An escalation policy defines who gets notified when an alert fires, in what order, and how long to wait before escalating to the next tier if there is no acknowledgment. Each policy is composed of one or more tiers, and each tier can contain one or more targets — either individual users or on-call schedules.

The Escalation Policies List

Navigate to OnCall → Escalation Policies to view all policies for your organization. The list displays the following for each policy:

Use the team dropdown in the top-left to filter policies by team.

Creating a New Policy

Creating an escalation policy is a two-step process: first define the policy structure, then assign targets to each tier.

Step 1 — Define the Policy

1. Navigate to OnCall → Escalation Policies and click Create new policy.
2. Fill in the following fields:
   • Policy Name (required) — Enter a descriptive name (e.g., Payments - Primary or Infrastructure Escalation).
   • Description (optional) — Add context about when or how this policy is used.
   • Associated Services — Select the services this policy applies to.
3. Configure your Escalation Tiers. Each tier represents one level of escalation with a timeout that defines how long to wait before moving to the next tier if there is no acknowledgment:
   • Tier 1 is notified first. Set its timeout in minutes (e.g., 10 minutes).
   • Tier 2 is notified if Tier 1 does not respond within its timeout.
   • Tier 3 is the final fallback tier.
   • Click + Add tier to add additional tiers if needed. Click × to remove a tier.
4. Click Next to proceed to target configuration.

Step 2 — Assign Targets to Each Tier

1. For each tier, click + Add Targets.
2. In the Add Schedules and Members modal, search by name to find the target you want to add. Use the tabs to filter by Schedules or Members, or leave it on All.
   • Schedules — On-call schedules; the person on call at alert time will be notified. When selecting a schedule, use the dropdown on the right to choose which rotation slot to page:
     • Current On-Call Rotation (default) — Pages whoever is currently on call.
     • Next On-Call Rotation — Pages the person whose shift begins next.
     • Previous On-Call Rotation — Pages the person whose shift most recently ended.
   • Members — Individual team members who will be notified directly, regardless of schedule.
3. Select one or more targets, configure the rotation preference for any schedule targets, and click Add.
4. Repeat for each tier until all tiers have at least one target configured.
5. Click Create Policy to save. Click Back to return and adjust tier timeouts if needed.