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Email Notifications In UniFi Controller

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How to send email alerts from UniFi to Zapier, and then into Fieldbook to see who/what was using our network each day.

Set Up Your Mailbox

Get a Zapier Parser Account

Get a Zapier Parser Account;https://parser.zapier.com It's free. Follow the guidance on the screen. Log in with your Zapier account (the free tier should work for this project) and authorize the two to connect.

https://parser.zapier.com It’s free. Follow the guidance on the screen.

Log in with your Zapier account (the free tier should work for this project) and authorize the two to connect.

Create a mailbox

Create a mailbox;Click the button. :)

Click the button.  🙂

You Can Skip Waiting

You Can Skip Waiting;

 

Choose A Better Name

or not. It’s up to you. I’m using “cowfredwifi”

Don’t worry about the template contents for now.

Configure UniFi Controller

Go To Settings

Go To Settings;Click the gears icon to open the Settings menu.

Click the gears icon to open the Settings menu.

Add A New Admin

Add A New Admin;At present, I've only been able to get emails sent to administrators. Hopefully this will change. Add the email address you created for your Zapier Mailbox and make it an administrator. *** Pick a very strong password for this account ***

At present, I’ve only been able to get emails sent to administrators. Hopefully this will change.

Add the email address you created for your Zapier Mailbox and make it an administrator. *** Pick a very strong password for this account ***

Go To Notifications

Go To Notifications;Here you'll find the categories for all the different events you can use to trigger alerts. We're using Client Events, so expand that. By the way, if you want to undo what we're about to change, use that red Reset To Defaults button to reset any alerts you've changed.

Here you’ll find the categories for all the different events you can use to trigger alerts.

We’re using Client Events, so expand that.

By the way, if you want to undo what we’re about to change, use that red Reset  To Defaults button to reset any alerts you’ve changed.

Set The Alert and Email

Right now, it the only way to get the email to send is if you also select the Alert checkbox. It can create a lot of alerts though (see circled icon) so clear your alerts regularly.

We’re using the alert for “User connected (wireless)” so click the checkboxes for Alert and Email.

Bonus: I expanded Hotspot Events because I’m also sending myself an alert for “Guest payment processed” so I can confirm our Daypass users have connected OK, but this isn’t used in our Zapier process.

Click the Apply Changes button. Scroll the screen down if it isn’t visible.

Time Passes…

Let’s Finish That Template

Let's Finish That Template;Since you have a busy cowork business, a member has likely arrived and joined your WiFi. If not, make an alert happen by disconnecting your device (maybe your phone) from WiFi, then re-connecting it. As an admin, you should also get an email of the alert. Switch back your Zapier Parser screen and you should have an email by now. Click Edit see it.

Since you have a busy cowork business, a member has likely arrived and joined your WiFi. If not, make an alert happen by disconnecting your device (maybe your phone) from WiFi, then re-connecting it. As an admin, you should also get an email of the alert.

Switch back your Zapier Parser screen and you should have an email by now. Click Edit see it.

;I already had a template made, so these screens refer to an extra template, but otherwise they''re the same as setting the main template. Highlight the content you want to use and give it a name. The next steps explain in more detail.

I already had a template made, so these screens refer to an extra template, but otherwise they”re the same as setting the main template.

Highlight the content you want to use and give it a name. The next steps explain in more detail.

Highlight And Name Your Variables

Highlight And Name Your Variables;Again, I had to grab a different area to demonstrate, but you highlight the section of the email you want to use in Zapier and give it a name. The next step shows what I really capture.

Again, I had to grab a different area to demonstrate, but you highlight the section of the email you want to use in Zapier and give it a name. The next step shows what I really capture.

Make Your Template For Zapier (Before)

Make Your Template For Zapier (Before);From the alert UniFi sent, highlight the content you want to use later on. These are the two areas I chose, although we really only need the second one. Just highlight the MAC address (the part within the brackets) and not the brackets. The next step shows the finished template.

From the alert UniFi sent, highlight the content you want to use later on. These are the two areas I chose, although we really only need the second one.

Just highlight the MAC address (the part within the brackets) and not the brackets.

The next step shows the finished template.

Make Your Template For Zapier (After)

Make Your Template For Zapier (After);We need the MAC address of our member's device, so I selected that content and named it {{usermac}}. Note that the square brackets are not part of the highlighted selection. I also selected the alarm subject and called it {{status}} in case I want to use that later on. Leave the Body source and Parser engine at the default values. Click Save Address and Template button when you're done.

We need the MAC address of our member’s device, so I selected that content and named it {{usermac}}. Note that the square brackets are not part of the highlighted selection.

I also selected the alarm subject and called it {{status}} in case I want to use that later on.

Leave the Body source and Parser engine at the default values.

Click Save Address and Template button when you’re done.

Go To Zapier

Make A New Zap

Make A New Zap;For Step 1, choose the Email Parser by Zapier component and select New Email as the trigger. Sync or connect your Parser and Zapier accounts if prompted. Choose your mailbox in the Edit Options step and test it.

For Step 1, choose the Email Parser by Zapier component and select New Email as the trigger.

Sync or connect your Parser and Zapier accounts if prompted.

Choose your mailbox in the Edit Options step and test it.

(Optional) Clean The Date Format

Free Zapier accounts only allow 2-step zaps, so this step should be skipped unless you have a paid account.

I wanted to use only the date and not the date/time. The reason is the app I use in the last step has a “create record if it doesn’t exist” action, and if I have a record with the same date and MAC address, it won’t create a duplicate record.

The Formatter by Zapier enables you to manipulate dates, times, numbers, etc. to get them in the format your other app may need.

Write The Record

Write The Record;I'm using a service called Fieldbook, but you can probably get a prettier end result if you use AirTable. You could also use Google Sheets, but I don't know if you can get all database-y and link the sheets/tables. My spreadsheet has columns for Date, Devices, Member Name and Device Name. These last two columns are linked to a sheet I set up ahead of time with our members names, device names, and device MAC addresses (all things you can get from the UniFi controller). Test your Zap. If it works, save and make sure it's turned on.

I’m using a service called Fieldbook, but you can probably get a prettier end result if you use AirTable.

You could also use Google Sheets, but I don’t know if you can get all database-y and link the sheets/tables.

My spreadsheet has columns for Date, Devices, Member Name and Device Name. These last two columns are linked to a sheet I set up ahead of time with our members names, device names, and device MAC addresses (all things you can get from the UniFi controller).

Test your Zap. If it works, save and make sure it’s turned on.

The End Result

The Fieldbook Entries

The Fieldbook Entries;Here's how the information is presented after Zapier updates the Attendance 2018 sheet in Fieldbook. Green Devices are ones that match a MAC address in my Devices table, and the Device name and member Name is filled in automatically when there's a match. The salmon colored Devices are MAC addresses I don't have paired with a member (yet). We had a meeting that night, and the alerts aren't differentiating between our member network and our event network. That may be my next project when this is polished a bit more.

Here’s how the information is presented after Zapier updates the Attendance 2018 sheet in Fieldbook.

Green Devices are ones that match a MAC address in my Devices table, and the Device name and member Name is filled in automatically when there’s a match.

The salmon colored Devices are MAC addresses I don’t have paired with a member (yet). We had a meeting that night, and the alerts aren’t differentiating between our member network and our event network. That may be my next project when this is polished a bit more.

 

Created with StepShot Guides

Don’t Be A Digital Sharecropper

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domain name photoAfter writing my earlier post about branding mistakes, I was listening to a Copyblogger* podcast and I was reminded how important it is to have your own domain name. More to the point, I was reminded WHY you want to have your content show up under YOUR domain name.

How many times have you heard about someone’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or other social media account being suspended? Just yesterday I read about a mommyblogger whose Instagram account was shut down over a minor terms of service violation regarding a photo. Right or wrong, all her content is no longer available. All her effort creating a page, getting likes, followers or whatever, and now it’s a big blank page.

Digital Sharecropping

The term is “digital sharecropping” and it applies when you put your content on any platform you don’t control. If someone else owns it, you’re beholden to them and subject to their whims. Without your own website – and your own domain name, you’re creating traffic for someone else. All that fuss you hear about SEO and Google page rank? You’re helping to build someone else’s reputation and traffic. Wouldn’t you rather have all of your effort benefit your own business instead of theirs?

Your Domain Name = Your Brand

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you should abandon social media. Not at all.

First, sharecropping extends to free websites and blogs too. Anyone remember Geocities.com? They had tens of thousands of websites hosted for free. They all vanished when Geocities closed their doors. Today, sites like blogger.com, web.com, weebly.com offer ways to get a free website. [Read more…] about Don’t Be A Digital Sharecropper

The One Big Branding Mistake Businesses Make

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misspelled photo
Photo by victoriapeckham

We all know how important branding is to your business. That’s why you worked endless hours on a name, a tag line, and a logo design. And don’t forget the effort you put in to make sure you could secure a domain name that matched! But, there’s a major piece in the branding puzzle that is often overlooked, and it defeats all the work you put in to create a consistent image. Fortunately, it’s easy – and cheap – to fix this huge branding mistake. I’ll tell you what it is in a minute.  [Read more…] about The One Big Branding Mistake Businesses Make

Setting Up Google Apps on an iPhone

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[The following information comes from Google Apps for Business setup wizard]

Google Apps works great on iPhones and other iOS products, where you can access your email, contacts, and calendar using the device’s built-in apps. This is easy to set up, using Google Sync.

Want quick access to your apps? Skip all this and access your apps in a moblie browser by visiting http://mail.google.com/a/<your domain name> on mobile Safari.

Step 1: Sync an iPhone with Google Apps

After you enable Google Sync for your domain, have each user follow these instructions on their iPhone.

  1. Open the Settings application on the iPhone’s home screen.
  2. Open Accounts & Passwords.
  3. Tap Add Account….
  4. Select Microsoft Exchange. [NOTE: screens may be different depending on your version of iOS]
    iPhone add account screen iPhone add mail account screen iPhone add account screen
  5. In the Email field, enter your full Google Apps email address.
  6. Leave the Domain field blank.
  7. Enter your full Google Apps email address as the Username.
  8. Enter your Google Apps password as the Password.
  9. Tap Next at the top of your screen. (Choose Cancel if the Unable to Verify Certificate dialog appears.)
  10. When the new Server field appears, enter m.google.com.
  11. Press Next at the top of your screen again.
    iPhone Google Mail settings iPhone Google mail account
  12. Select the Google Apps services (Mail, Calendar, and Contacts) you want to sync.
  13. Unless you want to delete all the existing Contacts and Calendars on your phone, select the Keep on my iPhone option when prompted. This will also allow you to keep syncing with your computer via iTunes. To sync only the My Contacts group, you must choose to Delete Existing Contacts during the Google Sync install when prompted. If you choose to keep existing contacts, it will sync the contents of the “All Contacts” group instead. If there are no contacts on your phone, the latter will happen — the contents of your All Contacts group will be synced.
    iPhone mail, contacts, calendars iPhone keep contacts

That’s it! You can now access Google Apps from your iPhone. If you have Push enabled on the phone, synchronization starts automatically. You can also just open the Mail, Calendar or Contacts app and wait a few seconds to start a sync.

Setting Up Google Apps On Your Android Phone

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[The following information comes from Google Apps for Business setup wizard]

Using Google Apps on an Android is really easy. Just add your Google Apps account to the phone, then select the services you want to use. Each user should follow these instructions on their own phone.

  1. Open the Accounts & Sync Settings screen on your phone. You can do this in Contacts by pressing Menu and touching Accounts, or directly in the Settings application.
    Android account & sync settings
  2. The Accounts & Sync Settings screen displays your current sync settings and a list of your current accounts.
  3. Touch Add account.
  4. Touch Google to add your Google Apps account.
  5. Touch Sign in when prompted for your Google Account.
  6. Enter your full Google Apps email address as your username, and then enter your password.
  7. Select which services you’d like to sync between your phone and Google Apps.

That’s it! You can now use Google Apps from your Android.

Get A Virtual Phone Number For Your Business

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800 & Local Numbers for $12What the heck is a virtual phone system? Well, you pick your main business phone number (or port an existing one) and then you can create extensions that forward the calls to your employee’s cell phones. There’s a lot more to it, and I’ll touch on that as you read on.

I’ve used these guys and been very impressed with both their service and with their customer service. A few months ago, I recommended them to a client who runs a decentralized, scientific consulting and engineering firm. He has an office in Tennessee and another in the Washington, D.C. area and has scientists spread around the country. I followed up with him about a month after he started using Grasshopper to make sure he was happy.

For his environment, Grasshopper works very well. Just one number to give to clients and the calls can route to any phone anywhere. He set up a local Washington, D.C. number and a toll-free number for everywhere else. He explained he used their “voice studio” to do the greeting and virtual operator recordings, and that his wife swears it’s the same voice actor used in an insurance commercial on television (unnamed because I don’t remember, and I don’t know their service so no plugs here).

So how could this help you? Well, if you’re a small business and you and your partners are working from your cellphones, this gives you one number to give to your clients. Like a conventional phone system, you can transfer calls to a coworker’s extension when needed. You also can have your “switchboard” route all calls to voicemail after 5pm if you want. There’s options to allow overrides for VIPs or emergencies if you want that flexibility. Have a sales team or a support department? Everyone can be treated fairly by having incoming calls rotate through the list so everyone gets a turn. Bringing on an intern for the semester? In just a few minutes you’ve added her to your directory and she has a voicemail box waiting for her to customize. Now if only the rest of your onboarding process could be so smooth.

Is it sneaky and deceptive to lead people to think your company is comfortably settled in one big office somewhere? No, I don’t think so. More and more, workers are becoming extremely mobile. No one blinks twice at the thought of a sales rep rarely being at his desk and using his mobile phone as his primary means of contact. Lots of huge companies have their PBX phone systems set up to forward employee calls directly to their cell phones. At the opposite end of the spectrum, small startups have been using virtual phone systems like this for years. Google Voice is a prime example. There’s a local bicycle cab company here that uses Google Voice as the sole way for customers to request a pickup. They text their address to the Google Voice number and it goes out to the drivers to let them know where to get their next fare.

Now that each end of the bell curve is using virtual phone systems, it’s finding its way into the mainstream business world. It used to be that flexibility like this needed a lot of hardware and a full-time trained technician to keep the system running. Grasshopper starts at $12 per month and all plans include unlimited extensions. Let me say that again – unlimited extensions. You’re paying for minutes used each month, not for the number of phones you forward to. They have lots of other features too – faxback document libraries so your clients can get order forms the “old fashioned” way. Voicemails that are sent to your email inbox. Smartphone apps that let your outgoing calls show your Grasshopper number. Yep, no more worrying about your family time being interrupted evenings and weekends because that “special” client got ahold of your cell number. And of course, since you can choose your Grasshopper number, you can get a ‘vanity” number – you know, like 1-800-555-TACO if you’re a Mexican restaurant. So give Grasshopper Virtual Phone System a try, you’ll like the freedom you get.

BackBlaze – Computer Backups You Can Live With

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BackblazeBackblaze - backup your computer online is another online computer backup solution, with a really interesting bonus – finding your lost computer. It makes perfect sense. If your laptop gets lost or someone breaks into your home or office and steals your computer, Backblaze will report the location of the machine every hour when it’s online. [Read more…] about BackBlaze – Computer Backups You Can Live With

Review of Web Hosting With Domain.com

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domaincom_thumbnail

I’m evaluating several web hosting companies for an upcoming class I’m teaching. Look for additional reviews in the near future as I wrap up my testing of the three I’ve narrowed it down to. Here’s the first of those.

I ran into the folks from Domain.com at SXSW in March. They’re pretty big in website hosting, but tend to fly under the radar compared to firms like Bluehost, HostGator and of course, GoDaddy. So after talking to them a bit, I made a note to check out their hosting and see how it measured up as far as cost, speed, and ease of use are concerned. Here’s how that shook out.

First off, Domain.com offers a single-domain hosting for under $4 a month, and that’s a price good for 1, 2 or 3 years. Many hosts tease with a low price but then you discoer the price is only good for a 3-year contract and rates go up a dollar a a month if the term is reduced to 2 years, and another dollar if you select a 1 year term. Domain.com didn’t play that game, so I was feeling pretty good so far. [Read more…] about Review of Web Hosting With Domain.com