When using the MT30 Smart Automation Button, you can configure unique automation actions from the Dashboard based on a simple button press. Actions that can be triggered by a single button push include generating custom SMS or email notifications, recording a snapshot from a specified MV camera, toggling configurations like SSIDs or switchport access, or generating custom webhook alerts.

This configuration is accomplished by defining automation rules from within the Dashboard for each MT30 automation button. You can configure a trigger to be as simple as any press of the button or to be more precise, such as requiring a long press (1+ seconds) to trigger the action, which helps to reduce accidental triggers. Figure 4-5 shows an example of the Dashboard trigger selection options.

Figure 4-5 The Choose a Trigger Options in the Automation Rule Creation Modal in the Dashboard

After you define a trigger, you need to define the automation action for the trigger. This is easily configurable from a list provided when navigating through the rule creation module in the Dashboard, as shown in Figure 4-6.

Figure 4-6 The Choose an Action Options in the Automation Rule Creation Modal in the Dashboard

For example, if you’re configuring a rule to trigger a snapshot from an MV camera on a long press, first choose the Long Press trigger and then choose the Camera Snapshot action. As you can see in Figure 4-7, you can select up to five cameras to record a snapshot when triggered and you can then configure a custom list of recipients for those snapshots.

Figure 4-7 The Camera Selection and Recipient Configuration View in the Automation Rule Creation Modal in the Dashboard

Alternatively, you could configure the rule to trigger a custom webhook notification, in which case you can create a custom webhook message to suit your needs and select which webhook receivers should receive the alert, as shown in Figure 4-8. This option enables you to create essentially entirely custom alerts through the Meraki cloud platform, as the contents of the webhook alert could contain nearly anything and can be sent to nearly any webhook receiver, allowing for limitless possibilities. This allows for quick and easy integration with popular third-party automation platforms like IFTTT (If This Then That) or any other platform capable of receiving and parsing custom webhook notifications.

Figure 4-8 The Custom Webhook Command View in the Automation Rule Creation Modal in the Dashboard

Once you have defined the automation rule, the last step is to assign devices to an automation rule. As demonstrated in Figure 4-9, this is where you determine which devices will trigger specific rules when activated. This allows you to create custom automation rules quickly and easily from within the Dashboard and assign and reconfigure them as needed to best suit you current requirements.

Figure 4-9 The Device Assignment View in the Automation Rule Creation Modal in the Dashboard