# Alert escalation configuration overview

Configuring how alerts are escalated involves several general steps.

Figure: Elements in the configuration

The configuration consists of the following general steps:

1. (Optional) Create Custom Alert elements for more precise matching in the Alert Policy.
2. Define which events trigger alerts.
3. Define how alert notifications are sent to administrators.
4. Create lists of actions to take when an alert is escalated.
5. Define which alerts are matched against which Alert Chain.