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EBS: Sending Test Notifications in Everbridge Suite

Updated
2026-05-27 17:36:38 UTC
Terry Branoff

Topic

How to send test notifications in Everbridge Suite.

Description

Sending test notifications is a great way to ensure that an organization's settings are correct and up to date, that contacts are aware of the various ways they can receive and subsequently confirm a notification, and that notification senders will be able to easily send a notification when time and accuracy are of the utmost importance.

Provided are general guidelines to help begin testing notifications.

Create Test Contacts

To create a test contact, follow the steps below:

  1. Log in to the Manager Portal and select the appropriate Organization from the upper right-hand corner.

  2. Click on the Contacts tab from the top of the page.

  3. Click the Add Contact button.

  4. The contact's First, Last, M.I. and Suffix can be any value.

    1. Set the External ID to a unique identifier and the Record Type to the appropriate selection for the Organization.

  5. The contacts Delivery Methods can be any methods to test.

    1. In the Device address fields for each delivery method, enter an email or a phone number to test with.

  6. Click Save.

Repeat steps 2-6 to create more test contacts.

Create Test Groups

Having test groups available for notification selection will allow users to select multiple test contacts simultaneously when conducting tests. Multiple test contacts help simulate real-life scenarios wherein contacts will not only have different device addresses for their delivery methods, but also will confirm notifications by different methods.

To create a test group, follow the steps below:

  1. Log in to the Manager Portal and select the appropriate Organization from the upper right-hand corner.

  2. Click on the Contacts tab from the top of the page.

  3. Click on the Groups sub-tab.

  4. Click on All Contact Groups first to select the main parent group.

  5. Click the + Group button from the upper left to create a new group.

  6. Enter the desired name for the test group, and then press Enter.

  7. Select Add Contact to either add an exiting contact to the group, or to create a new contact for the group.

Send a Test Notification

With test contacts created and assigned to a test group or groups, create and send a test notification.

Follow the steps below to send a standard test notification:

  1. Log in to the Manager Portal and select the appropriate Organization from the upper right-hand corner.

  2. Click on the Notifications tab from the top of the page.

  3. Click on the + New Notification button from the upper left.

  4. In the Create Message pane, enter a title for the test notification in the Title text field, and then enter a message in the Body text field.

    • Include an explicit marker such as the word Test in the message Title or Body so that recipients and any integrated systems can clearly identify the message as an exercise, even if the notification is sent in Mode: Test.

  5. In the Select Contacts pane, do one of the following:

    1. Click the Individuals link, select the check boxes next to the relevant test contacts created, and then click OK.

    2. Choose the Groups link, select the check boxes next to the relevant test groups created, and then click OK.

    3. In the Settings pane, click the Edit link and select the check boxes next to the relevant delivery methods. Contacts must have valid device address entries to receive the notification from the selected delivery methods.

    4. Click Send.

After sending a test notification, you can perform basic delivery checks:

  • Ask recipients to confirm whether they received the test via their configured delivery methods.

  • Review your Organization's notification activity/logs in the Manager Portal to confirm that the test notification was created and sent as expected.

  • If specific contacts do not receive the test, verify their contact records in the Manager Portal for typos or incorrect domains (for example, placeholder domains such as .test), ensure phone numbers are in the correct format and can receive calls or SMS for the configured country and dialing rules, and confirm they are members of the appropriate groups for the test.

  • If you need Everbridge Technical Support to validate a particular test, provide permission along with your Organization ID, the relevant notification IDs, and any screenshots of the test configuration and delivery results so Support can review your account activity/logs and assist with diagnosing non-delivery.

For additional training on how to configure and test notifications (including call, SMS, email, and third-party channels such as Microsoft Teams), start with Everbridge University at https://university.everbridge.com/ and review the Support Center article Sending Test Notifications in Everbridge Suite. If you need more guidance after reviewing these resources, contact Everbridge Technical Support (866-436-4911 or support@everbridge.com) or ask your Account Manager to arrange a one-time review call.

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