Customer email template during an outage (plus status page link)
Status page subscribers opted in on stillonline.tech/s/{id} via Google email — they get updates when you post incidents. All customers may still need a one-time broadcast (especially if they never subscribed).
Two channels, one source of truth: write details on the StillOnline page; email points there. NIST SP 800-61 recommends coordinating stakeholder messages through one authoritative channel — your status page — while email reaches users who never subscribed.
Quick answer
Send a short broadcast email to your user list with: what is affected, what is not affected, link to StillOnline status page, and next update time. Do not duplicate long technical detail in email — update the incident thread on the page instead. Subscribers already on the page get automatic emails on each incident post; broadcast reaches everyone else. Owner Telegram/Slack alerts are for you, not customers — subscribers vs owner.
Broadcast vs subscriber email
| Channel | Audience | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Status page subscriber | Opted in on public page | Each incident update you publish |
| Customer broadcast | Full user base / paid accounts | You send from your ESP (SendGrid, etc.) |
| Owner alert | Founder/on-call | Probe DOWN — Telegram |
Subject lines
Investigating: [Product] service disruptionUpdate: [Product] incident — link to live statusResolved: [Product] incident summary
Body template
Investigating
We are investigating an issue affecting [Dashboard / API / Login].
Some customers may see [symptom].
Live updates: https://stillonline.tech/s/your-id
We will post the next update by [time] UTC on the status page.
— [Your company]
Resolved
The incident is resolved as of [time] UTC.
Summary: [one line cause + duration]
Full timeline: https://stillonline.tech/s/your-id
Questions: support@[domain]
Match cadence with five-minute rule and incident phases. Google SRE keeps detailed technical narrative on the status channel, not scattered across email threads.
Related guides
- Status page vs social media
- Incident update cadence
- Subscribers vs owner alerts
- Degraded vs outage labels
FAQ
Does StillOnline send email to all my users?
No. Only subscribers who signed up on the public page. You broadcast separately.
Should every incident trigger a broadcast?
Use judgment: Major yes; minor Degraded maybe docs/support only.
Can I embed the status page in email?
Link only; page is live HTML on StillOnline.
RU customers — same template?
Same URL; write email in Russian; status page UI supports ru locale.