The INA238-Q1 is designed to respond to the SMBus Alert Response address. The SMBus Alert Response provides a quick fault identification for simple secondary devices. When an Alert occurs, the main device can broadcast the Alert Response secondary device address (0001 100) with the Read/Write bit set high. Following this Alert Response, any secondary device that generates an alert identifies itself by acknowledging the Alert Response and sending its address on the bus.

The Alert Response can activate several different slave devices simultaneously, similar to the I²C General Call. If more than one slave attempts to respond, bus arbitration rules apply. The losing device does not generate an Acknowledge and continues to hold the Alert line low until that device wins arbitration.