Digital Call System: Shorten Downtime with Rule-Based Escalation

Peakboard turns every threshold on an existing shop floor dashboard into a rule-based escalation – when output drops below the minimum or a machine reports a fault, a message reaches Teams, Slack or a signal light within seconds, without third-party middleware and without searching for the right contact. That is the digital call system: no shouting, no missed fault, no call left unanswered.

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.

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.

Reporting faults directly into Microsoft Teams

In many production environments, Microsoft Teams is already the central communication channel for the office and shift management. Peakboard can send alerts directly into a Teams channel – without third-party middleware, without an additional app.

The logic is straightforward: a threshold on the shop floor dashboard is breached – for example output falls below the minimum or a machine reports a fault state. Peakboard then pushes a message via the Microsoft Teams connector to the configured channel: line, fault type, time stamp. Maintenance sees the notification in real time on their phone or desktop – without having to enter the hall to check the status.

Escalation stages can also be configured: if there is no response after five minutes, a second message goes to the shift manager. No call goes unanswered without anyone having to follow up manually.

Slack alerts for tech-oriented teams

Teams that use Slack as their primary communication channel can route Peakboard alerts directly into Slack channels in exactly the same way, using the Slack webhook to post structured messages to whichever channel makes sense – on-call for critical stoppages, tech for maintenance notes.

Integration without a new system

Peakboard sends alerts from existing shop floor dashboards directly to Microsoft Teams, Slack, 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. For a structured rollout guide, see 10 steps to digital shop floor management.