Why isn't the escalation email being sent or received?

Environment:

Business Rules, Rule Log, Notifications

Issue:

We created a few escalation rules to notify people when their incidents are getting old, but the email was not sent to the specified address.

Resolution:

You can use the Rule Log to determine if incidents are matching the escalation rules to trigger the sending of an email message. For more information on using the Rule Log, refer to Answer ID 1873: Using the Rule Log to Troubleshoot Rules.

In the event that the escalation rule is being matched but the recipient does not get the email, check the following:

1. Check the configuration of the rule to verify that the email address is listed correctly. 
    
2. In the rule, verify that only one address is listed in the Send E-mail To text box. 
    
3. In the Messages table (or Message Templates table, if enabled), verify that the Incident Escalated email message is enabled. If you are using multiple interfaces, check that the Incident Escalated message is enabled in all appropriate interfaces.

Note: There is a difference between the Email > Email Incident Information and Email > Send Escalation Notification actions.

• The Email Incident Information action sends an email to the email address configured or to the email address for the staff members selected in that action.  The staff member does not have to be logged into the system to receive the email.
   
• The Send Escalation Notification action sends a notification to the Communication Center for the staff members configured for that action. The staff member only receives an email if their preferences are configured to Send an Email for notifications.

Therefore, if you are expecting an email to be sent to your Inbox, check the action listed in the escalation rule to ensure that the action is Email Incident Notification. 

If the action in the rule is Send Escalation Notification, then the personal preferences for the staff member must have the Send Email and Notify Always boxes enabled in order for an email to be sent when the notification is sent to the Communication Center.