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How to get Started with Power Automate

How to get started with Power Automate.

Getting Started with Power Automate is a breeze. Just make sure you meet the Essential Requirements detailed below, and you’ll be able to create flows with the YakChat Connector right away.

Essential Requirements

You and/or your organization must have a standalone Power Apps or Power Automate plan license to take advantage of the YakChat Power Automate Connector. This is because our connector is a Power Automate Premium Connector.

You must also have registered for either a YakChat trial or have a fully licensed subscription of YakChat. 

If you don’t have a license yet, check out our pricing page below:

YakChat Pricing Page

Get Started with Power Automate

In Power Automate, there are two ways you can incorporate YakChat: 

1.  By using a YakChat pre-made template, or 

2.  By creating a unique flow

Option 1: Use a YakChat Pre-Made Template

Note: All of the templates we offer will soon be accessible for download and integration under the Power Automate ‘Templates’ section, although at present, Microsoft’s approval procedure may still be in progress. We’ve included an exported file for each template on the page below so that you can download and install the template into Power Automate, so that you can use the templates prior to approval.

Templates Page

To use one of our pre-made templates:

a)  Open Power Automate Premium Edition

b)  Select the Connectors tab on the left-hand side of the screen

c)  Search for YakChat

d)  Select the YakChat Premium Connector

e)  Choose the template you’d like to use under the Templates Section

f)  Select Create Flow

The flow you’ve selected should now be ready to use. However our more advanced templates may need to be edited and connected into your organization’s services in order for it to work as intended. For more information on how to do this, please see Microsoft’s help pages below:

Power Automate Help Pages

Option 2: Create a Unique Flow

To create a unique flow using the YakChat Connector, you’ll need to know in detail how to use Microsoft Power Automate. We’ve provided an example below to get you started, but if you’re still unsure how to use Power Automate, please check out Microsoft’s Help Pages for support via the link below:

Power Automate Help Pages

We’ve also provided a video below, that runs through the below tutorial to get you started with Power Automate custom flows.

How to get started with Power Automate

2.1  Create a Microsoft Dataverse Table

To begin with, you’ll need to create a Microsoft Dataverse Table in which you can store your texts. The following steps show you how.

a)  Open Microsoft Power Apps

b)  Select Dataverse on the left-hand side of the screen, then select Tables

c)  Now select New table

Creating a new Microsoft Dataverse Table
Creating a New Microsoft Dataverse Table

d)  Choose a display name, then change the primary column to Message

e)  You’ll now need to add a further four columns. These columns are: 

  • Direction
  •  Time
  • To Number, and 
  • From Number 

Ensure that the requirement setting is Business Required for all columns

Your Dataverse table is now ready to go.

2.2  Flow Creation

Now you’ll need to automate the archiving process:
 

a)  Open Power Automate Premium Edition

b)  Select Create on the left-side of the screen

c)  Select Automated Cloud Flow

New Dataverse Table Column Creation
Adding a New Column to your Microsoft Dataverse Table
Starting a Power Automate Flow
Creating a New Automated Cloud Flow

d)  Choose a name such as Text Archive

e)  Under the Choose your flow’s trigger bar, search for YakChat, and select When a message is received

Naming and Setting Trigger for New Flow
Naming Flow & Entering the Flow Trigger

f)  Choose your desired number or the inbox in which you’d like to archive your texts. If you only have one YakChat number, select this one.

g)  Now select New Step

h)  Search for and choose the Microsoft Dataverse connector. Select Add a new row

i)  Choose the Table that you created earlier by searching for the table by name

How to get started with Power Automate

Connecting Dataverse Table to Power Automate
Connecting Power Automate to the Microsoft Dataverse Table

j)  You will now hould see a list of rows to fill in – Direction, Time, etc. To fill these in, you’ll need to click on each row, then select the corresponding Dynamic content for each row. For example, to fill in the Direction row, select that row and in the subsequent popup, select Direction. Do this for all columns.

Adding YakChat Data to the Microsoft Dataverse Table
Adding YakChat Data to the Microsoft Dataverse Table

k)  Click Save

Your flow is now ready to go. However, we’d advise you to test it by clicking Test at the top right of the screen. You can then see the archiving process in action by sending a text to your YakChat inbox. To verify that everything works successfully, log in to Microsoft Power Apps, and check that your Microsoft Dataverse Table displays your test text.
 

Important: The flow above archives inbound texts only. To archive your outbound texts as well, simply create a new flow and repeat the steps above, omitting step 1: Create a Microsoft Dataverse Table.  

You’ll also need to change the trigger (Step 2.2 (e) above, in Flow Creation). Select When a message is sent instead of When a message is received.

If you have any issues during these steps, please check out our video which runs through this Power Automate tutorial. If you still experience problems, contact us at info@yakchat.com or via our live chat service (9am – 5pm EST) where our friendly support team will be pleased to help you.
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