---
title: Onboard a Team
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: Docs > Incident Response > On-Call > Onboard a Team
---

# Onboard a Team

{% callout %}
# Important note for users on the following Datadog sites: app.ddog-gov.com

{% alert level="danger" %}
This product is not supported for your selected [Datadog site](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/site). ().
{% /alert %}

{% /callout %}

Teams are the central organizational unit of [Datadog On-Call](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/on-call/). Pages are sent to a Team, and the Team's schedules or escalation policies route the Page to an appropriate Team member.

On-Call Teams are an extension of [Datadog Teams](https://docs.datadoghq.com/account_management/teams/). On-Call Teams are listed on the [Teams](https://app.datadoghq.com/organization-settings/teams) overview page, alongside Teams that do not perform on-call duties. Datadog recommends that you use existing Teams for your On-Call configuration whenever possible, as this increases your On-Call Team's discoverability.

### Onboard a new or existing Team{% #onboard-a-new-or-existing-team %}

1. Go to [**On-Call** > **Teams**](https://app.datadoghq.com/on-call/) and select **Set Up Team**.

1. Create a new Team, select an existing Datadog Team, or import team configurations from PagerDuty.

   {% tab title="New Team" %}

   - **Team Name**: Enter a name for your Team. Datadog recommends that you do not use acronyms here, unless the acronym is already widely used in your organization.
   - **Handle**: The handle used to page the Team throughout the Datadog platform. You can change your Team's handle at any time.
   - **Members**: Add your Team's members, including those who do not perform on-call duties.
   - **Description**: Provide a description of your Team's responsibilities. For example: *Our team is responsible for [primary responsibility]. We ensure [key objectives or activities], operating [operational hours or conditions].*

   {% /tab %}

   {% tab title="Existing Team" %}
Select an existing Datadog Team from the drop-down menu.
   {% /tab %}



1. Add a default escalation policy.

   {% image
      source="https://datadog-docs.imgix.net/images/service_management/oncall/escalation_policy_blank.f6b25756c9c299ca9eb4ae12089a5876.png?auto=format"
      alt="Setup view of a new escalation policy. Notifies three proposed schedules." /%}



   - Datadog automatically proposes *Interrupt Handler*, *Primary*, and *Secondary* schedules for your Team. You can define these schedules in the next step.
   - You can also notify an existing schedule owned by another Team.

See [Escalation Policies](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/on-call/escalation_policies) for more details.

1. Define the schedules created in the previous step.

   {% image
      source="https://datadog-docs.imgix.net/images/service_management/oncall/schedule_blank.6714b1416d72b000c992034a3894eb80.png?auto=format"
      alt="Setup view of a new schedule." /%}



   - **Schedule Time Zone**: Select the time zone you want to operate your schedule in. Other settings, such as handoff times, adhere to this selection.
   - **Schedule Rotations**: Add your desired rotations. See [Schedules](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/on-call/schedules) for more details.

### Next steps{% #next-steps %}

Configure your monitors, incidents, or other resources to send Pages to your On-Call Team. See [Send a Page](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/on-call/pages/).

Ensure that your On-Call Team members have set up their [Profile Settings](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/on-call/profile_settings).

## Further Reading{% #further-reading %}

- [Datadog On-Call](https://docs.datadoghq.com/incident_response/on-call/)