sub ampNotify {
    my %args = @_;
    # set defaults
    $args{severity} = defined $args{severity} ? $args{severity} : 3;
    $args{othercontact} ||= 'None';
    ....
}

##</code><code>##

ampNotify(
    message => join( "\n", "Server: $server", "File: $origfile", "Error: foo" ),
    subject => "Error processing $filename",
    who => 'su_and_it',
    path => $work_dir,
    file => $missingdeptfilename,
);

##</code><code>##


##</code><code>##