Types of Notifications

InControl offers a number of different email alerts to inform users in real time about charging events.

There are two types of notification: Charger Out of Network, Charger Connector Events

Charger Out of Network 

Out of network notifications are alerts that fire when a charger is no longer communicating with InControl. This can be due to a few different reasons.

• Charger Communication Issue: The charger is unable to communicate due to potential issues with cell signal, network cable or Ethernet connections, the internal modem, or configuration settings on either the InControl platform or the charger itself.
  
• Network Issue: The charger cannot communicate due to a network problem, such as a cellular outage or congestion, a local network issue, or a billing problem with the service provider. If this happens, users may receive multiple alerts, as it typically affects several chargers.
• Power Outage: The charger cannot communicate because it has been powered off at the panel or shutoff, or the site is experiencing a power loss.
  

Charger Connector Events

These alerts are triggered when the charger changes to a new state, as defined by the OCPP specifications. The statuses include: Available, Preparing, In Use, Finishing, Suspended EV, Suspended EVSE, Reserved, and Faulted.

• Becomes available for charging (Available): This indicates the charger is operational but not currently connected to a vehicle. You will receive an alert when the charger enters the available state, such as when a vehicle is unplugged, the charger powers on without a vehicle, or after a reset.
• Starts delivering energy (Charging): This state means a vehicle is currently charging. You will receive an alert as soon as the charging session begins.
• Connector error occurs (Faulted): This state indicates that the charger has encountered an issue preventing it from dispensing energy. Alerts will be sent as soon as a fault occurs. Please note that during maintenance, the charger may send frequent alerts.
• Stops energy flow, transaction ending (Finishing): This state occurs when a charging session is complete. It may include a period of idle time when the vehicle is still plugged in but has finished charging. Alerts for this state can be helpful to notify you that the session has ended.
• Vehicle detected (Preparing): This state occurs when a vehicle is plugged into a working charger. You will receive an alert as soon as the vehicle is connected and the initial communication between the EV and charger is established.
• Reserved for a specific vehicle (Reserved): This state occurs when a charger reservation is made. Only the user who made the reservation can start a charging session, and the charger is unavailable for others. An alert will be sent when a reservation is successfully made.
• Charging paused by the vehicle (Suspended EV): This state indicates that the vehicle has ended the charging session, typically when the battery is full. Alerts for this state can be helpful for troubleshooting any issues related to vehicle-led session termination.   
• Charging paused by the charger (Suspended EVSE): This state indicates that the charger (EVSE) has ended the charging session. This can occur normally, such as when InControl ends a session after reaching the target state of charge or when load management policies stop a session before peak times.
• Becomes unavailable for charging (Unavailable): This indicates that the charger is not operational. You will receive an alert when the charger enters the unavailable state.