How Sarah decides
Sarah judges urgency from the whole call, not from an exact word match. She treats something as an emergency when it is happening right now and needs a person immediately: water coming in, structural or electrical danger, someone at risk. Damage that already happened and isn't active now, like a leak during last week's storm, is handled as a normal booking.
When it isn't clear, she asks the caller once, for example whether water is coming in right now. She only flags after the caller has actually spoken.
The urgent alert
When Sarah flags an emergency, she sends you an alert that starts with "Ansa URGENT:", then the caller's number and the reason in a few words. With Text alerts on in Profile, it comes as a text to your Mobile phone. With Text alerts off, or no Mobile phone saved, it comes by email to your account address instead. It also shows on your Notifications page. The caller hears that Sarah is flagging you right now and to keep their phone close, because you'll call straight back on that number.
The call shows on your Calls page with the outcome Emergency, with the full transcript, so you can read what happened before you call back.
Putting the caller through
Sarah can also try a warm transfer. The caller stays on hold with her while she dials you and briefs you on the call. They're connected only if you accept. For an urgent call she dials your Emergency phone, or your Mobile phone if that is blank. With both blank there is nobody to put the caller through to, but the urgent alert still goes out by email.
It's one attempt. If the call rings out, goes to voicemail or you decline, Sarah doesn't try another number. She tells the caller nobody could be connected and that you'll call them back, and you get an alert asking you to call back (a text with Text alerts on and a Mobile phone saved, otherwise an email).
Emergencies after hours
An emergency is never deferred to the morning. Whichever after-hours rule you pick on the Hours page, Sarah flags a genuine emergency immediately, exactly as she would during business hours. The rule only decides what happens to everything else.
With Page me when it sounds like an emergency selected, every non-urgent after-hours call becomes a message, so your phone only rings at night for real emergencies. See setting your hours and after-hours rule.
The two numbers to set
Both live on Profile.
Mobile phone is where texts from Sarah go, including the urgent alert. Without it, alerts come by email instead, and Sarah dials only your Emergency phone. Use the phone you actually read.
Emergency phone is only ever dialed, never texted. Use it for a line someone picks up in an emergency: your own cell, a dispatcher, or an on-call handset. It must be a US or Canadian number.
If you only have one phone, tick I only have one phone number instead of entering the same number twice.
What it does not do
There is no on-call rotation, no list of people to try in turn, and no repeated paging. Sarah makes at most one transfer attempt per call, and the alert goes to one Mobile phone (or your account email). If your crew shares emergency duty, point the Emergency phone at whoever has the phone that week and update it in Profile when that changes.
Troubleshooting
A caller had an emergency and I never got an alert.
If the call on the Calls page shows Emergency, the alert went out. With Text alerts off, or no Mobile phone saved, it went to your email, not your phone. With Text alerts on, check Profile → Mobile phone for a typo.
If the outcome isn't Emergency, Sarah didn't judge it as one. Read the transcript and email us the call so we can look at why.
My emergency line rang but I couldn't get to it.
That was the one attempt. The caller was told you'd call back, and you should have an alert with their number. Call them from that.
Profile won't save my emergency number.
Only US and Canadian numbers can be dialed. If it's the same as your mobile, tick I only have one phone number instead.