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In an On-call system, schedules are the bridge connecting “incidents” to “people”. A well-designed on-call mechanism ensures someone always responds when incidents occur, while preventing any single person from being under high pressure for extended periods, enabling sustainable operations for the team. Flashduty On-call provides highly flexible scheduling capabilities, supporting daily, weekly, and custom rotation cycles, as well as complex scenarios like day/night shifts and primary/backup on-call.

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Core Concepts

Understanding these concepts before configuration will help you better plan your schedules:
ConceptDescription
ScheduleAn independent on-call unit (e.g., “SRE Schedule”, “DBA Schedule”) containing multiple specific on-call rules
LayerA schedule can contain multiple layers of rules. For example, layer one is “Day Shift”, layer two is “Night Shift”. Multiple layers combine to form the complete on-call plan
RotationDetermines how on-call personnel hand off. For example, “handoff every Monday at 10 AM”
OverrideTemporarily adjust the on-call person for a specific time period without modifying permanent rules (commonly used for leave, temporary coverage)
Date MaskSelect which days to participate in on-call, e.g., Team A on-call Monday to Friday, Team B on weekends
Schedule

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Configuration Process

1

Create a Schedule

Go to Schedule Management, click “Create Schedule”
  • Schedule Description: Supports Markdown syntax, content can be included in notifications
  • Owning Team: Specifies which team manages this schedule, not the on-call personnel
2

Set Notification Reminders

To prevent forgetting shifts or handoffs, the system provides two reminder types:
  • Handoff Notification: N minutes before rotation (e.g., 15 minutes ahead), notifies both the outgoing and incoming personnel
  • On-duty Notification: During on-call periods, sends a daily notification at a fixed time (e.g., 9:00 AM) reminding who’s currently on-call
  • Channels: Supports email, SMS, phone, IM (Feishu/Lark, Dingtalk, WeCom)
3

Define On-call Rules

This is the core step. You can add one or more layers of rules. Each layer includes:
  • On-call Personnel: Select members participating in rotation
  • Rotation Cycle: Supports day, week, custom duration
  • Time Restriction: (Optional) This rule only takes effect during specific time periods

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Override and Leave

When on-call personnel need leave or have temporary conflicts, don’t modify permanent rules—use the “Override” feature instead.
1

Find the Time Period to Adjust

In the schedule calendar view, locate the time period needing adjustment
2

Select Override

Click on that time period, select “Override”
3

Configure Replacement Info

Select the replacement person and specific time range
  • Temporary Effect: Only affects the selected time period; original rules automatically resume after the override ends
  • Audit Trail: All override records are saved for later review
We recommend having a brief sync meeting between outgoing and incoming on-call personnel before official handoff to confirm outstanding issues and current system status—this is safer than just system notifications.

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Common Scheduling Scenarios

Requirement: Ops team has A, B, C—each person on-call for one week, handoff Monday at 10:00 AM.Configuration:
  • Personnel sequence: A, B, C
  • Rotation cycle: 1 week
  • Handoff time: Monday 10:00
Result: A on-call one week → B on-call one week → C on-call one week → A on-call one week…Simple Rotation

Escalation Rules

Configure alert notification rules and escalation paths

Service Calendar

Define workdays and rest days