# How can I send alerts to ilert when our email server or internet connection is down?

We offer several options to prepare for a situation like this:

* Create an SMS alert source in ilert and send alerts to ilert via SMS using a hardware SMS gateway
* Create a [heartbeat alert source](https://github.com/iLert/docs/blob/master/product-docs/alerting/heartbeat-monitoring/README.md) in ilert to monitor the connectivity between your network and ilert.
* Monitor your internet connection using an external monitoring system and send alerts to ilert.

## Related Documentation

* [Heartbeat Monitoring](https://github.com/iLert/docs/blob/master/product-docs/alerting/heartbeat-monitoring/README.md)
* [Alert Sources](https://github.com/iLert/docs/blob/master/product-docs/alerting/alert-sources.md)
* [SMS Integration](https://github.com/iLert/docs/blob/master/product-docs/alerting/phone-numbers/README.md#sms-alerts)