Since we ran out of space in our last post (I think it was too long!), I have created this one, to expand a bit more on the Integrations. There are many ways to integrate Spark into our software and things that we do that I wanted to dedicate this Post to something useful.
In this post we are going to create a Form from Wufoo, and when the form is filled out, you will be invited to join my Collaboration Room in Spark. Lets Give it a try!
Things that you Need to complete for this short experiment:
Open a FREE account with Spark
Open a FREE account with Wufoo
Open a FREE account with Zapier
Now lets get to the action!
Lets create the Form!
I believe there are many other Form applications out there but I though it will be useful to try it out with a FREE service and easy to use. You really don’t need to be a programmer or a web developer to create something like this with Wufoo. Also I’m a bit familiar with the service so I’m going to give it a shot!
I’m using the FREE version, here are the facts about the FREE version:
Login and go to Forms –> Select + New Form
The form will look like this
Creating this form is just a quick drag and drop from the Add Field Options Menu.
I used:
– Name Field from the “Fancy Pants” section
– Email Field * Note the Red Star, its because is required. Double click on the item and mark it as Required under Field Settings.
Now lets move to Cisco Spark
– Login to your Cisco Spark application, from the web, Desktop Application or Mobile Application.
– Create a Team, and under that team, create a Room
This is what I did in my case:
Note that I have created different groups, but the one we will be using is the Collaboration Room
** That is all we had to do in Spark…
Now lets create our Zap
Applications such as Zapier like to call their actions or program connectors Zaps, There is another one that can do similar things and its called IFTTT these guys call them Receipts…
So what do their actions are capable of doing? – Its just a matter of triggers and actions, Trigger –> receive a new subscriber? Action –> Send a text Message to a number
There is no better way to show something if is not by creating an example, keep reading:
– Login to Zapier
– Click on Make a ZAP
– Once you click on it you will be presented with the following:
– Choose your Trigger APP, in my case I chose Wufoo
– Select your trigger, in my case I selected New Entry
– The next step is to connect your Wufoo account
– Once your account is connected the next section will contain all the Forms you have in your account. Select one
– Test the connection and go to the next step The Action
– Choose an Action APP –> Look for Cisco Spark
– Once there, we would like to select an action, I selected Create Membership
– Connect your Spark Account
– Now under the template elect the options, in my case I used:
After you have done that, its just a matter of begin testing and playing with the application… but for what I can tell you the sky is the limit!
The End Result
Here is the FORM, feel free to fill it out and chat with me in the other End… The form will trigger an invitation from Cisco Spark to join my Collaboration Room
[wufoo username=”asarmiento85″ formhash=”r13djgj01o0qlng” autoresize=”true” height=”342″ header=”show” ssl=”true”]
Last words
This is a very useful demonstration of the many things you can accomplish with Cisco Spark. I have to be honest, I’m very new to all this hype of Programability, but I’m learning few things every day here and there, and I think this is where technology is heading!
I think I will keep using my Spark Form in all my posts from now on. I will be glad to have you in my Collaboration Room!
As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions, I will do my best to provide answers or point you in the right direction!
About the Author:
Andres Sarmiento, CCIE # 53520 (Collaboration)
With more than 13 years of experience, Andres is specialized in the Unified Communications and Collaboration technologies. Consulted for several companies in South Florida, also Financial Institutions on behalf of Cisco Systems. Andres has been involved in high-profile implementations including Cisco technologies; such as Data Center, UC & Collaboration, Contact Center Express, Routing & Switching, Security and Hosted IPT Service provider infrastructures.