> 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/incidents-and-status-pages/incidents/responders-and-paging.md).

# Responders and paging

An [incident](/incidents-and-status-pages/incidents.md) has two kinds of members, shown in separate sections of the incident view:

| Member type    | Role                                      | Scale                        |
| -------------- | ----------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| **Responder**  | Actively working to resolve the incident. | Usually a handful of people. |
| **Subscriber** | Watching the incident for visibility.     | Can be many stakeholders.    |

## Paging responders

Paging notifies people that they are needed on an incident, using the same escalation infrastructure as alerts.

From the incident view, click **Page** to open the **Page responder** dialog. Search for and select one or more targets, optionally add a message for context, and click **Page**.

<figure><img src="/files/EYaZV6jPPxI7hLF2mreh" alt="The Page responder dialog"><figcaption><p>Paging responders to an incident</p></figcaption></figure>

You can page several kinds of targets:

| Target                | What happens                                                                       |
| --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Escalation policy** | Pages step by step with timeouts, escalating automatically until someone responds. |
| **On-call schedule**  | Pages the person currently on call for that schedule.                              |
| **Individual**        | Pages one specific person directly.                                                |
| **Entire team**       | Pages every member of a team at once.                                              |

You can add multiple targets in a single page—useful for incidents that span several teams.

When a responder joins, the escalation that paged them stops, so no one is paged unnecessarily. Other escalations on the incident continue until each is answered.

{% hint style="info" %}
When you page a team, every member is notified. As soon as one member joins, the others are told the page has been answered and no action is needed from them.
{% endhint %}

## Joining an incident

When someone is paged, they are notified just as they would be for an alert. They can **join** the incident to become an active responder. The incident view shows how many responders have joined.

Responders are also added automatically when you [declare an incident from an alert](/incidents-and-status-pages/incidents/declare-an-incident.md#declare-an-incident-from-an-alert) or [link an alert](/incidents-and-status-pages/incidents/declare-an-incident.md#linking-alerts-to-an-incident)—the alert's responders carry over to the incident.

## The Incident Commander

One responder on an incident can be the **Incident Commander**. The Incident Commander owns the incident, makes decisions, and coordinates the overall response.

To assign the role, open a responder in the incident view and click **Make Incident Commander**. There is one Incident Commander at a time—assigning the role to someone else moves it from the previous holder.

## Subscribers

Subscribers receive activity notifications for an incident without being expected to work on it—useful for managers, customer success, or other stakeholders who need visibility.

To add or remove subscribers, click **Manage** in the **Subscribers** section of the incident view.

{% hint style="info" %}
Incident subscribers are specific to a single incident. To receive updates across many incidents, subscribe to a [service](/incidents-and-status-pages/services.md) or a [status page](/incidents-and-status-pages/status-pages.md) instead.
{% endhint %}


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