How to Have Multiple People On-Call Simultaneously

How Tellspin Rotations Work

By default, a Tellspin schedule rotates one person at a time into an on-call shift. However, many teams need multiple people to be on-call simultaneously, such as for a primary/secondary setup, paired support, or to combine different teams. Tellspin offers two powerful ways to achieve this.

Method 1: Groups of Multiple Users (Simple)

Use this method when you want a fixed group of specific people to be on-call together for each shift.

For example, you want Alice and Bob on-call together for the first week, followed by Charlie and Dan for the second week.

How to Set It Up

1. From the Tellspin App Home, click Create Schedule or Edit an existing one.

2. In the schedule editor, click Edit Users.

3. Change the User selection method from "Individual users" to Groups of multiple users. In Select Users, that option appears in the dropdown like this:

   

4. Define your groups. Each "shift" in the list now represents a group. Add the users you want for Shift 1, Shift 2, and so on. The modal shows each shift row—for example:

   

5. Click Save. The user group associated with this schedule will now contain all members of the currently active group.

Method 2: Combining Schedules with Schedule Triage (Advanced)

Use this method when you want to combine the on-call users from two or more separate, independent schedules into a single user group handle. This is the perfect solution for creating primary/secondary rotations or merging on-call coverage from different teams.

Step-by-Step: Setting Up a Multi-Person On-Call Handle

1. Prerequisite: First, ensure you have at least two separate Tellspin schedules already created. For example, create a primary-oncall schedule and a secondary-oncall schedule.
2. Create Triage: From the Tellspin App Home, find and click the Schedule Triage button.
3. Select Schedules: In the modal that appears, check the boxes next to the schedules you want to combine.
4. Name the Handle: Give your new combined user group a name, such as @support-escalation-all.
5. Save: Tellspin will create a new user group. This group will automatically and dynamically contain the on-call users from all the schedules you selected.

Use Case: Primary and Secondary On-Call

A common use case is to notify both a primary and a secondary on-call person at the same time.

1. Create a schedule named Primary On-Call with its own rotation of users.
2. Create another schedule named Secondary On-Call with its rotation.
3. Use Schedule Triage to combine them into a new handle called @escalation-group.

Now, when anyone mentions @escalation-group in Slack, both the current primary and secondary on-call users will be notified.

Verifying Your Triage Schedule

1. Go to the Tellspin App Home. You will see your new Schedule Triage listed.
2. Confirm that the "On-call" list for the triage schedule includes the correct users from the underlying schedules.
3. Mention the new user group handle in a Slack channel to test that the correct members are notified.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which method should I use?

• Use Groups of multiple users for simple, fixed pairings where the same people are always on-call together.
• Use Schedule Triage to combine different, independent schedules. It's more flexible and powerful for complex setups like primary/secondary, follow-the-sun, or multi-team escalations.

For more details on combining schedules, read the full guide on Schedule Triage.