Goals Not Triggering Alerts

Overview

You've created a goal, set it to Active, but no alerts are appearing even though you know assets aren't meeting the threshold. This troubleshooting guide walks through the most common causes and provides step-by-step solutions to get your goals working correctly.

Quick Diagnostic Checklist

Before diving into detailed troubleshooting, verify these basics:

• ☐ Goal status is Active (not Inactive or Archived)
• ☐ At least one check cycle has completed since goal was activated
• ☐ Assets in scope are actually operating and sending telemetry
• ☐ Threshold value is challenging enough to trigger alerts
• ☐ Constraint type is correct (At Least vs. At Most)

If any of these are unchecked, start there. If all are checked and alerts still aren't triggering, continue below.

Common Causes and Solutions

1. Goal is Inactive or Archived

How to check:

1. Navigate to Administration → Goal Management
2. Find your goal in the list
3. Look for status badge - should show "Active" (green)
4. If it shows "Inactive" (gray) or doesn't appear at all, it's not running

Solution:

1. Click on the goal to open details
2. Click "Edit"
3. Turn the "Active" toggle ON (green)
4. Click "Save Goal"

If goal doesn't appear in list at all, enable "Show Archived" filter to locate it, then unarchive and activate.

2. Check Cycle Hasn't Occurred Yet

Understanding check timing:

• Daily goals: Check around 2:00 AM the following morning
• Weekly goals: Check at end of last selected weekday
• Monthly goals: Check at end of month

Example timeline:

Solution: Wait until after the scheduled check time. For daily goals, check the next morning after 7 AM.

3. Threshold Too Lenient (All Assets Meet Goal)

How to diagnose:

1. Open the goal details
2. Note the target value (e.g., "At least 2 hours per day")
3. Navigate to a few asset detail pages
4. Check their actual runtime - if all show 6+ hours, a 2-hour threshold will never trigger alerts

Solution:

1. Edit the goal
2. Increase the target value to make it more challenging (e.g., change 2 hours to 6 hours)
3. Save and wait for next check cycle

4. Wrong Constraint Type

How to check:

1. Open goal in edit mode
2. Review Constraint Type setting
3. Ask: "Do I want assets to be ABOVE or BELOW this value?"

Correct constraint usage:

Goal Type	Constraint	Example
Minimum utilization	At Least (>=)	Runtime should be at least 6 hours
Maximum waste	At Most (<=)	Idle time should be at most 2 hours
Coverage requirements	At Least (>=)	Distance should be at least 50 miles

Solution: Edit goal and change constraint type to the correct option. Save and wait for next check cycle.

5. Scope is Empty (No Assets Selected)

How to diagnose:

1. Open goal details
2. Check "Assets in Scope" count
3. If it shows "0 assets", scope is empty

Common scope issues:

• Tag-based scope: Tag doesn't exist or is misspelled
• Site-based scope: Site selected doesn't have any assets
• Specific assets: All selected assets were deactivated or removed

Solution:

1. Edit the goal
2. Review scope settings
3. Change to "All Assets" temporarily to test
4. Save and wait for next check
5. Once confirmed working, adjust scope to desired selection

6. Data Field Not Available for Asset Type

How to diagnose:

1. Navigate to an asset detail page for an asset in the goal's scope
2. Look for the data field the goal is monitoring (e.g., distanceToday)
3. If field is missing or always shows 0, asset doesn't report this metric

Solution:

• Edit goal and select a data field that assets actually report
• OR narrow scope to only include assets that support this field

7. Telemetry Data Not Updating

How to diagnose:

1. Check asset detail page
2. Look for "Last Telemetry Update" timestamp
3. If timestamp is >24 hours old, device is offline
4. If field value is stuck at 0, data isn't being collected

Solution:

• Verify telemetry device has power and cellular signal
• Check device installation and configuration
• Update device firmware if outdated
• Contact ARMOR Support for device diagnostics

See Telemetry Not Feeding Goals for detailed troubleshooting.

8. Wrong Data Field Selected

Common mistakes:

• Using runTimeTotal (lifetime hours) instead of runTimeToday
• Using distanceTotal (odometer) instead of distanceToday
• Using batteryLevelCurrent (fluctuates) instead of batteryLevelMin

Solution: Edit goal and select the correct time-scoped metric (Today, Week, Month).

9. Notification Recipients Not Configured

How to check:

1. Navigate to Alerts page
2. Filter by "Goal Alerts" and your timeframe
3. If alerts appear there but you didn't get emails, it's a notification issue (not a goal issue)

Solution:

1. Edit the goal
2. Check "Notification Recipients" section
3. Add yourself to the recipient list
4. Save and wait for next alert

See Who Receives Alerts? for detailed notification configuration.

Advanced Troubleshooting

Testing a Goal Manually

To verify a goal configuration without waiting for scheduled checks:

1. Create a test goal with identical settings
2. Set an extreme threshold that you know will be crossed (e.g., 20 hours runtime per day)
3. Activate the test goal
4. Wait for next check cycle
5. Verify alerts appear - if they do, original goal configuration is correct; adjust threshold
6. Delete or archive test goal once verified

Checking Goal Execution History

ARMOR logs goal check results. To view:

1. Navigate to Administration → Goal Management
2. Click on goal name to open details
3. Look for "Last Checked" timestamp
4. Check "Alerts Generated" count

If "Last Checked" timestamp is recent but "Alerts Generated" is 0, goal is running but thresholds aren't being crossed.

Reviewing Asset-Level Goal Status

To see why a specific asset isn't triggering alerts:

1. Navigate to asset detail page
2. Find "Goals" section or widget
3. See which goals apply to this asset
4. Check current status: Met, Not Met, No Data
5. Review actual values vs. threshold

Preventive Best Practices

• Test goals on pilot assets first - Verify configuration before scaling fleet-wide
• Start with lenient thresholds - Ensure goals work, then tighten gradually
• Monitor telemetry health - Create goals to detect offline devices
• Document goal logic - Add detailed descriptions explaining threshold reasoning
• Review quarterly - Ensure goals still align with operational reality

When to Contact Support

Contact ARMOR Support if:

• You've verified all settings are correct but alerts still don't appear
• Goal worked previously but suddenly stopped
• Telemetry data is missing or inconsistent across multiple assets
• Goal execution history shows errors or failures

Information to provide:

• Goal name and ID
• Screenshot of goal configuration
• Example asset(s) that should be triggering alerts but aren't
• Telemetry data from asset detail pages
• When goal was activated

Related Topics

• Missing Goal Data - When assets show 0 values
• Telemetry Not Feeding Goals - Device connectivity issues
• How to Improve Goal Accuracy With Telemetry - Data quality optimization

Getting Help

If you've followed this guide and goals still aren't triggering, contact the ARMOR Support Team with goal configuration details and example assets.