically – no shouting, no searching.

10.06.2026

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5 min read

Digital call-system application with Andon function for quickly reporting faults and production problems directly at the production line.
Key takeaways
  • A digital call system automatically alerts the responsible team when a fault occurs – via an Andon button, dashboard or sensor value.
  • Response times drop because escalation is rule-based and traceable instead of by word of mouth.
  • Peakboard sends alerts from shop floor dashboards straight to Microsoft Teams, email or a signal light.
  • Every call is documented, so recurring faults can be analysed.

A digital call system automatically alerts the responsible team when a fault occurs – triggered at the push of a button, from a dashboard or by a sensor value. The search for the right contact ends: the call reaches maintenance, logistics or shift management within seconds, and the response is documented and traceable.

From shouting to rule-based escalation

In many plants, alerting still runs via shouting, the phone or searching for a person. That costs minutes which feed straight into downtime. A digital call system replaces this chance with clear rules: who is notified for which fault, and what happens if no one responds? This escalation logic ensures no call is left unanswered.

Andon button, dashboard or sensor as the trigger

The trigger is flexible: a physical Andon button on the line, a control on the touch dashboard, or an automatic threshold from the machine data. The digital call system is thus the active counterpart to the Andon board, which makes the state visible – the call system ensures that state is acted upon. The concept goes back to the Andon principle from lean management.

Effect on response time and downtime

Because the right team is reached immediately and automatically, a digital call system shortens the response time and therefore the mean time to recovery after a fault. As every call is logged with a time stamp, clusters can be identified and tackled specifically – pure alerting becomes a data basis for process improvement.

Integration without a new system

Peakboard sends alerts from existing shop floor dashboards straight to Microsoft Teams, email or a signal light, using the machine and ERP data that is already connected. The call system is a building block of digital shop floor management and can start on one line and roll out step by step.

Solution

Digital call system with Peakboard

Verwandle Live-Daten in smarte Entscheidungen – mit Peakboard.

What is a digital call system?

A digital call system automatically alerts the responsible team in production when a fault occurs – triggered by an Andon button, via a dashboard or by a sensor value.

How does a call system differ from an Andon board?

The Andon board makes the state visible; the call system ensures the response: it routes the fault to the right place by rule and escalates if no one reacts.

Which channels can a digital call system alert?

Peakboard sends alerts to Microsoft Teams, email or a signal light right at the workplace, among others.

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Author: Peakboard Editorial

The Peakboard editorial team writes about digitalization, data visualization, and process optimization in industry and logistics. The focus is on practical solutions, current developments, and clearly presented expert knowledge.

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