Prowl as a Nagios Notifier

Prowl (@ProwlApp) works now (Apple it seems has finally sorted out its developer portal issues in relation to certificates) and notifications are flowing. All in all the presentation and configuration of alerts is great.
The only thing stopping me from disposing of SMS notifications is that Prowl remains an in-band communication mechanism - network issues still have the possibility of making it not work. SMS being out-of-band allows it to work in circumstances where there is a network problem. So how could I use Prowl effectively in a network / service notification role:
  • Replace the in-band e-mail messages: E-mail (in particular push e-mail) is what I use to provide notifications and more detail than SMS messages. Begin a belts and braces sort of systems administrator I actually send e-mails to my local account i.e. relating to the organisation under monitoring (before you say sending monitoring messages about a failed e-mail server to a failed or failing e-mail server is silly, remember it is only part of the strategy) and to an external push e-mail provider - being very careful to make sure that the local mail relay or firewalls DO NOT RELAY the messages. Prowl could easily replace this duplicate e-mail mechanism reducing the number of notifications (remember I get 2 messages for each notification) and at greater speed.
  • Make Prowl the start of an escalation: Instead of just determining that there is a fault and notifying, I could use a hierarchy of notifications e.g. send a Prowl notification first, then e-mails and then an SMS. The escalation would stop as soon as the problem is acknowledged. This approach would allow nicer messaging earlier, limit duplication, but ensure messages get through somehow.
  • Replace SMS by providing an alternate IP path: by using a cellular wireless device a sufficiently separate path to Prowl’s servers might be possible to produce a reliable notification service in the face of network failure close to the site being monitored. This solution is less robust than the SMS solution, but it could be combined with the other strategies to advantage.
Prowl gives lots of nice options and will find a place in my approach to notification