diff --git a/config/notifies.go b/config/notifies.go
index 5899c7a7..eb3983b5 100644
--- a/config/notifies.go
+++ b/config/notifies.go
@@ -48,9 +48,10 @@ var (
 
 	// DefaultSlackConfig defines default values for Slack configurations.
 	DefaultSlackConfig = SlackConfig{
-		Color:     `{{ if eq .Status "firing" }}warning{{ else }}good{{ end }}`,
+		Color:     `{{ if eq .Status "firing" }}danger{{ else }}good{{ end }}`,
+		Username:  `{{ template "slack.default.username" . }}`,
 		Title:     `{{ template "slack.default.title" . }}`,
-		TitleLink: `{{ template "slack.default.title_link" . }}`,
+		TitleLink: `{{ template "slack.default.titlelink" . }}`,
 		Pretext:   `{{ template "slack.default.pretext" . }}`,
 		Text:      `{{ template "slack.default.text" . }}`,
 		Fallback:  `{{ template "slack.default.fallback" . }}`,
@@ -249,10 +250,9 @@ type SlackConfig struct {
 	URL string `yaml:"url"`
 
 	// Slack channel override, (like #other-channel or @username).
-	Channel string `yaml:"channel"`
-
-	// The message color.
-	Color string `yaml:"color"`
+	Channel  string `yaml:"channel"`
+	Username string `yaml:"username"`
+	Color    string `yaml:"color"`
 
 	Title     string `yaml:"title"`
 	TitleLink string `yaml:"title_link"`
diff --git a/notify/impl.go b/notify/impl.go
index 64412b52..a5fee92d 100644
--- a/notify/impl.go
+++ b/notify/impl.go
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ func Build(confs []*config.Receiver, tmpl *template.Template) map[string]Fanout
 		for i, c := range nc.OpsGenieConfigs {
 			add(i, NewOpsGenie(c, tmpl))
 		}
+		for i, c := range nc.SlackConfigs {
+			add(i, NewSlack(c, tmpl))
+		}
 
 		res[nc.Name] = fo
 	}
@@ -342,6 +345,14 @@ type Slack struct {
 	tmpl *template.Template
 }
 
+// NewSlack returns a new Slack notification handler.
+func NewSlack(conf *config.SlackConfig, tmpl *template.Template) *Slack {
+	return &Slack{
+		conf: conf,
+		tmpl: tmpl,
+	}
+}
+
 // slackReq is the request for sending a slack notification.
 type slackReq struct {
 	Channel     string            `json:"channel,omitempty"`
@@ -357,9 +368,8 @@ type slackAttachment struct {
 	Text      string `json:"text"`
 	Fallback  string `json:"fallback"`
 
-	Color    string                 `json:"color,omitempty"`
-	MrkdwnIn []string               `json:"mrkdwn_in,omitempty"`
-	Fields   []slackAttachmentField `json:"fields,omitempty"`
+	Color    string   `json:"color,omitempty"`
+	MrkdwnIn []string `json:"mrkdwn_in,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // slackAttachmentField is displayed in a table inside the message attachment.
@@ -373,7 +383,6 @@ type slackAttachmentField struct {
 func (n *Slack) Notify(ctx context.Context, as ...*types.Alert) error {
 	var err error
 	var (
-		alerts   = types.Alerts(as...)
 		data     = n.tmpl.Data(receiver(ctx), groupLabels(ctx), as...)
 		tmplText = tmplText(n.tmpl, data, &err)
 		tmplHTML = tmplHTML(n.tmpl, data, &err)
@@ -385,17 +394,12 @@ func (n *Slack) Notify(ctx context.Context, as ...*types.Alert) error {
 		Pretext:   tmplText(n.conf.Pretext),
 		Text:      tmplHTML(n.conf.Text),
 		Fallback:  tmplText(n.conf.Fallback),
-
-		Fields: []slackAttachmentField{{
-			Title: "Status",
-			Value: string(alerts.Status()),
-			Short: true,
-		}},
-		Color:    tmplText(n.conf.Color),
-		MrkdwnIn: []string{"fallback", "pretext"},
+		Color:     tmplText(n.conf.Color),
+		MrkdwnIn:  []string{"fallback", "pretext"},
 	}
 	req := &slackReq{
 		Channel:     tmplText(n.conf.Channel),
+		Username:    tmplText(n.conf.Username),
 		Attachments: []slackAttachment{*attachment},
 	}
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/template/default.tmpl b/template/default.tmpl
index c6199343..1b414ce7 100644
--- a/template/default.tmpl
+++ b/template/default.tmpl
@@ -14,10 +14,11 @@
 
 
 {{ define "slack.default.title" }}{{ template "__subject" . }}{{ end }}
-{{ define "slack.default.fallback" }}{{ template "__subject" . }}{{ end }}
+{{ define "slack.default.username" }}{{ template "__alertmanager" . }}{{ end }}
+{{ define "slack.default.fallback" }}{{ template "slack.default.title" . }} | {{ template "slack.default.titlelink" . }}{{ end }}
 {{ define "slack.default.pretext" }}{{ end }}
 {{ define "slack.default.titlelink" }}{{ template "__alertmanagerURL" . }}{{ end }}
-{{ define "slack.default.text" }}{{ template "__subject" . }}{{ end }}
+{{ define "slack.default.text" }}{{ end }}
 
 
 {{ define "pagerduty.default.description" }}{{ template "__subject" . }}{{ end }}