> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.latchel.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Contact Rotation: Getting Started

Not every issue that comes through your inbox needs a full work order. Sometimes a team just needs to be notified fast — no scheduling, no invoicing, no back-and-forth. That's exactly what contact rotations are built for.

The **Contact Rotation** feature lets you configure automated alert systems that immediately notify designated technicians or internal team members when specific situations arise. It's a lightweight, direct channel designed for speed — getting the right person notified at the right time, without the overhead of the standard maintenance workflow.

<Note>
  **Package requirement for on-call use.** To use contact rotations for the on-call feature, your company must be subscribed to the **ER-SaaS-RBP** package with the **"Include On-Call"** toggle enabled. If you're unsure whether this applies to your account, reach out to your Customer Success Manager.
</Note>

### **How It Works**

**Contact rotation** is a structured system that automatically contacts a predefined list of technicians or team members — in a specific order or all at once — when a qualifying issue is submitted. It's triggered by intake rules you configure, and it operates independently of the standard work order process.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Triggered by intake rules" color="#ff9b8a" icon="play" iconType="duotone">
    Rotations activate when a resident submits a matching issue type — fully automated, no manual dispatch needed.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Ping alert, not a work order" color="#7ed5d5" icon="envelope" iconType="duotone">
    Alerts notify via call or text. No appointment, invoice, or follow-up workflow is created unless you choose to.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sequential or simultaneous" color="#7ed5d5" icon="forward" iconType="duotone">
    Layers can escalate one person at a time, or alert the whole group at once — you decide the escalation style.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Configurable SLA & frequency" color="#ff9b8a" icon="clock" iconType="duotone">
    Set alert retry intervals (5–30 min), total attempts (up to 5), and a response SLA (20 min–2 hours, default 45 min).
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<CardGroup cols={2} />

When an alert goes out, the contact technician can acknowledge it by replying to the call or text, or taking no action which passes the alert to the next person in the rotation. If no one acknowledges after all attempts, the final escalation group receives an email notification.

Contact rotations are best suited for situations where immediate awareness matters but a full work order workflow isn't necessary — such as security teams handling lockouts, internal staff managing parking disputes, or teams receiving alerts for non-maintenance events like power outages.

### **Why This Matters**

Contact rotations close the gap between a resident submitting an issue and the right person being aware of it — in real time, without manual intervention. Here's why that matters for your team:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Faster response, fewer gaps" color="#ff9b8a" icon="1" iconType="duotone">
    Automated escalation ensures alerts don't fall through the cracks, even when the first contact is unavailable.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Lighter workflow for simple issues" color="#7ed5d5" icon="2" iconType="duotone">
    Not every situation needs invoicing and scheduling. Contact keeps things simple when speed is the priority.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Built-in accountability" color="#7ed5d5" icon="3" iconType="duotone">
    Every alert is logged — acknowledged, missed, or passed — so property managers have full visibility into response activity.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Measurable team performance" color="#ff8b8a" icon="4" iconType="duotone">
    Technician scorecards in Analytics track acknowledged rate, missed alerts, and median response time over time.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Flexible for any team structure" color="#ff9b8a" icon="5" iconType="duotone">
    Calendar or block rotations, multi-week cycles, and backup layers let you model your real team structure accurately.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Covers non-maintenance needs" color="#7ed5d5" icon="6" iconType="duotone">
    Teams outside of maintenance — security, parking, facilities — can use contact rotations without needing the full maintenance workflow.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<CardGroup cols={2} />

### **Contact Rotation and the EEC / Property Details Section**

The Contact Rotation feature is also used outside of the on-call context. When setting up your **Emergency Escalation Contact (EEC)** or **Pre-Dispatch (PD)** sections, you can link an existing contact rotation to those configurations. This allows Latchel to reference the same rotation you've set up when escalating emergency situations through those workflows.

This is a separate use case from the on-call feature and does not require the on-call package to be active. If you have a contact rotation already configured, it can be selected and connected to your Emergency Escalation Contacts or Pre-Dispatch settings to route emergency escalations to the right people automatically.