Connect and manage on-call aliases in Microsoft Teams

Use Jira Service Management ChatOps for Microsoft Teams to connect on-call schedules to a Teams channel, receive shift notifications, and create an alias to notify the current on-call responder.

What is an alias?

An alias is a keyword you choose to notify the on-call responder for a schedule. It starts with an exclamation mark (!) so ordinary words don’t trigger a notification by mistake. When someone uses an alias in a connected channel, the ChatOps bot replies and mentions the current on-call responder.

Aliases must:

• Contain only letters, numbers, hyphens (-), or underscores (_) after the exclamation mark

• Be 2–50 characters long

• Contain no spaces

You can use the same alias for different schedules in multiple Teams channels. For example, you can link !disturbed to your team’s on-call and shadow schedules. When someone types !disturbed in the channel, the bot mentions the current responders for both schedules.

Connect an on-call schedule to a Teams channel

To connect schedules and use aliases, ChatOps needs permission to read messages in public channels where the bot is added. This permission lets the bot detect and resolve aliases.

• If you’ve already connected Microsoft Teams to your Jira Service Management site: In Operations, select General configuration, then Chat and video tools, then grant the new permissions to unlock the integration.

• If you haven’t connected Microsoft Teams: On the Jira Service Management site you want to use, select Operations, then General configuration, then Chat and video tools. Connect your Microsoft Teams tenant.

1. In the Teams channel, run @Atlassian ChatOps oncall and select Connect schedule.

2. Select your Jira Service Management site.

3. Select the schedules to connect. You can connect up to five schedules to a channel at once.

4. Choose which notifications to receive in the channel. Depending on your selection, ChatOps sends notifications when shifts start or end on the connected schedules.

5. Optional: Select the option to create an alias and complete the alias fields.

6. Save the connection.

Configure an on-call alias

When you create an alias during schedule setup, enter a recognizable name, such as !payments-oncall, !platform-support, or !tier1. You can also configure:

• Response location: Choose whether ChatOps replies in a thread or posts a new channel message.

• Auto-reply: Add an optional message to send when someone uses the alias, in addition to mentioning the on-call responder.

• Auto-reply when no one is on call: Keep the default response or replace it with a custom message for times when the schedule has no on-call responder.

Use an alias to notify the current responder

1. Open the connected Microsoft Teams channel.

2. Type the alias in a message and include relevant context. For example: !payments-oncall We need help investigating elevated payment failures.

3. Send the message. ChatOps resolves the alias and mentions the current on-call responder in its reply.

Check who is currently on call

1. In a Teams channel, run @Atlassian ChatOps whoisoncall.

2. Review the schedule and responder details in the reply.

Edit or disconnect a schedule

1. In the Teams channel, run @Atlassian ChatOps oncall.

2. Select the option to manage connected schedules.

3. Select the schedule, then select Edit or Disconnect.

Alias guidelines

• Choose a name that identifies the team or service. Avoid ambiguous names.

• Keep an alias consistent for a schedule unless there’s a reason to change it.

• Document the alias in the channel topic, channel description, or team runbook.

• Include incident context when using an alias so the responder knows what needs attention.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the Teams authorization screen request new permissions?

Connecting schedules and resolving aliases requires the bot to read messages in public channels where it’s added.

Does Atlassian use Teams messages to train large language models (LLMs)?

No. Atlassian doesn’t use customer Teams channel data to train LLMs. How ChatOps handles messages depends on whether the bot is in a chat or a channel and whether an incident is linked:

• Teams chat with one linked incident: If you use AIOps features such as incident summarization, chat messages may be stored temporarily and sent to an LLM service to generate the requested summary. The data isn’t retained for training.

• Teams channel: The bot receives new-message events to resolve aliases. Channel messages aren’t sent to an LLM service or stored for this purpose.

Does the bot read messages posted before it was added to a channel?

No. The bot doesn’t access messages sent before it was added. After it’s added, Teams sends the service an event for each new message in that channel.

Who can connect, edit, or delete a schedule connection?

Anyone in the Teams workspace with an Atlassian account can connect, edit, or delete schedule connections to a channel.

Can I change the exclamation mark in an alias?

No. Aliases start with !. You can link the same alias, such as !disturbed, to multiple schedules. When someone uses it in the channel, ChatOps mentions the current responders for those schedules.

What if I don’t want the bot in my team?

To remove the bot from the entire team:

1. On the Teams page, open the More options menu (…).

2. Go to Apps and select Atlassian ChatOps.

3. Open More options (…) and remove the app.

This removes the bot from the team and all its channels.

Why isn’t a responder mentioned when I use an alias or an on-call command?

The responder might not have linked their Teams account to their Atlassian account. They can message the bot and enter configure to link their accounts.

Why doesn’t a schedule or user profile link open?

Hold Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac) while selecting the link.

Why do I receive on-call change notifications I didn’t select during setup?

Another alias for the same schedule might have different notification settings, or someone might have edited the alias. Check the configuration of each alias connected to that schedule.

Are changes to connected schedules reflected immediately?

Yes. Changes to on-call responders in schedules connected to a Teams channel are reflected in the related ChatOps workflows immediately.

Can I change the order of the responder mention and custom auto-reply?

No. The order can’t be configured.

Why isn’t the auto-reply sent when I use multiple aliases?

A custom auto-reply isn’t sent if a message contains multiple aliases. ChatOps still mentions available on-call responders and sends a fallback response for each alias with no one on call.

For example, in Hi !disturbed !scrummaster !shadow, please check this alert and prioritize, ChatOps doesn’t send the custom auto-reply. If two aliases have no on-call responders, it sends fallback responses for those aliases and mentions the responder for the remaining alias.

Does this work in private channels?

No. Schedule connections and aliases work only in public channels.