> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.ilert.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.ilert.com/chatops/overview.md).

# Overview

Receive and act on alerts, raise new ones, and look up who is on call — from Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Google Chat.

ChatOps handles alerts where your team already talks. Alerts are published into channels you already have, responders accept, reroute, and resolve them there without opening ilert, and colleagues who have no ilert account can still raise an alert from a channel they already use.

## What you can do

ilert integrates with **Slack**, **Microsoft Teams**, and **Google Chat**. All three support the same four things:

|                                                                 | Slack                                                            | Microsoft Teams                                  | Google Chat                                             |
| --------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Receive and respond to alerts](#receive-and-respond-to-alerts) | [Alert action](/chatops/slack/post-alerts-to-a-slack-channel.md) | [Alert action](/chatops/microsoft-teams/chat.md) | [Alert action](/chatops/google-chat/google-chat-app.md) |
| [Raise an alert from chat](#raise-an-alert-from-chat)           | `/il-alert`                                                      | `@ilert alert`                                   | `/il-alert`                                             |
| [Look up who is on call](#look-up-who-is-on-call)               | `/il-oncall`                                                     | `@ilert oncall`                                  | `/il-oncall`                                            |
| [Open a dedicated channel](#open-a-dedicated-channel)           | On an incident                                                   | On an incident                                   | On an incident                                          |

{% hint style="info" %}
**Existing channels carry alerts. A dedicated channel belongs to an incident.**

ChatOps sends alerts into channels your team already has, and lets responders act on them there. When a problem needs a channel of its own, you [declare an incident](/incidents-and-status-pages/incidents/declare-an-incident.md) and create an [incident channel](/incidents-and-status-pages/incidents/incident-channels.md) with it.
{% endhint %}

## Receive and respond to alerts

Alerts arrive in the channel as cards showing status, priority, escalation policy, and responders, with buttons to accept, reroute, and resolve. The card is updated in place as the alert changes, so the channel reflects the current state rather than a growing pile of notifications.

Each platform offers two routes, and they are not equivalent:

|                                         | The ilert app                  | A webhook                         |
| --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | --------------------------------- |
| Buttons on the card                     | Yes                            | No                                |
| Card updated in place                   | Yes                            | No — every event is a new message |
| Slash commands or `@ilert`              | Yes                            | No                                |
| Needs an admin to connect the workspace | Yes                            | No                                |
| Message language                        | Follows the channel or account | English                           |

Use a webhook only where you cannot install the app — for example, where your chat administrator will not grant it permissions. Responders then have to open ilert to act on an alert.

* Slack: [app](/chatops/slack/post-alerts-to-a-slack-channel.md) · [webhook](/chatops/slack/incoming-webhook.md)
* Microsoft Teams: [app](/chatops/microsoft-teams/chat.md) · [webhook](/chatops/microsoft-teams/incoming-webhook.md)
* Google Chat: [app](/chatops/google-chat/google-chat-app.md) · [webhook](/chatops/google-chat/incoming-webhook.md)

### Who can press the buttons

**Accept** and **Resolve** work for anyone in the channel, whether or not they have an ilert account. Someone without an account is recorded as the chat user who pressed the button, not as an ilert responder.

Every other button — reroute, escalate, add a responder, raise the priority, merge, comment — needs an ilert account whose email address or username matches the email address on the chat account. Where they do not match, the person is told that their chat account is not known in ilert.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Anyone who can read the channel can accept and resolve the alerts posted there. Post alerts to channels whose membership you are willing to trust with that.
{% endhint %}

## Raise an alert from chat

Anyone can report a problem from a channel. Each platform offers two modes:

| Mode           | Who can raise an alert                          | Setup                                                                                                                     |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Restricted** | Chat users who also have an ilert account       | None beyond installing the app                                                                                            |
| **Open**       | Any user in the workspace, ilert account or not | A dedicated alert source, which fixes the channels they can raise alerts from and the escalation policies they can choose |

The open mode is the useful one for support and sales colleagues who need to escalate but will never sign in to ilert.

Alerts raised from chat take the priority and the alert actions of the alert source they belong to. Nobody chooses a priority in chat. The source's **grouping** settings do not apply: an alert raised from chat is always a new alert, because it never passes through the event pipeline that groups events.

* [Slack](/chatops/slack/create-alerts-in-slack.md)
* [Microsoft Teams](/chatops/microsoft-teams/create-alerts-in-microsoft-teams.md)
* [Google Chat](/chatops/google-chat/create-alerts-in-google-chat.md)

## Look up who is on call

Check who is on call for an alert source or an escalation policy without leaving the channel. The lookup shows the **first escalation level** of each policy: the user, the current shift of a schedule, or the members of a team.

Like alert creation, the lookup can be restricted to users with an ilert account or opened to everyone in the workspace. Opening it takes a dedicated alert source **and** the on-call option in its settings.

* [Slack](/chatops/slack/lookup-who-is-on-call.md)
* [Microsoft Teams](/chatops/microsoft-teams/look-up-who-is-on-call-in-microsoft-teams.md)
* [Google Chat](/chatops/google-chat/look-up-who-is-on-call-in-google-chat.md)

## Open a dedicated channel

A channel of its own belongs to an **incident**. Declare the incident — from scratch, or from the alert that surfaced the problem — and create the channel with it. Responders are invited automatically, and the incident keeps the structured record while the channel carries the conversation.

* [Incident channels](/incidents-and-status-pages/incidents/incident-channels.md) — how to open one, on any of the three platforms

## Set up your platform

Connecting a workspace is a one-time step for an **Admin** or **Account owner**, in the sidebar under **Settings** → **Connectors**. After that, anyone who may create alert actions can publish alerts to a channel.

<figure><img src="https://3394882078-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F-M76ygPnS4HUcFSX8ulm%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-a516d638c74f730255e98a69e4bfcb154f9d75c0%2Fconnectors-chatops.png?alt=media" alt="The ChatOps section of the Connectors page, with cards for Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Chat. Slack and Microsoft Teams read Connected; Google Chat offers a Learn more button."><figcaption><p>Each platform is connected once, from the <strong>ChatOps</strong> section of the Connectors page.</p></figcaption></figure>

<table data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Slack</strong></td><td>Connect your workspace from the Connectors page, then pick a use case.</td><td><a href="/chatops/slack.md">Slack</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Microsoft Teams</strong></td><td>Install the ilert app in Teams and connect it from the welcome message.</td><td><a href="/chatops/microsoft-teams.md">Microsoft Teams</a></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Google Chat</strong></td><td>Install the app from the Marketplace, add it to a space, and run <code>/il-connect</code>.</td><td><a href="/chatops/google-chat.md">Google Chat</a></td></tr></tbody></table>


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