Automation Anywhere Control Room supports two types of web triggers that start automation when an event occurs in the external application. You can create triggers based on Webhooks to retrieve data in real-time or Polling to retrieve data periodically. Both types of Web triggers are compatible with Task Bots and API Tasks.

Webhook-based triggers

Use Webhook-based triggers for real-time communication. These triggers are HTTP callbacks that instantly start the automation workflow when an event occurs. When a specific event occurs within an application, it sends a notification to a predefined callback URL (the webhook). This notification, often in the form of a POST request, contains relevant data about the event. You must add the callback URL in the external application for the Control Room to receive the event information.

Workflow

  1. Subscription: A Control Room subscribes to a webhook by providing a callback URL.
  2. Event trigger: When a relevant event happens, the service sends an HTTP POST request to the specified URL, containing data about the event.
  3. Action initiation: The receiving application processes the webhook data and performs the desired actions.

Advantages

  • Real-time updates: Webhooks provide immediate notifications, ensuring that actions are triggered promptly.
  • Efficiency: They reduce the need for frequent polling, saving resources.
  • Flexibility: Webhooks can be used with various applications and services.

Webhook-based triggers in the Control Room

  • GitHub
  • Google Calendar
  • Jira
  • Microsoft 365 Outlook
  • Microsoft Teams
  • ServiceNow
  • SharePoint
  • Listener

Common use cases

  • ServiceNow integration: The trigger starts the automation workflow when a record is created, updated, queried, or deleted.
  • Customer support: Automatically routing incoming support tickets to the appropriate team.
  • Marketing automation: Sending personalized emails based on customer behavior.

Polling-based triggers

Use the Polling-based triggers for periodic data retrieval. These triggers periodically check for changes or updates in a data source. They are used when real-time notifications are not available or when the frequency of updates is relatively low. You must define the frequency based on which the trigger fetches the event information.

Workflow

  1. Configuration: Configure a poller with the data source URL or API endpoint and the polling interval.
  2. Data retrieval: The poller periodically makes requests to the data source to retrieve the latest data.
  3. Data processing: Analyze the retrieved data to identify changes or updates.
  4. Action initiation: If changes are detected, the poller triggers the appropriate actions.

Advantages of pollers:

  • Simplicity: Implementing pollers is straightforward.
  • Reliability: They are reliable in scenarios when network connectivity is unstable.
  • Flexibility: You can use them with various data sources, including databases, APIs, and files.

Polling-based triggers in the Control Room:

Poller
Note: Only the beta version of the Poller web trigger is available.

Common use cases for pollers:

  • Inventory management: Regularly checking stock levels and triggering reorder processes.
  • Financial reporting: Generating periodic reports based on updated financial data.
  • Data synchronization: Keeping data consistent across different systems.