JAMS IMES monitors signals you care about (failed batch jobs, server alerts, inbox keywords, API errors) and turns them into voice calls, SMS, or email to the right people — with retries and escalation if no one acknowledges.
This walkthrough takes you from a fresh login to a working alert in about five minutes.
1. Confirm your contact details
Open Team Members and find your own record. Make sure your email and phone number are correct — these are what JAMS IMES will call, SMS, or email when an alert fires.
If your phone number is missing, add it now. Phone numbers should be in international format (e.g. +18605558312 for the US — the + and country code matter). Save.
Why this matters first: the most common first-flow failure is "I built it, but nothing reached me." Eight times out of ten it's because the test user's phone number was missing or formatted wrong.
2. Decide how you want to build your first flow
Two paths:
- AI Builder — describe what you want in plain English ("Alert me if an email arrives from
prod-alerts@example.comwith the word 'CRITICAL' in the subject"). JAMS IMES drafts the flow and you confirm. Fastest path. - Manual flow builder — pick trigger, recipients, channels, and escalation step-by-step. More control.
For a first test, AI Builder is easiest. See the Using AI Builder article for the prompts that work best.
3. Pick a simple trigger
If this is your first flow, skip anything that requires external setup (JAMS, Azure Monitor, IMAP). Use the simplest trigger: a webhook. JAMS IMES gives you a URL; anything that can POST to that URL fires the flow.
If you use AI Builder, type:
"Alert me by SMS when something hits this webhook"
It'll build a webhook flow and show you the URL to call.
4. Pick yourself as the recipient
Add your own Team Member record as the recipient. Channel = SMS (fastest to test) or Call. Skip Email for the first test — emails are slower to get attention.
5. Save the flow and trigger it
Once the flow is saved, JAMS IMES shows you the webhook URL. Copy it. From any terminal:
curl -X POST <your-webhook-url> \
-H "x-api-key: <the-key-shown-on-the-flow-page>" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"alert":"hello world"}'
Within seconds, your phone should ring or buzz with the SMS.
When you answer the call or click the link in the SMS to acknowledge, JAMS IMES records the ack and the flow stops escalating.
6. Check what happened
Open Notifications to see the delivery — when it was sent, which channel was used, how long until you acknowledged. Open Incidents for a higher-level view if the trigger created one.
If something didn't work, see Troubleshooting.
What's next
Once you have one working flow, the rest of JAMS IMES is variations on the same theme:
- More triggers: Connect IMAP for email-based alerts, Azure Monitor, JAMS
- More recipients: Invite teammates, organize into Team Groups, set notification schedules
- Set up SSO so your team logs in via your existing IdP: SSO setup
- AI Builder for the next 80% of flow creation: Using AI Builder
Most teams get their first flow live in 5–10 minutes. The next 20 flows tend to be much faster — copy + tweak rather than starting fresh.