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darogael

Real-world scenario using Flic's physical button, SharePoint and Flow

Description

This blog walks through a real-world scenario of how Flic's physical button can integrate with SharePoint and Flow to give real-time status of all technicians (or engineers, consultants, contractors, ETC) who are at their customer's location. When the technician arrives, he/she clicks on Flic once whichsends the manager information of the technician's location and the current weather conditions. Weather conditions of the technician's current location plays an important role in the time spent and hence this information is also provided to the manager via email.
In this example, the Flic app on an iOS device is used.

 

Setting the scene
This short video describes the scenario used in this blog.

 

 


Flic
In this scenario we are using three different Flic buttons who colors are black, white and green. To learn more about Flic you can go to their website.

Flic.png

 

 

The short video walks you through pairing the Flic button with iPhone using Bluetooth. Here we are pairing three buttons to a single phone, however, in real-life scenario you will need only one.

 

 

SharePoint
Two SharePoint lists have been created. The Flic Owner list keeps track of the buttons assigned to the technicians. The UUID or Universal Unique Identification is used to identify the button. Here are screenshots of the list and the columns

Capture1.JPG

 

 

Capture2.JPG.png

 

 

 

 

The Enforce unique values option has been selected for the Button UUID column. This will avoid any duplicates

Capture3.JPG

 

 

 

The Flic list is used to save all the information using Flow. Here is a screenshot of all the columns

 

Capture4.JPG

 

 

 

 

Connections
Following are the four connections used.


 1. Flic : You will need to create your own Flic account prior to setting up this connection. This account will also be used to configure the Flic app on your smart phone.

 

Capture5a.JPG 


 2. MSN weather:

 

Capture5b.JPG

 
 3. SharePoint: In this demo SharePoint Online is used, however, the same can be done with SharePoint On-Premises as long as Gateway is installed and configured.

 

Capture5c.JPG

 
 4. Office 365 Outlook:
 

Capture5d.JPG
 
If you intend to send emails out to managers or supervisors then you will need Office 365 Users as well
  
 Capture5e.JPG
 
Flow

This video walks through a step-by-step process of how to build the two Flows. The first Flow is when the engineer/technician arrives at the location and the second flow is when he/she departs.

 

 

Demo

In this video we will first connect the 'Flic White - Technician arrived' and 'Flic White - Technician departed' Flows that we made to the Flic button using the iPhone app. Then walk through an entire example of when an engineer/technician arrives and departs from a location and how the Flic button's integration with Flow will update the SharePoint list with information from Flic and MSN weather. Here's the video

 

 

Conclusion

Currently Flic is in preview mode in Flow and already has several great features and functionalities available. The integration of Flic's physical button using a smart phone makes these regular, lengthy and manual tasks into a one-click automated process. Stay tuned for more blogs on how Flic with Flow can make your life a lot easier and faster!

 

Helpful links

 

 

About the Author
  • Experienced Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in Office 365, Azure, SharePoint Online, PowerShell, Nintex, K2, SharePoint Designer workflow automation, PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, PowerShell, Active Directory, Operating Systems, Networking, and JavaScript. Strong consulting professional with a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) focused in Information Technology from Mumbai University.
  • I am a Microsoft Business Applications MVP and a Senior Manager at EY. I am a technology enthusiast and problem solver. I work/speak/blog/Vlog on Microsoft technology, including Office 365, Power Apps, Power Automate, SharePoint, and Teams Etc. I am helping global clients on Power Platform adoption and empowering them with Power Platform possibilities, capabilities, and easiness. I am a leader of the Houston Power Platform User Group and Power Automate community superuser. I love traveling , exploring new places, and meeting people from different cultures.
  • Read more about me and my achievements at: https://ganeshsanapblogs.wordpress.com/about MCT | SharePoint, Microsoft 365 and Power Platform Consultant | Contributor on SharePoint StackExchange, MSFT Techcommunity
  • Encodian Owner / Founder - Ex Microsoft Consulting Services - Architect / Developer - 20 years in SharePoint - PowerPlatform Fan
  • Founder of SKILLFUL SARDINE, a company focused on productivity and the Power Platform. You can find me on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/manueltgomes and twitter http://twitter.com/manueltgomes. I also write at https://www.manueltgomes.com, so if you want some Power Automate, SharePoint or Power Apps content I'm your guy 🙂
  • I am the Owner/Principal Architect at Don't Pa..Panic Consulting. I've been working in the information technology industry for over 30 years, and have played key roles in several enterprise SharePoint architectural design review, Intranet deployment, application development, and migration projects. I've been a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) 15 consecutive years and am also a Microsoft Certified SharePoint Masters (MCSM) since 2013.
  • Big fan of Power Platform technologies and implemented many solutions.
  • Passionate #Programmer #SharePoint #SPFx #M365 #Power Platform| Microsoft MVP | SharePoint StackOverflow, Github, PnP contributor
  • Web site – https://kamdaryash.wordpress.com Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM149rFkLNgerSvgDVeYTZQ/