Automation

Automation enables the creation of advanced notifications, termed triggers, by combining multiple conditions with corresponding actions.

In the main view of the Automation module, all triggers are listed, providing an overview of configured alerts and notifications. Users can conveniently organize this list by either ID or creation date using the button located beside the search bar.

To the right of the triggers, there is a panel providing key information about each trigger:

1. Actions Indicator (1): Indicates the actions associated with the trigger.

2. Assignment Status (2): Displays whether the trigger is assigned to a group, vehicle, or asset.

3. On/Off Status (3): Shows whether the trigger is currently active (on) or inactive (off).

4. Options (4): Offers the ability to copy or delete the trigger.

Creating a trigger involves three main steps:

1. Name Trigger:

2. Select Conditions: Choose the conditions that must be met to trigger the action.

3. Select Entities: Specify the entities, vehicles, or assets to which the trigger will apply.

4. Select Actions: Define the actions the trigger will perform once the conditions are met.

Let's begin by creating a simple trigger to notify when the ignition of our vehicle is turned ON and send an email notification.

1. Name the Trigger: Navigate to the Automation module. Click on the top right icon to create a new trigger. Provide a descriptive name for your trigger when prompted.

   

2. Select the Conditions: Click on the "+ ADD CONDITION" button to add conditions. A dialog will appear where you can choose from several predefined conditions. For example, select the condition "Ignition turns ON" from the list.

   

3. Select the Entities: Click on the "Entities" tab. Choose the entities (either from the Groups, Vehicles, or Assets tab) that you want to apply the trigger to. Click on the vehicles that you want to monitor with this notification. You can select multiple groups, vehicles, or assets as needed.

   

4. Select the Actions to Perform:
   Now, let's select the actions to perform when the ignition is turned ON for any of the vehicles we selected. Here are the available actions:

   1. Alerts: These are alerts that appear as popups on the gateway. They can be browsed later in the Alerts app.

   2. Email: This action sends an email notification to the specified email addresses.

   3. Safe Immobilization: This action activates the safe immobilization feature of your vehicle if it's installed.

   4. Output Management: This action activates or deactivates the device's outputs.

   5. SMS & Voice Calls: This action sends an SMS text message or places a phone call to the specified destination number. Note that this feature may require a subscription service.

   6. External Integrations: This action sends an HTTP request to an external API.
      Please select the appropriate action(s) based on your requirements.

ACTIONS: Alerts

To configure alerts for the trigger:

1. Click on "CONFIGURE" next to Alerts.

2. Create a Gateway Alert by selecting this option. A list of users will appear on the right-hand side, with the creator of the alert selected by default.

3. Choose the severity level of the alert: Informative, Warning, or Critical. These levels help distinguish the importance of the alert. For example, in the Alert card inside the Tracking dashboard, Critical alerts are prioritized first, followed by any warnings and informative alerts.

The function of the "entity icon" action is to change the icon and/or the icon color of a vehicle in the Tracking module when the trigger is fired.

The icon returns to normal when the alert is resolved in the Alerts app.

ACTIONS: Email Event

To configure an email action event:

1. Press the back button to return to the list of actions.

2. Click on "CONFIGURE" next to the email action.

3. Click on the input field, which will display a dropdown of users in your group. Alternatively, you can manually enter any email address you want to notify.

Saving Triggers

To save the trigger:

1. Optionally customize the time zone of the trigger or specify how many times it will fire in the "Options" tab.

2. Click on the "SAVE" button located at the top right of the page to finish creating your trigger.

You’re all set to receive an email notification and generate an alert inside the system when any of the vehicles we selected turn ON.

Sample Email

The email that the system generates will automatically contain the following information:

Subject: [Name of the Trigger] - [Time Generated] - [Entity Name] - [Event Triggered]

Body:

• Vehicle Name: [Vehicle Name]
• Event: [Event]
• Time and Date: [Time and Date]
• Location: [Address of the Place]
• Speed: [Speed]
• Heading: [Heading]
• Coordinates: [Coordinates]

Attached: Map Snapshot of the Location

Optional Actions

Adding a Custom Message

You can add a custom message to the alert by going back to the Conditions tab, and going down to the “Default Message” section. Then write your custom message.

It will appear inside the email you send, and on the alert that’s generated inside the gateway. Note the red area, which are the customizable sections of the alert.

Safe Immobilization

In the actions section, you have the option to configure safe immobilization by pressing the configuration button. Then, you can select whether to activate or deactivate it. It's important to note that safe immobilization requires professional installation of the device's output cable to a relay inside the vehicle.

Output Management

Similar to safe immobilization, in this section, you can manage any of the Syrus outputs. For example, you can activate output 2 and deactivate extended output 1.

SMS

You can configure Pegasus to send personalized SMS messages to assigned numbers.

The "send from device" option allows you to send an SMS from the SIM card that the Syrus device is using. (Note: The SIM card must have the capability to send SMS messages.)

Voice Call

You can configure Pegasus to call the numbers you assign with a personalized message. Calls are configured with:

• To: Call recipient
• Language: Language that will be spoken by the caller
• Gender: Gender of the person who will make the call
• Loop: Number of times the message will be repeated
• Dialog: Personalized message

External Integrations

You can send an HTTP request to an external API or even consume the same Pegasus APIs.
The following example uses the Pegasus API – it uses $pegasus_api which is a shortcode used to replace the base_url of the API – thus we can use: $pegasus_api/vehicles/{{object.id}}/plugins/photocam/ to tell Syrus to take a photo. (camera accessory required). Note that object.id refers to the ID of the entity that generated the trigger.

Tip: you can use the /event-photos api to add a photo to an external resource request, note that you’ll want to add a countdown of at least 1 minute to allow time for the photo to upload.

Trigger Options

The trigger options are used to have more control over the trigger, it allows you to set a limit for how many times it should fire, or create a timed countdown till the actions are fired.

• Owner: The Owner option allows you to change the owner of the triggers. When modifying this trigger owner, all associations (vehicles, assets, groups, etc.) will be updated to reflect the access of the new owner.

• Time zone: The Time zone option is used when sending a date/timestamp in a trigger message. For example, the time that appears in the email is controlled by this Time Zone option. By default, it is set to the timezone of your computer browser.

• Firing limit: The Firing limit is used to limit the number of times the trigger will fire. Once the trigger has fired the specified number of times, it will stop sending messages. Please note that a change in the trigger’s conditions resets this firing limit. Also, note that when the limit is reached, the trigger WILL STAY ACTIVE.

• Firing rate: The Firing rate is a limit of how many times the trigger will generate in a given time window. This is useful to avoid receiving repeated triggers within a certain time frame. For example, if you set the rate to 'up to 5 times in 2 hours', the trigger will only fire up to 5 times within a 2-hour window. If the trigger generates more than 5 times in less than 2 hours, it will ignore the excess triggers and not fire the actions. This applies per entity, so if you select multiple vehicles, each one will have its own firing rate limit.

  

• Countdown: The countdown is a delay in the firing of the trigger’s actions. It is recommended to use this feature with the “Clear active countdown for the following triggers” option. Here’s an example to illustrate its usage:

  Suppose we want to receive a notification when a vehicle spends more than 20 minutes inside a specific geofence with the ignition ON.

  To achieve this, we create a trigger with the condition: Ignition is ON AND Is inside a geofence, and we set a countdown of 20 minutes.

  When this condition is met, the countdown begins.

  

Then we create a new trigger to get rid of, or clear this 20 minute countdown, the conditions for this new trigger can be whenever the Ignition is turned OFF OR Is outside a geofence.

Thus we would have a trigger that fires a notification after 20 minutes of detecting that the vehicle is inside of a zone with the ignition ON.