Activate Variable - From e-mail?

[Teken]

I am not sure if this was my imagination or indeed this is something I read here or else where. But is there a method to send an e-mail to the 994 Series Controller and have it trigger a variable that will in turn send out another e-mail?

 

I know this sounds kind of convoluted and maybe it is.

 

Essentially I would like to know if there is a simple method to send a API call to the controller and then have it react.

 

The use of an e-mail was just a simple example for others to follow.  

[paulbates]

Hey Teken

I don't know how to do it via email. However you could use REST calls to set a variable. It does require an initial login, I think.

 

The network module or email could be used to send a message back out

 

Paul

[Teken]

Hey Teken

I don't know how to do it via email. However you could use REST calls to set a variable. It does require an initial login, I think.

 

The network module or email could be used to send a message back out

 

Paul

 

Hello Paul,

 

Is there a possible way to send all of that in email header? As this will be done internally via a on site SMTP mail server. If some kind of API call can be done which does not require sending credentials that would be even better.

 

Essentially I want to see if a trouble / fault e-mail that is issued by another appliance can be used to initiate something on the 994 Series Controller.

[KMan]

Email to ISY can be done indirectly through IFTTT, using the email channel and maker channel.

 

The email channel will receive an email, and the maker channel can generate a rest call to ISY.  You will either need to have the appliance send an email to IFTTT, or have the email forwarded to IFTTT.

 

I think any rest call to ISY is going to require credentials.  If using IFTTT, going through the ISY portal gives some measure of security, as you can create an ISY Portal user that is non-admin.

 

Here is a good post by MWareman describing how to use the maker channel and the ISY portal.

[Teken]

Email to ISY can be done indirectly through IFTTT, using the email channel and maker channel.

 

The email channel will receive an email, and the maker channel can generate a rest call to ISY. You will either need to have the appliance send an email to IFTTT, or have the email forwarded to IFTTT.

 

I think any rest call to ISY is going to require credentials. If using IFTTT, going through the ISY portal gives some measure of security, as you can create an ISY Portal user that is non-admin.

 

Here is a good post by MWareman describing how to use the maker channel and the ISY portal.

Kman,

 

That's just awesome I knew it wasn't just a dream in my head!

 

Now given the information provided in the link above. It appears I will still need to wait for intermediate certificate support if I want to accomplish some of this locally?

 

The first step is to sign up to IFTT and see how all of this is actually glued together.

 

So briefly am I correct to assume the IFTT service will essentially filter key words in a email header and based on what I have programmed the maker channel to do it will in turn activate a variable of my choosing?

 

I want to make sure I fully understand the basic premise and what all the caveats and limitations are.

 

For those wondering and following this thread I will not be using this for time sensitive / mission critical events.

 

This is more for a proof of concept for a couple of projects under development for my home and another site.

 

Thanks Kman!

 

 

Ideals are peaceful - History is violent

[KMan]

Teken,

 

Now given the information provided in the link above. It appears I will still need to wait for intermediate certificate support if I want to accomplish some of this locally?

I *think* intermediate certificates are needed if you want to use IFTTT without the ISY portal. I don't think they are needed to do things locally (neither ifttt nor ISY portal can be run locally).

 

So briefly am I correct to assume the IFTT service will essentially filter key words in a email header and based on what I have programmed the maker channel to do it will in turn activate a variable of my choosing?

The native ifttt email trigger can trigger on receipt of any email, or on a hashtag in a subject line. Note that these emails are sent to an ifttt email address.

There is another channel specifically for gmail that is more flexible and integrates into a gmail address.

 

If you are running an SMTP server locally, I suspect there are ways to hook in to it and/or run scripts to generate rest requests to the ISY. It would be more complex, and may require some programming, but also is not dependent on the cloud (ifttt).

 

-K

[Teken]

Teken,

 

 

I *think* intermediate certificates are needed if you want to use IFTTT without the ISY portal. I don't think they are needed to do things locally (neither ifttt nor ISY portal can be run locally).

 

 

The native ifttt email trigger can trigger on receipt of any email, or on a hashtag in a subject line. Note that these emails are sent to an ifttt email address.

There is another channel specifically for gmail that is more flexible and integrates into a gmail address.

 

If you are running an SMTP server locally, I suspect there are ways to hook in to it and/or run scripts to generate rest requests to the ISY. It would be more complex, and may require some programming, but also is not dependent on the cloud (ifttt).

 

-K

 

KMan,

 

As always I thank you for your time, insight, and guidance. I will need to sit down and review the actual needs vs goals so it can be defined and expectations set. 

 

Once that is hammered out to go through the process of testing, validation, and full deployment. Right now I am setting the expectation factor to (low) so there is lots of wiggle room for me and others. I've resisted incorporating any sort of cloud based services into my HA system for obvious reasons.

 

But at this juncture it seems the cloud is the only *easy* method to get what I need at the moment. I would love a more direct route but my current cUL standing limits me to using this sort of solution.

[ISYhbsh01]

Teken,

 

A better option in my opinion, and which has been on my own to-do list for a long time, is to get yourself a cheap (but good) android phone. Have it always plugged in & connected to your Wi-Fi. Install Tasker which is a very powerful app that lets you do a million things including sending REST commands based on conditions (called contexts in Tasker) that you set up. There are several ways that you can get email data into Tasker. Two of them that comes to my mind is by either using the K-9 email app which has a plugin for Tasker, or by using Notify My Android which is a push notification service which also assigns you an email address and has a Tasker plugin as well.

 

There is a learning curve to Tasker but once you have this set up & you get the hang of it, the sky is the limit for what you can do with it. The only possible downside for you is that once you will realize what you can do with Tasker you might never want to look at your iPhone ever again…

 

If you keep an eye out on the Slickdeals.net website, you should be able to get every now & then a good prepaid Android phone for as low as $10 sometimes. You don’t have to activate it, you can just use it on Wi-Fi. I got a couple of Moto G’s & Moto E’s for $10 at various times which are relatively rock solid phones with solid specs for these kind of purposes. I wouldn’t get a junk Android phone though which might lock up at times and thus wouldn’t be 100% reliable for home automation purposes.

[Teken]

Teken,

 

A better option in my opinion, and which has been on my own to-do list for a long time, is to get yourself a cheap (but good) android phone. Have it always plugged in & connected to your Wi-Fi. Install Tasker which is a very powerful app that lets you do a million things including sending REST commands based on conditions (called contexts in Tasker) that you set up. There are several ways that you can get email data into Tasker. Two of them that comes to my mind is by either using the K-9 email app which has a plugin for Tasker, or by using Notify My Android which is a push notification service which also assigns you an email address and has a Tasker plugin as well.

 

There is a learning curve to Tasker but once you have this set up & you get the hang of it, the sky is the limit for what you can do with it. The only possible downside for you is that once you will realize what you can do with Tasker you might never want to look at your iPhone ever again…

 

If you keep an eye out on the Slickdeals.net website, you should be able to get every now & then a good prepaid Android phone for as low as $10 sometimes. You don’t have to activate it, you can just use it on Wi-Fi. I got a couple of Moto G’s & Moto E’s for $10 at various times which are relatively rock solid phones with solid specs for these kind of purposes. I wouldn’t get a junk Android phone though which might lock up at times and thus wouldn’t be 100% reliable for home automation purposes.

 

I think the above is an excellent alternative for sure but not sure if having another device in my home is something I am willing to take on.

 

Perhaps I may think differently if the other solution fails or realize it won't accomplish the end goal. Maybe I am a little jaded but some of this seems to be on the surface a easy thing to do yet its apparently not!

 

One would figure in 2015 things would be much easier to accomplish but the reality it takes more resources and effort to meet these goals.

 

Much thanks to everyone who has taken their time to offer their insight and feed back. Its safe to say this information will help others who intend to accomplish the very same.

 

Cheers!