As small businesses use more apps, the data collected in one isn’t easily transferred to another. For example, a new customer’s contact data collected in one app may have to be manually entered into all other apps a business uses.
Or you have to custom code the integration to allow that data transfer to happen automatically.
Either way can be arduous and expensive.
That’s where Zapier comes in.
Zapier helps connect the Web apps a business uses to reduce the amount of time spent entering repetitive information in those countless apps. And no custom coding is required. Zapier has partnered with more than 300 apps to date.
Zapier Introduces Embedded Zaps
And now, Zapier is making it easier to connect the apps a small business uses with the introduction of embedded Zaps. Embedded Zaps let you do a one-click integration between apps — without even leaving the app you’re currently working in.
Zaps contain two main elements, a trigger and an action. So, in a formulaic sense: if x happens, then y. When something happens in one app, Zapier gets alerted and is commanded to perform a task in another app.
Want an email from a Gmail account copied to your Evernote account? Zapier handles that based on the commands you give it. A new customer’s email address entered into PayPal for the first time can be “zapped” directly to a MailChimp email newsletter list.
The difference with the new embedded Zaps, is that businesses looking to streamline their information won’t have to leave the app they’re currently using to set up these commands.
Jason Kotenko, Head of Partnerships at Zapier, says embedded Zaps make the process even easier. “Embedded Zaps enable our partners to better serve their own users. With embedded Zaps, partners can keep customers inside their ecosystem without sending them off-site to zapier.com,” explains Kotenko in an emailed comment.
Groove is One of the First to Deploy Embedded Zaps
Alex Turnbull, the CEO at Groove, a help desk software solution, says the ability to use Zaps from right within Groove should help users tremendously.
“Groove customers will now be able to integrate their help desk with their other favorite tools, without having to know anything about writing code,” says Turnbull in an email interview with Small Business Trends.
“For example, in just a few clicks, a user can set up a Zap that will send them an SMS alert anytime a new Groove message comes in,” he explains.
“Or, they could set up a Zap that connects Groove with their team’s project management app (e.g., Pivotal Tracker, Trello, Basecamp, etc….), so that new tasks can be created from support tickets without ever having to leave Groove. With more than 350 apps on the Zapier platform, the possibilities are tremendous.” See example in the screenshot above.
“We expect this to be a massive time-saver for Groove customers,” adds Turnbull.
Images: Zapier and Groove
Aira Bongco
Wow. So it acts like a macro in your desktop but in app form. I think that you can find multiple uses for this as mobile surfing is now more common than before.