The Universal Presence Connector lets any system tell Robin who is in the office. Use it for an access control system that Robin has no built-in integration for, or for any other system that knows when people arrive. Your system sends each badge swipe to a web address, and Robin records an office visit for that person.
What the connector does
For each event, Robin finds the person by their email address or SCIM user ID, and finds the building from the event. Then Robin records a confirmed office visit for that day in that building. The person does not need a desk reservation. Their desk reservations in that building are checked in the same way as with a badge swipe.
Robin never creates a person from an event. If the email address does not belong to an active Robin user, the event fails and you see it on the Processed Events tab.
Before you start
- You need the Admin or Owner role in Robin, or another role with the Badge integrations permission.
- Your system must be able to send an HTTPS request. A developer on your team sets this up with the Universal Presence Connector developer guide.
- Your system must name each person by email address or SCIM user ID. An email address must match the primary email address on the Robin account. A SCIM user ID works if your identity provider sends it to Robin as the employee number.
Test mode and live mode
Each connection is in test mode or live mode. You choose when you create it, and you cannot change it later.
- Test mode: Robin checks each event in full, but records no visits and checks in nothing. Use it to check your mappings and your system's requests.
- Live mode: Each event counts. Robin records the person as in the office, and automatic check-in starts for their bookings in that building.
To go live after a test, create a second connection in live mode, and point your system at its web address. Then delete the test connection.
Create a connection
- Go to Manage > Integrations.
- In the Access Control card, find Universal Presence Connector and select Manage.
- Select New Connection.
- Select Universal Presence Connector.
- Enter an Integration name, and select the Vendor of your system. If it is not on the list, select Other and enter the Vendor name.
- To test first, turn on Test Mode.
- Select Create connection. You see Connector added, with the Connection ID and a sample request.
- Select Copy next to the Connection ID, and give it to the developer who sets up your system.
The connection shows in the Connections list. A green dot means live, an amber dot means test mode, and a red dot means the connection is turned off.
Get an access token
Every request from your system needs a Robin access token. The token must belong to your organization and must have the Badge integrations permission.
- Go to Manage > Integrations.
- In the API tokens card, select Generate new token.
- Name the token, for example after your system, and generate it.
- Copy the token and keep it safe. Give it to the developer who sets up your system.
An organization API token keeps working when people leave. If your plan has no API tokens card, an Admin's personal token also works, but it stops working if that person leaves or loses the Admin role. For more about tokens, see Generating a new API token.
Map your door and site names to buildings
Your system can name the place in each event in one of 2 ways. It can send Robin's own building or floor ID, and then you need no mappings. Or it can send its own name for the door or site, and then you add a mapping that tells Robin which building that name belongs to.
- On the Universal Presence Connector page, select the connection.
- On the Mappings tab, select Add mapping.
- In Source Pattern, enter the name your system sends, such as
ATL-Front-Door. - In Robin Location, select the building. Robin Level is optional.
- Add more mappings, then select Save changes. Check the list of changes and confirm it.
A pattern can use * for any number of characters and ? for one character. For example, ATL* matches every door that starts with "ATL". Case does not matter. When more than one pattern matches, Robin uses an exact match first, then the most specific pattern.
Robin records presence for the building. A floor in a mapping does not change where Robin checks the person in.
Send a test event
A test-mode connection has a test tool, so you can check a mapping before your system is ready.
- Select the gear next to the connection.
- Under Send test event, paste your token in Access token.
- Enter a person's email address, and enter a source ID from your mappings.
- Send the event. You see each step of the request, and Test successful when Robin found the person and the building.
The same panel shows the Webhook URL, which is the web address your system sends events to. Select it to copy it.
Check processed events
The Processed Events tab lists the events Robin received for the selected connection, newest first. Each row shows the time in UTC, the source ID, the person, the building and the result. Select Load more to see older events.
The result is one of these:
- Success: Robin recorded the visit.
- Test successful: a test event passed every check.
- Pending or Reported: Robin is still processing the event.
- Failed: hover over the result to see why.
An event fails when the email address does not belong to an active Robin user, when the source ID has no mapping, or when the building or floor ID does not exist in Robin. Fix the cause, then send the event again from your system.
If your system sends a request that Robin cannot read, Robin rejects the whole request, and its events do not show on this tab. Your developer sees the reason in Robin's response.
Turn off or delete a connection
Select the gear next to the connection to open its details.
- Turn off Enabled to stop the connection for a while. Robin rejects every event sent to it until you turn it on again.
- Select Delete, then Disconnect, to remove the connection. Robin deletes its mappings and its processed events. Visits Robin already recorded stay. You cannot undo a delete.