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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

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.

TextExpander – Shortcuts Save You Time Typing

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text expander logoA great timesaver, this Mac and iPhone/iPad application allows you to assign shortcuts or abbreviations for commonly used phrases, signatures, email addresses, etc. If you use more than one computer, your shortcuts or snippets can sync via Dropbox. An added plus if you also use Windows, the TextExpander snippets and settings file can be used by the Windows app Breevy, allowing you to share the same shortcuts between both computers. TextExpander offers a free trial of the Mac version. TextExpander: (Mac): $34.95 (iPhone/iPad):$4.99

Breevy – Text Typing Timesaver

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A great timesaver. Assign shortcuts or abbreviations for commonly used phrases, signatures, email addresses, etc. If you use more than one computer, shortcuts can be synced via Dropbox. If you also use a Mac, Breevy can use the TextExpander snippets and settings file, allowing you to share the same shortcuts between both computers. Breevy offers a free trial. Breevy: $29.95