Qubi Systems Messaging Bot

There is a wealth of information available on Messaging Bots and this article will not go into the details of this very exciting topic here. We do want to tell you more about the Qubi Systems Messaging Bot though, and how you can use it to get the most out of your experience with our services and the QUBIcam.

Very simply put, a messaging bot represents a contact within the respective messaging platform like Telegram, Whatapp, Facebook Messenger and many other similar platforms. This contact or bot can then be interacted with in a similar way than you would with any other contact in the respective application. For example, add the Qubi Systems Bot to your list of contacts and let the bot notify you of every new image received from your respective QUBIcam’s. From here you can very easily share the imagery with anyone in your list of contacts, across any of the available applications installed on your phone.

The Qubi Systems Bot also allow access to your data from a convenient desktop application that makes interaction with your cameras very easy, without the need to login to the SensorNet Dashboard. Data sent to the bot is not done by reference and the image will remain available once received on your mobile device long after it has been deleted from the SensorNet.

If you are already subscribed to the SensorNet and own a QUBIcam, take a look at the next section to get started.

Install Telegram for your device

Get the Android or iOS versions below.

Setup

SensorNet Dashboard

Images from your QUBIcam will always first be sent to the SensorNet System. From here you can configure your respective cameras to then also send the images received within the SensorNet on to for example the Qubi Systems Bot. To enable your QUBIcam to do this, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your SensorNet Account
2. On the landing page after login, select the respective dashboard – for example the QUBIcam Dashboard in this case
3. Next click on Manage Devices
4. Next, under the respective camera click on Manage Device Action Variables
5. Click on Telegram Messenger Publish Message
6. Complete the required fields for this action:
   1. Active From Time: the time from which received images should be forwarded to the Bot. Ex: 08:00
   2. Active To Time: the time until which received images should be forwarded to the Bot. Ex: 17:00
   3. Active Days: the days on which received images should be forwarded to the Bot. Ex: Mon,Tue,Fri
   4. Telegram Id: leave this field empty, registration from the Qubi Systems Bot will complete this field
   5. Device Token: this is a secret token that you need to choose for your camera to ensure that only you can enable this camera for your account from the Bot
   6. Active: when a tick mark is given here, received images will be forwarded to the Bot. Remove the tick mark to temporarily disable the forwarding of images for this device to the Bot
7. Click on Update

Telegram Messenger

Once you have Telegram installed follow these steps to get the Qubi Systems Bot setup:

1. Once you have installed Telegram, open it, and in the bottom right corner of the screen click the pencil icon to start a new conversation.
2. At the very top of the screen, tap the search icon. Type qubisystemsbot. Do not use any spaces and type the name exactly as given. Qubi Systems Bot (round blue icon) will now be returned in the results – click on it to add it to start a new conversation with the bot.
3. Once you tapped on it a short description will be shown that explains what the Bot’s primary function is. At the bottom of the screen, tap START.
4. If the above message was successfully sent to our system you will be shown the available commands that can be provided within the conversation. Even though our Bot will be extended over time to include artificial intelligence to respond to natural conversation flow, the Bot currently accepts specific commands and will then act upon these.
5. In terms of receiving imagery from your QUBIcams, there are two commands to allow the enabling or disabling of the function. Examples:
   1. enableimages <your-sensornet-account-email-address> <your-device-id> <your-device-token>
   2. disableimages <your-sensornet-account-email-address> <your-device-id> <your-device-token>
6. Please note that with the above commands, you should not type the <> brackets and each word should be separated by once space. For example:
   1. enableimages peter@somecompany.co.za teRT543ERE sometokenTERU
7. If the above message format was correct and sent successfully, we will reply with a message indicating success. Now, whenever a new image is sent by your respective QUBIcam, the image will be available within this conversation with Qubi Systems. If the format was incorrect or you specified incorrect details for your account or device, the system would indicate failure to enable the receipt of imagery from your device.

The SensorNet allow the registration of multiple mobile devices to receive images from a QUBIcam. For example if you would like to have 5 of your staff members receive images from your camera, let them complete the Telegram Messenger setup above to be added to the list. To allow these staff members to enable the receipt of imagery in the Bot you will have to share your device secret token with them.

To disable the receipt of images in the Bot for all currently enabled users (including for example the list of staff members) – delete all values from the Telegram Id field as seen in the SensorNet Dashboard Setup above and change the value of the Secret Token field. Now, continue within the Bot to type and send the enableimages command – now only you will again receive images for your particular camera from the SensorNet.