Building Alarm Notification Suppression for Nuisance Alert Overload
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Solution Overview
Problem
Building automation systems generate excessive nuisance notifications for faults that have already been diagnosed and are being remediated, overwhelming users with repeated alerts and distracting them from new or urgent alarms.
Innovation Solution
A system that includes a computing device and database to compare alarm attributes, allowing users to suppress notifications for a predetermined time, reducing the transmission of repetitive alerts and focusing on new or critical alarms by refraining from sending notifications when attributes match previously suppressed alarms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the building automation system sends notifications for all alarms, then users are kept informed of all faults, but users experience notification overload and distraction from new or urgent alarms
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different notification delivery rules to different alarm types based on their attributes. Critical alarms receive immediate notifications while nuisance alarms are suppressed, creating localized quality differences in notification handling based on alarm characteristics such as fault type, equipment category, and historical patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of alarm attributes before sending notifications. By comparing incoming alarm attributes against stored patterns of nuisance alarms, the system preemptively identifies and suppresses notifications that would contribute to overload, preventing the harmful effect before it occurs.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the system suppresses repeated notifications for diagnosed faults, then notification overload is reduced, but users may miss important updates about fault resolution
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms that monitor fault resolution status and automatically adjust notification suppression. When a fault is resolved or status changes significantly, the system receives feedback and reinstates notification delivery, ensuring users receive critical updates while maintaining suppression during active diagnostic phases.
Solution Approach 2:
The notification suppression is dynamic rather than static. The system continuously evaluates alarm attributes and adjusts suppression decisions in real-time based on current system state, fault status, and resolution progress, allowing flexible adaptation to changing conditions without losing critical information.
Data Source
AI summary
Reducing nuisance notifications from building automation systems is described herein. One device includes a memory, and a processor configured to execute executable instructions stored in the memory to receive a notification of an alarm from a building automation system, compare attributes of the alarm to attributes of alarms included in a database of suppressed alarms, refrain from transmitting a notification of the alarm to a mobile device in response to the attributes of the alarm matching attributes of any of the alarms in the database, and transmit a notification of the alarm to a mobile device in response to the attributes of the alarm not matching the attributes of any of the alarms in the database.