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In this article, we will go over how to automatically send a chat message to a direct manager when employees clock in.
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Prerequisites
For this automation, you will need the following items in your Connecteam account:
Operational Basic business plan or higher (for the Time Clock)
Communication Basic business plan or higher (for the use of Chat)
And of course, a Zapier account.
Step by Step: Setting up the Automation on Zapier
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 direct manager.
Step 1: Connect to your Zapier account and create a new Zap
Step 2: Create Your Trigger.
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.
Step 3: Now it's time to create the Action.
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:
Find a User -
For the action event, select 'Find a user' in the setup tab and click 'Continue.
This ensures the user who is clocking in will be properly connected to the creation of a chat message. You'll need to select which user's clock-in information should trigger the chat message.
In the configure tab, select the User ID, click continue, and test the step to ensure it pulls out the User ID information from Connecteam that matches the ID from the trigger step.
To move on to the next event action, click on the plus button of the diagram, search for Connecteam.
Send Private Message (DM) -
For the action event, select 'Send Private Message'. In the configure tab, you'll need to select the direct manager ID as the 'Recipient User'. Click the three dots next to the 'Recipient User' field, select Custom, then choose "Find User in Connecteam" and select the direct manager field. This will automatically pull your user's direct manager information if you have that data updated in the User Profile fields. Next, choose the publisher/ sender. In our example, we selected 'Fresh & Clean Management' as the publisher of the chat message that will be sent to the direct manager.
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.
Step 4: Test and Publish the Zap
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.'
How the Chat Message Appears in Connecteam
The direct manager of the user who has clocked in will receive a message about their employee who had just clocked in.
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