10 Atera Features You Are Probably Not Using Yet

Atera includes several features that go beyond basic monitoring and ticketing. Features like per-device time zone scheduling, attachment previews, technician availability toggles, offline agent queuing, and AI-generated SNMP OIDs can save your team significant time when configured correctly. This guide covers ten of these features — all confirmed from Atera's official 2024 Release Notes and support documentation.

Why Most Teams Miss These Features

When you first set up Atera, the priority is usually getting the basics running — agents installed, alerts configured, tickets flowing. That makes sense. But once things are stable, there is a lot of value sitting just below the surface.

These are not obscure settings buried in old menus. Several of them were added in Atera's 2024 releases and are ready to use today. You may just not have had the chance to look.

This guide walks through ten of those features, explains exactly what each one does, and shows you how to use it in practice.

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1. Run Automation Profiles on Each Device's Local Time Zone

What it does: When scheduling an IT automation profile, you can choose to run it based on each device's local time zone rather than your account's centralized time zone.

According to Atera's official support documentation, selecting "Device local time" schedules profiles to run based on each device's local time zone, making it easier to manage devices spread across multiple locations via a single profile.

Why it matters: If you manage devices across different regions — which is common for IT teams working across the GCC and beyond — this removes the need to manually calculate time offsets when scheduling patches, reboots, or scripts.

How to use it: When creating or editing an automation profile, go to the execution settings and select "Device local time" from the time zone preference options. Note that profiles using this setting will not display a "Next execution time" in the side panel, because each device runs the profile at a different local time.

Practical tip: Pair this with the offline agent queue feature (see below) so devices that are off during the scheduled window still receive the automation when they come back online. 

2. Preview Attachments Directly on Site and Customer Pages

What it does: You can hover over attachments on either the Site page or the Customer page to see a quick preview — without downloading the file or opening it in a separate window.

This feature was confirmed in Atera's 2024 Release Notes for both the Site and Customer page Attachments tabs.

Why it matters: When reviewing a ticket or checking a client's documentation, you often need to verify what a file contains before acting on it. The inline preview lets you do this without breaking your current workflow.

How to use it: Navigate to a Site or Customer page, open the Attachments tab, and hover over any uploaded file to see the preview. This works for images, documents, and other supported file types.

Also Read: Health Checks & Device Actions in Atera: From Detection to Autonomous Remediation

3. Configure Splashtop Sessions as Attended or Unattended

What it does: Atera's Splashtop integration lets you configure whether remote sessions are attended (the end user must accept the connection) or unattended (the connection proceeds without a prompt). You can also set password requirements for connecting to devices.

According to Atera's 2024 Release Notes, these Splashtop security settings allow you to "set remote connections to be attended or unattended, and configure password requirements when connecting to end-user devices."

Atera's support documentation confirms three password options: require the device login password, require a security code you create, or connect without an additional password (the default).

Why it matters: Different devices and user groups need different levels of access control. Servers may need unattended access for after-hours maintenance. End-user workstations, on the other hand, may benefit from requiring permission before a technician connects — which is a reasonable security practice for many organisations.

How to use it: Go to Admin > Remote access settings to configure your global Splashtop settings. You can also apply configuration policy overrides at the customer, folder, or device level to create exceptions to your global settings for specific environments.
 

4. Use Technician Availability Toggles to Improve Ticket Assignment

What it does: Each technician in Atera can be set to "Available" or "Out of office." This status is visible when assigning tickets and feeds into Atera's auto-assignment logic, which distributes tickets in a round-robin order among technicians who are marked as available and have the correct permission enabled.

Atera's 2024 Release Notes described this as: "Simple toggles for techs, central controls for admins, and smarter auto-assignment for everyone."

Why it matters: Without availability statuses, tickets can land with technicians who are off-shift or away. This feature makes routing more accurate and reduces the chance of tickets sitting unattended.

How to use it: Technicians can toggle their own availability by clicking their profile picture in the top-right corner and selecting the Available toggle. Admins can update availability for any technician by going to Admin > Users and security > Technicians. For auto-assignment to work correctly, make sure the "Include in automated assignment" permission is enabled for the relevant technicians in their role settings.

Also Read: Scheduled Reports & Automation for Compliance and SLA Assurance with Miradore EMM

5. Queue Automations for Offline Devices

What it does: At the automation profile level, you can configure Atera to queue scheduled tasks and run them when an offline device comes back online. According to Atera's patch management documentation, queued actions can be retained for up to one month.

This was confirmed in Atera's 2024 Release Notes, which described the feature as allowing you to "queue automations — at the profile level — to run when offline agents come back online, ensuring all your devices receive the attention they need."

Why it matters: Laptops and remote workstations are not always online when a scheduled patch or script is due to run. Without queuing, those devices simply miss the task. With it, the automation runs as soon as the device reconnects.

How to use it: When setting up or editing an automation profile, look for the offline agent execution preference and select the queued option. The maximum queue retention period is one month.


 

6. Add Holidays to Business Hours for Accurate SLA Tracking

What it does: Atera's Business Hours settings now include the ability to add holidays. When a holiday is added, SLA timers pause on that day — just as they do outside of your defined working hours.

This was confirmed in Atera's 2024 Release Notes: "The Business Hours page now includes holidays. Easily see work schedules and add holidays to mark non-working days."

Why it matters: If your SLA timers run through public holidays, your compliance data becomes inaccurate. Teams that serve clients under formal SLA contracts — especially in regulated environments — need this to be precise.

How to use it: Go to Admin > Business hours and add your relevant public holidays or non-working days. Once added, SLA countdowns will automatically pause on those dates.

Tip for GCC-based teams: Public holiday schedules differ across GCC countries. If you manage clients across multiple countries, consider setting up separate business hours calendars and assigning them to the appropriate SLA policies.
 

7. Deactivate Users and Contacts Instead of Deleting Them

What it does: Rather than deleting a user or contact from Atera, you can deactivate them. According to Atera's official support documentation, deactivated users and contacts cannot create new tickets, but existing tickets are not impacted.

Atera's 2024 Release Notes described the user deactivation feature as: "Evade the digital abyss of accidental deletions; simply deactivate users to preserve their digital footprint. Ideal for when a user cycles out of the system — their legacy remains coded, while no new tickets can be assigned."

Why it matters: Deleting a contact in Atera removes all tickets related to that contact. Deactivating preserves those records. This is an important distinction for teams that need to maintain complete ticket histories for auditing or compliance purposes.

Important note: Atera's data recovery documentation confirms that deleting a contact "will delete all tickets that are related to that specific contact." Deactivation avoids this outcome entirely.

How to use it:

• For users (IT Department): Go to Sites > [Site] > Users tab, find the user, and select Deactivate.
• For contacts (MSP): Go to the Customer page > Contacts tab, open the contact, and select Deactivate from the ellipses menu in the top right.

Deactivated users and contacts can be reactivated at any time.

8. Generate SNMP OIDs Using Plain Language

What it does: When setting up monitoring for an SNMP device in Atera, you can use AI Copilot's OID generator to describe what you want to monitor in plain language. Atera's AI will then suggest the appropriate OID and, where applicable, a threshold for alerts.

According to Atera's official Copilot capabilities documentation, you can "type what you need in plain language (e.g., 'ink level'), then click Generate to see the OID, its value, and description."

The 2024 Release Notes confirmed this as: "Simply type what you need in plain language, and let AI do the rest."

Why it matters: SNMP monitoring has traditionally required knowing the correct Object Identifier (OID) values for each device — which usually means digging through MIB files. This feature removes that step for many common monitoring needs.

Important clarification: This feature applies specifically to SNMP device monitoring on the SNMP Device page. It generates OIDs for network devices like printers, switches, and routers — not agent-based CPU, RAM, or disk thresholds, which are configured separately through Threshold Profiles.

How to use it: Open an SNMP device in Atera, go to the OID section, click "Add OID," and use the AI Copilot generator to describe what you want to monitor in plain English.

Note: AI Copilot is an add-on package available with all Atera plans. If you have not yet activated it, check with your Atera account representative.

Also Read: Inside the Brain: Copilot Insights & Real-Time Account Intelligence in Atera

9. Select All Devices Across All Pages at Once

What it does: Atera's device list now includes a "Select All" option that selects every matching device in your account — including devices on other pages and those behind active filters — not just the ones currently displayed on screen.

This was confirmed in Atera's 2024 Release Notes with the description: "You can now select every device, near and far, displayed and not."

Why it matters: Before this feature, bulk actions across large device lists required clicking through multiple pages. Now, a single selection covers your entire filtered or unfiltered device set — making mass patch runs, profile assignments, or shutdown actions much faster.

How to use it: On the Devices page, use the checkbox at the top of the device list. When devices span multiple pages, Atera will prompt you to select all matching devices, not just those on the current view.

 

10. Use Inline Script Comments to Generate Code with AI

What it does: Inside Atera's script editor, you can add comments prefixed with # to describe what you need the script to do. AI Copilot will then generate the corresponding code based on your description.

This was confirmed in Atera's 2024 Release Notes: "Add inline comments with '#' to describe what you need, and AI will generate the corresponding code for you."

Why it matters: Scripting from scratch takes time, especially for less common tasks. Writing a plain-language comment and having Atera generate the code speeds up script creation and also makes scripts easier to document for your team.

Practical tips:

• Review and test all AI-generated scripts before deploying them to production devices. Atera's own documentation notes that generated scripts "may contain inaccuracies."
• After generating a script, you can save it to your My Scripts library, share it to the Shared Script Library, and enable it for AI Copilot or IT Autopilot to use when resolving tickets automatically.
• Atera supports PowerShell, Batch (.bat), and Shell (.sh) scripts for Windows, Mac, and Linux devices.
   

Feature Summary Table

All features verified from Atera's official support documentation and 2024 Release Notes.

Key Takeaways

• Local time zone scheduling removes manual time calculations when managing devices across multiple regions.
• Attachment previews on Site and Customer pages let you check files without leaving your current view.
• Splashtop security settings let you choose between attended and unattended sessions and configure password requirements per environment.
• Technician availability toggles make auto-assignment more accurate and reduce after-hours ticket misdirection.
• Offline agent queuing ensures devices that miss a scheduled automation still receive it when they reconnect — with a retention window of up to one month.
• Holiday support in Business Hours keeps SLA tracking accurate on non-working days — particularly useful for multi-country GCC deployments.
• Deactivating users/contacts preserves existing ticket records; deleting them removes all associated tickets permanently.
• AI-generated OIDs apply to SNMP device monitoring specifically — not to agent-based CPU, RAM, or disk threshold profiles.
• Select All devices covers your entire filtered device list, not just the current page.
• Inline script comments allow AI Copilot to generate code from plain-language instructions — always review and test before deploying.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need AI Copilot activated to use the OID generator and inline script comments?

Yes. Both features are part of Atera's AI Copilot, which is an add-on package available with all Atera plans. It is an all-inclusive offering — individual features cannot be selected separately. Contact your Atera representative to activate it.

What happens to existing tickets when I deactivate a contact or user?

Existing tickets are not impacted when you deactivate a user or contact. They simply cannot create new tickets after being deactivated. Note that deleting a contact in Atera removes all tickets associated with them — deactivation avoids this.

Can I reactivate a deactivated user or contact later?

Yes. Both users and contacts can be reactivated at any time from the same location where you deactivated them.

Does the "Select All" feature include devices on pages I have not loaded yet?

Yes. Atera's Select All function selects all matching devices across all pages, including those not currently displayed on screen.

How long will Atera queue an automation for an offline device?

According to Atera's patch management documentation, queued automations can be retained for up to one month. This can be configured at the profile level or for all profiles in your account.

Does local device time zone scheduling affect what shows in the Next Execution Time field?

Yes. When "Device local time" is selected, Atera does not display a next scheduled execution time because each device runs the profile at a different local time.

Can the Splashtop attended/unattended setting be applied differently per client or device?

Yes. While you can set a global default in Admin > Remote access settings, you can apply configuration policy overrides at the customer, folder, or device level to create exceptions for specific environments.

What SNMP devices does the AI OID generator support?

The OID generator works with SNMP devices added to Atera's platform, such as network printers, switches, and routers. It does not apply to agent-based device monitoring (Windows, Mac, Linux agents), which uses Threshold Profiles instead.

Conclusion

Atera's platform has grown significantly over recent releases. Features like time zone-aware scheduling, offline queuing, and AI-assisted scripting are not just convenience features — they can meaningfully reduce the manual overhead your team deals with every day.

The best place to start is whichever feature solves a current pain point. If your team manages devices across different countries, local time zone scheduling is worth configuring today. If you have been deleting users instead of deactivating them, that is worth correcting now.

If you are deploying or optimising Atera for your organisation in the GCC region, the team at FSD-Tech can help you make the most of the platform from day one.

Talk to Our GCC Team