Alert System Architecture

A real-time alerting system has four components: monitors (automated scanners that watch sources for changes), triggers (rules that determine when a change is significant enough to generate an alert), routing logic (rules that determine who receives each alert type), and the delivery layer (the channels through which alerts reach recipients). Each component has design decisions that determine whether the system catches genuine signals or drowns recipients in noise. The architecture must balance sensitivity (catching real signals) against specificity (filtering out noise).

1. Monitors Automated scanners for each source type: web change detection for pricing pages and feature lists, RSS feed parsers for blogs and changelogs, API health monitors for service availability, regulatory filing watchers for government databases, social media listeners for executive announcements and community signals. Each monitor runs on a cadence appropriate to the source: web changes every 6 hours, RSS feeds every hour, API health every 5 minutes.
2. Triggers Trigger rules that convert raw change data into alert decisions. Simple triggers: "pricing page changed" or "new blog post published." Compound triggers: "pricing page changed AND the change involves a price increase > 10%." Threshold triggers: "more than 3 job postings for [role type] posted in a single week." Compound and threshold triggers dramatically reduce noise compared to simple triggers.
3. Routing Logic Route alerts to the right people based on alert type and urgency. Model capability alerts route to engineering. Pricing alerts route to procurement and finance. Regulatory alerts route to legal and compliance. Competitive announcements route to sales and strategy. The routing ensures each alert reaches someone who can act on it — not everyone who might be interested.