Choose the channel
Status page vs customer email for incident updates
Choose where a verified incident update belongs, compare a shared status page with targeted customer email, and keep facts and next-update commitments aligned.
Start with one verified fact record
Confirm customer impact, affected scope, first-observed time, current state, unknowns, any verified customer action, and the next-update commitment before selecting a channel.
Define the audience before the channel
Name who needs the operational update and whether the verified impact is shared broadly or limited to a known audience. Your team’s own incident and notification process owns that decision.
Use a status page for shared service state
A team may choose its status page when the verified operational state is relevant to the audience that can access it. Do not assume every incident belongs on a public page; follow your own visibility rules.
Use customer email for a defined audience
A team may choose targeted email when it has an appropriate recipient set or a verified customer action to communicate. That choice follows your own policies and obligations, not this writing guide.
Use both without creating two truths
Start both channels from the same verified state, impact, scope, timestamps, unknowns, customer action, and next-update commitment. Resolve contradictions before either version is published.
Adapt the format, not the facts
Keep a status-page update concise and scannable. An email can add a clear subject, audience context, and verified customer action, while the factual spine stays exact.
Keep the next-update commitment aligned
Publish the same promised time or defined state change wherever the update appears. When a verified material fact changes, correct every channel your team used.
Record publication ownership and handoff
Retain what was published, where, when, and by whom. Explicitly transfer open drafts, review items, and every active next-update commitment when ownership changes.
Draft from verified facts.
The free acknowledgment and resolution composer runs entirely in your browser.
Open the composer →