{"id":3011,"date":"2025-08-27T17:02:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T11:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/?p=3011"},"modified":"2025-11-04T13:19:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T07:49:02","slug":"escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Escalation Policies: Everything You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When incidents strike, your on-call engineer jumps in first. They assess the issue, triage it, and try to resolve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But sometimes, they can\u2019t solve the problem or aren\u2019t available. That&#8217;s when escalation policies step in to find the right backup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this guide, I&#8217;ve explained how escalation policies work, why every team needs them, and how you can set up one. Also, I\u2019ve included ready-to-use templates to help you get started fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<nav aria-label=\"Table of Contents\" class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents\"><ol><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#what-is-incident-escalation\">What is Incident Escalation<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#what-is-an-escalation-policy\">What is an Escalation Policy<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#example-of-an-escalation-policy\">Example of an Escalation Policy<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#why-do-you-need-an-escalation-policy\">Why Do You Need an Escalation Policy<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#key-components-of-an-escalation-policy\">Key Components of an Escalation Policy<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#different-types-of-escalation-policies\">Different Types of Escalation Policies<\/a><ol><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#1-manual-escalation-policy\">1. Manual Escalation Policy<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#2-automatic-escalation-policy\">2. Automatic Escalation Policy<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#how-to-set-up-an-escalation-policy\">How to Set Up an Escalation Policy<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#escalation-policy-templates-to-get-you-started\">Escalation Policy Templates to Get You Started<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#best-practices-for-designing-escalation-policies\">Best Practices for Designing Escalation Policies<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#common-pitfalls-in-designing-escalation-policies\">Common Pitfalls in Designing Escalation Policies<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#5-best-tools-to-create-escalation-policies\">5 Best Tools to Create Escalation Policies<\/a><ol><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#1-spike\">1. Spike<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#2-pagerduty\">2. PagerDuty<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#3-incident-io\">3. Incident.io<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#4-squadcast\">4. Squadcast<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#5-zenduty\">5. Zenduty<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#conclusion\">Conclusion<\/a><\/li><li><a class=\"wp-block-table-of-contents__entry\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/#faqs\">FAQs<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/nav>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-incident-escalation\">What is Incident Escalation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Incident escalation is when you pass a problem to someone else. This happens when the <a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/glossary\/first-responder\/\">first responder<\/a> needs help to fix an issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At <a href=\"http:\/\/spike.sh\">Spike<\/a>, Daman usually handles incidents. When he needs help, he escalates it to Kaushik. They both work together to resolve the issue faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-is-an-escalation-policy\">What is an Escalation Policy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An escalation policy is a set of rules to route the incidents to the right people when the <a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/glossary\/oncall-responder\/\">on-call engineer<\/a> is unavailable or unable to fix the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It maps out who gets called first, who&#8217;s next in line, and how long to wait between each step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The purpose of an escalation policy is to get the right person involved at the right time. It makes sure no incident is unresolved because people don&#8217;t know who to call next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"example-of-an-escalation-policy\">Example of an Escalation Policy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"721\" data-attachment-id=\"3013\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/escalation-example\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/escalation-example.png\" data-orig-size=\"1111,782\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"escalation-example\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/escalation-example-1024x721.png\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/escalation-example-1024x721.png\" alt=\"Example of an escalation policy\" class=\"wp-image-3013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/escalation-example-1024x721.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/escalation-example-300x211.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/escalation-example-768x541.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/escalation-example.png 1111w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Example of an escalation policy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At <a href=\"http:\/\/spike.sh\">Spike<\/a>, our users can add custom domains for their <a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/status-page\">status pages<\/a>. When they do this, an SSL certificate is generated for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes, the SSL generation fails. To handle this, we use a specific escalation policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s how it works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Step 1:<\/strong> First, an alert goes to our <code>#incidents<\/code> Slack channel, mentioning <code>@here<\/code> to get the team&#8217;s attention. At the same time, a push notification is sent to Kaushik. We then wait 10 minutes. This gives Kaushik time to see the alert and start working on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Step 2:<\/strong> If the incident is still not acknowledged after 10 minutes, the policy escalates. An email is sent to Kaushik, and another email is sent to Divyansh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This two-step process helps us catch SSL issues fast. It makes sure problems don&#8217;t get missed, which keeps our customers&#8217; status pages secure and running smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"why-do-you-need-an-escalation-policy\">Why Do You Need an Escalation Policy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Without escalation policies, <a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/glossary\/critical-incident\/\">critical incidents<\/a> can sit unresolved for hours. The first responder might be stuck or unavailable while your systems stay broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This creates chaos and long downtimes. Customers get angry, and your team feels stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Escalation policies fix this problem. They give your team a clear roadmap to follow when things go wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Key benefits include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Faster resolution<\/strong> &#8211; The right person gets involved at the right time<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Prevents missed alerts<\/strong> &#8211; Backup responders get notified automatically<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reduces stress<\/strong> &#8211; Everyone knows who to contact during incidents<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Meets SLAs<\/strong> &#8211; Quick escalation helps you hit response time goals<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Builds accountability<\/strong> &#8211; Clear ownership at each step<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"key-components-of-an-escalation-policy\">Key Components of an Escalation Policy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every escalation policy has three main parts. They work together to get incidents to the right people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Responders:<\/strong> People who get alerts. This could be an on-call engineer, a team lead, or a subject matter expert.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Alert Channels:<\/strong> Tell how responders get notified. Common channels are phone calls, SMS, push notifications, and Slack messages.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Escalation Delays:<\/strong> These include:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Delay at each step:<\/strong> How long to wait before alerting the next person<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Acknowledgment timeout:<\/strong> How much time a person has to resolve an issue before it moves to the next person<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Repetition time interval:<\/strong> How often to repeat the entire policy if the incident remains unresolved<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"different-types-of-escalation-policies\">Different Types of Escalation Policies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can set up your escalation policies in different ways. The best choice depends on your team&#8217;s size and how you work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are two main types: manual and automatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"1-manual-escalation-policy\">1. Manual Escalation Policy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With manual escalation policy, the on-call engineer decides when to ask for help. This gives them control over the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are two common ways to do this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Hierarchical:<\/strong> The engineer escalates up the chain of command. They might contact their team lead first, then their manager.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Functional:<\/strong> The engineer escalates to another team with specific skills. For example, a database issue might go to the database team.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Manual escalation works well when issues need human judgment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-automatic-escalation-policy\">2. Automatic Escalation Policy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Automatic escalation policy uses rules to pass incidents to the next person. This is useful for making sure critical issues get attention fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are many types of automatic escalation but to get an idea, let\u2019s discuss time-based escalation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A time-based escalation policy lets you route alerts to the day-shift team during their work hours and to the night-shift team overnight automatically. This makes sure the right people are always ready to handle issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-set-up-an-escalation-policy\">How to Set Up an Escalation Policy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First, you need an incident management tool (something like <a href=\"http:\/\/spike.sh\">Spike<\/a>). Then, add all users and let them configure their alert channels (phone number, email, Slack, etc).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now you&#8217;re ready to build your escalation policy. For each step, you need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Add responders:<\/strong> Choose who gets contacted at this level<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Select alert channels:<\/strong> Pick how they get alerted (phone, SMS, email)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Add time delays:<\/strong> Set how long to wait before moving to the next step<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After you set up the policy, trigger test alerts. Make sure everything works before a real incident happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"escalation-policy-templates-to-get-you-started\">Escalation Policy Templates to Get You Started<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/spike.sh\">Spike<\/a> offers the following ready-to-use&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/templates\/escalation-templates\">escalation templates<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"727\" data-attachment-id=\"3016\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/templates\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/templates.png\" data-orig-size=\"1633,1159\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"templates\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/templates-1024x727.png\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/templates-1024x727.png\" alt=\"Spike's escalation policy templates\" class=\"wp-image-3016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/templates-1024x727.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/templates-300x213.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/templates-768x545.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/templates-1536x1090.png 1536w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/templates-1200x852.png 1200w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/templates.png 1633w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Spike&#8217;s escalation policy templates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/templates\/escalation-templates\/high-severity--multiple\">High Severity Escalation<\/a> &#8211; This template is for major incidents, like a payment gateway failure. It alerts everyone on the team through phone calls to get all hands on deck quickly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/templates\/escalation-templates\/default-escalation--multiple\">Medium Severity Escalation<\/a> &#8211; This is for moderate incidents, such as a slow database query. It starts with an email and follows up with a phone call to key people.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/templates\/escalation-templates\/email-only--single\">Email Only for Low Priority<\/a> &#8211; This template is for issues that are good to know but not urgent, like CPU usage hitting 40%. It sends an email to a single person.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/templates\/escalation-templates\/all-channels--3_to_5\">Alert on All Channels<\/a> &#8211; This is another option for critical incidents. It contacts most of your team members on every channel at once.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/templates\/escalation-templates\/basic--two_people\">Escalation for 2 People<\/a> &#8211; This is ideal for new types of incidents where you are unsure of the impact. It sends an email first, then a phone call to two on-call members.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"best-practices-for-designing-escalation-policies\">Best Practices for Designing Escalation Policies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Add wait time for auto-resolvable issues:<\/strong> Some incidents resolve themselves within a few minutes. Add a 3-5 minute wait time before the first alert. This prevents unnecessary <a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/glossary\/alert-noise\/\">noise<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Set acknowledgment timeout:<\/strong> Don&#8217;t let acknowledged incidents sit unresolved. Set a 30-60 minute timeout so the escalation policy continues if the person doesn&#8217;t fix the issue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Repeat Escalation Policies:<\/strong> For critical incidents, you need to make sure someone takes action. Set the policy to repeat every 15-30 mins until the issue is acknowledged or resolved.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use Multi-Channel Alerting:<\/strong> Don&#8217;t rely on a single channel. Send alerts through phone calls, SMS, and Slack to increase the chances of a quick response.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Add automations:<\/strong> Create alert rules that automatically load the right escalation policy. For example, any incident with &#8220;Database&#8221; in the title triggers a database-specific policy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are some additional best practices we follow at <a href=\"http:\/\/spike.sh\">Spike<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We keep our policies lean. They alert the on-call person first, then a secondary person or Slack channel. A manager is the last step, just in case everyone misses it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For a few integrations, we have a two-person on-call rotation. The policy alerts the primary person first, then the secondary. This provides an immediate backup.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We avoid phone calls for everything. Phone calls are for critical incidents only. For these, we use an alert rule to automatically apply our &#8220;critical incident&#8221; policy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Low-priority alerts go straight to a Slack channel. They don&#8217;t need to wake anyone up. We even have some alerts that come in as &#8220;resolved,&#8221; so no action is needed. This keeps our team focused on what matters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"common-pitfalls-in-designing-escalation-policies\">Common Pitfalls in Designing Escalation Policies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Setting Too Short Delays:<\/strong> Delays under 5 minutes don&#8217;t give people time to respond, especially if they&#8217;re investigating. This leads to unnecessary escalations when the person is actively working on the problem.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Setting Too Long Delays:<\/strong> On the other hand, a long delay means your system stays broken for longer. Find a balance that works for your team and your customers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Over-Relying on a Few People:<\/strong> Don&#8217;t make the same person the backup for everything. This creates <a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/glossary\/single-point-of-failure-spof\/\">single points of failure<\/a> and burns out your best engineers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Using Only One Policy:<\/strong>&nbsp;A critical outage needs a different response than a minor warning. Using the same policy for every incident creates alert fatigue and burns out your team.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"5-best-tools-to-create-escalation-policies\">5 Best Tools to Create Escalation Policies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table is-style-stripes has-x-small-font-size\"><table><thead><tr><th><strong>Tool<\/strong><\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\"><strong>Best For<\/strong><\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\"><strong>Starting Price<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Spike<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Teams of any size wanting an affordable yet powerful tool<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">$7\/user\/month<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>PagerDuty<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Large teams needing deep integrations<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">$25\/user\/month<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Incident.io<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Teams who live and work in Slack<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">$19 base + $12\/on-call user\/month<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Squadcast<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">SolarWinds users needing noise reduction<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">$12\/user\/month<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Zenduty<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">Teams needing alert filtering &amp; ITSM integration<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-left\" data-align=\"left\">$6\/user\/month<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"1-spike\">1. Spike<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5CTpqU70u60?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An overview of Spike<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/spike.sh\">Spike<\/a> gives both teams and individuals control over <a href=\"http:\/\/spike.sh\/alerts\">alerts<\/a>. Managers can create <a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/escalations\">escalation policies<\/a> that specify exactly how someone gets alerted. At the same time, users can set personal preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can add wait times for auto-resolvable incidents. Also, you can route alerts to specific Slack channels with Slack mentions:<code>@channel, @here, @user, or no mention.<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"2-pagerduty\">2. PagerDuty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"449\" data-attachment-id=\"3020\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/pd-5\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PD.webp\" data-orig-size=\"768,449\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"PD\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PD.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PD.webp\" alt=\"PagerDuty's homepage\" class=\"wp-image-3020\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PD.webp 768w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PD-300x175.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">PagerDuty&#8217;s homepage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pagerduty.com\">PagerDuty<\/a> puts control in individual hands. Each user sets their own alert preferences, like time delays and channels. Team leads can&#8217;t specify whether someone gets a phone call or SMS in escalation policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It offers strong multi-channel alerts with rich Slack actions. However, advanced features like ML-powered noise reduction come at an extra cost (AIOps: $799\/month).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"3-incident-io\">3. Incident.io<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"580\" data-attachment-id=\"3021\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/incident-io-7\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/incident-io-2.webp\" data-orig-size=\"768,580\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"incident-io\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/incident-io-2.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/incident-io-2.webp\" alt=\"Incident.io's homepage\" class=\"wp-image-3021\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/incident-io-2.webp 768w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/incident-io-2-300x227.webp 300w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/incident-io-2-200x150.webp?crop=1 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Incident.io&#8217;s homepage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/Incident.io\">Incident.io<\/a> uses an intuitive flowchart style for escalation policies. You can add if-else conditions for working hours or incident priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It works well for teams that operate primarily in Slack or Microsoft Teams. However, the initial setup can be complex with many customization options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"4-squadcast\">4. Squadcast<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"624\" data-attachment-id=\"3023\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/squadcast-6\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/squadcast-2.webp\" data-orig-size=\"768,624\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"squadcast\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/squadcast-2.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/squadcast-2.webp\" alt=\"Squadcast's homepage\" class=\"wp-image-3023\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/squadcast-2.webp 768w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/squadcast-2-300x244.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Squadcast&#8217;s homepage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/squadcast.com\">Squadcast<\/a>, recently acquired by SolarWinds, gives both teams and individuals control over alerts. You can choose round-robin routing for each escalation step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It uses machine learning to group related alerts intelligently. You can also set working hours for each service to route alerts differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"5-zenduty\">5. Zenduty<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"588\" data-attachment-id=\"3024\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/escalation-policies-everything-you-need-to-know\/zenduty-7\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/zenduty-2.webp\" data-orig-size=\"768,588\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"zenduty\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/zenduty-2.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/zenduty-2.webp\" alt=\"Zenduty's homepage\" class=\"wp-image-3024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/zenduty-2.webp 768w, https:\/\/blog.spike.sh\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/zenduty-2-300x230.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Zenduty&#8217;s homepage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zenduty.com\">Zenduty<\/a> has a &#8220;Move to next rule if no user is found&#8221; option in escalation policies. This prevents policies from getting stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can add task templates and <a href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/glossary\/service-level-agreement-sla\/\">SLA policies<\/a> to each service. However, repeat escalation only allows fixed 1-minute delays between repetitions, which is very short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"conclusion\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Escalation policies are your safety net when incidents happen. They make sure critical problems get resolved fast by the right people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Start simple with a basic policy and improve it based on real incidents. Test your setup regularly and adjust based on what works for your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your escalation policies are only as good as the on-call schedules that support them. So, it\u2019s also important that you have solid schedules to back them up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-ee856660 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-midnight-gradient-background has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/spike.sh\/blog\/oncall-schedules-everything-you-need-to-know\/\">Learn about on-call schedules<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"faqs\">FAQs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>What is an escalation matrix?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An escalation matrix is a visual guide for your escalation policy. It shows who to contact at each level for different types of incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2. <strong>What is the difference between an escalation policy and an on-call schedule?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An on-call schedule decides who is the first person to get an alert. It rotates responsibility among the team to share the load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An escalation policy decides what happens next if that person doesn&#8217;t respond. It&#8217;s the backup plan that contacts the next person in line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3. <strong>What if an incident resolves itself before anyone responds?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is why tools like <a href=\"http:\/\/spike.sh\">Spike<\/a> have a wait time at the start of the escalation policy. It allows you to set a delay of a few minutes. If the issue fixes itself during that time, the alert is automatically resolved, and no one gets disturbed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When incidents strike, your on-call engineer jumps in first. They assess the issue, triage it, and try to resolve it. But sometimes, they can\u2019t solve the problem or aren\u2019t available. That&#8217;s when escalation policies step in to find the right backup. In this guide, I&#8217;ve explained how escalation policies work, why every team needs them, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":263547072,"featured_media":3186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_import_markdown_pro_load_document_selector":0,"_import_markdown_pro_submit_text_textarea":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[1461],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-escalation-policies"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Escalation Policies: Everything You Need to Know<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A complete guide to escalation policies. 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