So I like to play with non-SharePoint technology such as Lego Mindstorms, Raspberry PI and of course Linux along with hacker equipment. One thing I have been meaning to look into is a service called “IFTTT” which stands for “If this then that“. It is great service that allows you to create combinations of actions and events that ca be used with other technologies. For example if you have not seen the “Littlebits” components then go there now. The “Littlebits” components are for electronics that can be connected to the “IFTTT” services to add “Cloud Based” function easily.

As I was playing with this the thought came to mind “Could I utilize this to send me alerts from SharePoint?“, so I am clear in the real world I would use something else if I wanted to achieve this, but this service works fantastically well for other things such as working with an Arduino, Raspberry PI or the “Littlebits” Cloud module.

Of course I was going to use it with SharePoint to test anyway J

So first things first you have to set the trigger you would like to use. I selected the “Email” as that is how SharePoint sends alerts out.

Now I get to choose how to interest with it. I chose the first option.

Now I complete the “Trigger” and move to the next step.

Now I get to determine the “That” clause.

For this I am going to choose the “SMS” option.

I simply activate the “SMS” Channel.

Simply complete your phone number and then get the pin sent.

Once you have validated the pin you are told it is active and then you can complete the “SMS” channel activation.

Now I choose to the action which for the “SMS” channel is only to “Send me an SMS“.

You are then able to construct the “SMS” message as needed.

I constructed mine as shown below:

I simply created the action and now get to confirm the whole “Recipe” as it’s called.

My “Recipe” is now enabled and should be working.

To test it I simply sent an email to the trigger@ifttt.com email address from my designated account and hey presto it pops up on the phone.

This a great “free” way of using any service that converts emails to “SMS“. Even better is that you can use this for all kinds of things. You can even use this same approach and append a “Tag” to perform various other functions not just “SMS” messages. I used SharePoint as the example but in reality I would use if for other things such as when I power on my Raspberry PI, it sends me an “SMS” telling me it’s IP Address or even better if I am leaving something to sniff the network and send packets I could use this service too, utilizing the email recipe or others.