Systems and methods for managing unprocessed alarms in alarm systems

An alarm management system, comprising:

• a memory for storing data,
• a communication device, and
• a processor configured to:
• capture in real-time each new occurrence of an alarm for a monitored process, the alarm being active or inactive based on an alarm criteria and at least process data, including one or more process values, of the monitored process, each new occurrence of the alarm superseding a prior occurrence of the alarm as a current occurrence of the alarm;
• track occurrences of the alarm including whether the occurrences, including the current occurrence of the alarm and at least one prior occurrence of the alarm, have been acknowledged by a user;
• record alarm information for the occurrences of the alarm in the memory, the alarm information including each occurrence of the alarm and information associated therewith including a timestamp of the occurrence and whether the occurrence of the alarm is acknowledged or not by the user;
• present or enable presentation of one or more unacknowledged occurrences, from the tracked occurrences of the alarm, for acknowledgement by the user, the one or more unacknowledged occurrences including the at least one prior occurrence of the alarm;
• and
• in response to the acknowledgement of the at least one prior occurrence of the alarm, update the recorded alarm information to reflect the acknowledgement of the at least one prior occurrence of the alarm.

A non-transitory computer medium storing computer executable code, which when executed by one or more processors, is configured to implement a method of managing an alarm, the method comprising:

• capturing in real-time each new occurrence of the alarm fora monitored process, the alarm being active or inactive based on an alarm criteria and at least process data, including one or more process values, of the monitored process, each new occurrence of the alarm superseding a prior occurrence of the alarm as a current occurrence of the alarm;
• tracking occurrences of the alarm including whether the occurrences, including the current occurrence of the alarm and at least one prior occurrence of the alarm, have been acknowledged by a user;
• recording alarm information for the occurrences of the alarm in a memory, the alarm information including each occurrence of the alarm and information associated therewith including a timestamp of the occurrence and whether the occurrence of the alarm is acknowledged or not by the user;
• presenting or enabling presentation of one or more unacknowledged occurrences, from the tracked occurrences of the alarm, for acknowledgement by the user, the one or more unacknowledged occurrences including the at least one prior occurrence of the alarm;
• and in response to the acknowledgement of the at least one prior occurrence of the alarm, updating the recorded alarm information to reflect the acknowledgement of the at least one prior occurrence of the alarm.