Watchdog rules and automations
Get told about a low-margin quote or a stalled job without going looking for it.
What this is for
A watchdog rule watches for something you would want to know about — a quote priced under your usual markup, a job that has not moved in days, a proof nobody has answered — and tells you when it happens. Follow-up automations are the other half: things that should happen on their own, like a reminder on an unanswered quote or an aftercare check-in.
What is on this screen
Each part of the screen above, top to bottom, and what changing it affects.
Describe a rule
- Phrase box · Add from phrase
- Type the warning you want in plain words — 'flag proofs unanswered for 2 days' — and Sign OS turns it into a rule with the right type and threshold.
New rule
- Watch for
- The rule type: Low-margin quote, Stalled job, Overdue job, Proof pending, BOM shortfall or Prepress failure. Each has its own threshold unit and a default set of roles it goes to.
- Name
- What the rule is called in notifications. Defaults to the type.
- Threshold
- The number in the rule's own unit — % markup for a margin rule, days for a stalled job. Below or past it, the rule fires.
- Cooldown (hours)
- How long Sign OS stays quiet about the same job or quote before warning again.
- Add rule · Preview current jobs and quotes
- Add saves it live. Preview shows what it would flag right now without sending anything, so you can see if the threshold is too tight.
Your rules · Open incidents
- Your rules
- Every saved rule, with edit and delete.
- Open incidents
- What the rules have found that is still unresolved. Rules evaluate daily; an incident is closed when the cause goes away and can reopen without spamming you.
Before you start
- Set your default margin first, or a low-margin watchdog has nothing to compare against.
Step by step
- 1
Open Settings → Customers & follow-ups → Watchdog.
- 2
The quickest way in is to describe the rule in plain words — "flag proofs unanswered for 2 days" — and click Add from phrase. Sign OS turns it into a rule.
- 3
Or build one under New rule: pick what to watch for (low-margin quote, stalled job, overdue job, proof pending, BOM shortfall, prepress failure), give it a name, and set the threshold in your own numbers. A markup floor should be the number that would actually worry you, not a round one.
- 4
Set the cooldown in hours — how long Sign OS stays quiet about the same job or quote before warning you again. 24 is a sensible start.
- 5
Click Preview current jobs and quotes before you save. It shows what the rule would flag right now without sending anything, so you can tell straight away if the threshold is too tight.
- 6
Add the rule. Sign OS checks once a day; anything it finds lands in the notification centre as an incident, and each kind of rule has a default set of roles it goes to.
Tips & gotchas
- Start with one rule and live with it for a fortnight. Six rules on day one produces noise, and noise trains people to dismiss the one that mattered.
- Reminders that go to the customer — chasing a quote, asking for a review, an aftercare check-in — live on the separate Follow-ups screen beside this one, not here.