Zapier: Receive Chat Messages in Team Chats When Users Clock In

Zapier is an automation platform that connects over 3,000 web apps, allowing users to create custom workflows to automate repetitive tasks. It simplifies integration and automation processes without requiring coding skills, enhancing productivity and efficiency across multiple applications.

In this article, we will go over how to automatically create a team chat message when employees clock in.

For this automation, you will need the following items in your Connecteam account:

And of course, a Zapier account.

Before we begin, it's important to note that each connection/automation made through Zapier is known as a Zap. Every Zap consists of a trigger and one or more actions. A trigger is an event that starts a Zap, and an action is an event a Zap performs.

In our example, Clocking into Connecteam serves as the trigger, with the action being a chat message being sent to a team chat group or channel.

First, click on the trigger rectangle and select Connecteam. In the Setup tab, choose Trigger Event as "Clock in" and then connect your Connecteam account.

Note: The Zapier setup process follows three main steps: the Set Up tab, the Configure tab, and testing your Zap.

Next, in the Configure tab, you will need to select the relevant Time Clock.

Then, click on the 'Test trigger' button. This will "pull" the records from your Time Clock of whom you choose. Click on continue.

⚠️ Important: If this is your first time connecting to Zapier, you will be asked to enter your Zapier API key which can be acquired by clicking on your avatar at the top right > Settings > API & Integrations and then generating your Zapier API Key to copy into Zapier. Then, return to Zapier and in the configure step proceed with the rest.

To do so, click on the Action rectangle and search for Connecteam.In this automation, we'll create several actions (multi-step), so follow the steps below carefully:

In the configure tab, you'll need to select the team chat or channel where you want the message sent (for instance, 'Managers'), then choose the publisher/ sender (in our example, we selected Management as the publisher of the chat message).

In the final stage, select the name or User ID of the employee who is clocking in, connect the previous stages, and write the message manually, such as "User just clocked in."

The next and final step is to test the zap and publish it. Here you will see a summary of the action you just created. If everything looks correct, click on 'Test step.'

If everything works and no errors are returned you will see a checkmark in the action section, you'll also see that a shift was sent to Connecteam verifying that things did work. Now, you can proceed to publish this automation by clicking on 'Publish.'

The team chat message with the details of your employee's clock-in will now appear in your selected chat. This is a huge game changer if you want to track attendance when you're on the go.

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