# Alert Chain elements and how they work

Alert Chain elements define which notification channels are used to send alert notifications to administrators.

Alert Chains contain rows that are read from top to bottom. Alert Chains are used in Alert Policies. The Alert Policy defines which Alerts trigger Alert Chains. You can also add delays between the notifications to give the administrators time to respond.

The Final Action row determines what happens when all Alert Channels in the Alert Chain have been tried, but none of the administrators have acknowledged the alert:

- The alert escalation can stop.
- The alert can be automatically acknowledged.
- The alert can be redirected to some other Alert Chain.
- The alert processing can return to the Alert Policy for further matching.