ALERT NINJA is based on one centralized server working with desktop agents that are installed on each workstation.
Each workstation agent polls the server every few minutes.
The server in turn calls predefined web services on various operational servers within the organization’s network to see if there is a relevant notification that needs to be displayed on each desktop. The response is relayed to the desktop agent.
For example, the server may call a web service on the Project Management system used by the organization to determine if the workstation user has a pending timesheet that needs to be reported. Or the server may call a web service on the SAP-FN server to determine if the workstation user has a pending payment to authorize.
If the result is positive, meaning we need to display the notification and the user needs to act on it, the agent displays a Windows-like notification on the desktop:
The user can click on the notification and be taken directly to the timesheet application screen, fill in what is needed, and the notification will dismiss itself.
The notification itself appears in the lower right corner of the screen like any standard notification.
However, the notification cannot be dismissed or closed, and it is always “on-top”, meaning if the user opens another application like Word, the notification will still appear.
The notification is tolerable, but cannot be ignored.
In order to make the notification disappear, the user must go in to the specific application and complete the task.
The solution can be been applied to any risk-related scenarios such as regulatory-mandated training, SLA-related deadlines such as authorizing payments, time-critical reporting such as attendance and timesheet reporting and so on.
Technology
Alert-Ninja was built using standard web technologies (JavaScript, HTML, CSS).
The server side uses Node.js only, and the client-side uses Electron, an open-source framework developed and maintained by GitHub that allows for the development of desktop GUI applications using web technologies by combining the Chromium rendering engine and the Node.js runtime.
Electron is used in several notable desktop applications including GitHub, Microsoft Teams, MongoDB Compass, Skype, Slack, Visual Studio Code, and WhatsApp.
Alert notifications help organizations achieve their goals and commitments.
Alert Ninja enables effective notification management for your organization.