Extension Automations

As a part of Pia AI Desk, Pia provides you with a set of 50-60 automation automations. These automations let you perform various tasks with Pia such as Staff Onboarding and Offboarding.

Pia's automations support a range of scenarios. Right now, with advanced automations (such as Staff Onboarding and Offboarding) you can use manual tasks to achieve the gap between what Pia does and the processes for your clients.

Using Extension Automations in Pia you can create your own extensions for your favorite Pia automations.

Examples:

At the start of Staff Onboarding automation for client "ABC Company", prompt a message to the Service Desk engineer to remind them to do something
At the end of the Staff Onboarding automation, send an email to HR to let them know that a new user has been created
At the end of the terminate user automation, revoke a license in backup radar via a third party API
After submitting the Staff Onboarding Form, send an email to HR with the New User Request details

First, see it in action

Demo of running an extension after Staff Onboarding creation

How we built it

Quick Start

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The best way to become an Extension Automation guru is OUR TUTORIAL SERIES. 🎉📺.

Once you have decided what you want your extension automation to do, follow the steps below:

Create a new automation
Add the extension_automation condition to let Pia know that your automation is an extension automation
Use data from the parent automation in your extension
Promote your automation to 'live'
Link your extension automation to a Pia automation

Here is an example of a automation running in Pia chatbot with an extension automation linked to it:

Deciding on Extension Automation Properties

The first step is to find the gap between a Pia automation and the business process you want to automate. This will help you understand what you want your extension automation to do.

Once you have decided on your required extension automation and the automation you wish to extend, the next step is to define at what point of the automation your extension automation will run. Pia currently provides extension points for the Staff Onboarding and Staff Offboarding automation in the following areas:

Automation Type	Automation Name	Extension Points
Tech Assist and SmartForms	Pia: Staff Onboarding	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to Staff Onboarding), Prior to Scheduling, End of the automation
Tech Assist and SmartForms	Pia: Staff Offboarding	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to Staff Offboarding), Prior to Scheduling, End of the automation
Tech Assist and SmartForms	Pia: Reset Network Password	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation, and End of the automation (After the user is selected)
Tech Assist and SmartForms	Pia: Account Locked Out	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to unlocking user account), End of the automation
Tech Assist	Pia: Re-enable Offboarded Account	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to re-enabling user account), End of the automation
Tech Assist	Pia: Re-allocate User License	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to re-allocating user license) , End of the automation
Tech Assist	Pia: Manage User Licenses	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to adding or removing license for a user) , End of the automation
Tech Assist and SmartForms	Pia: Create or Remove Mail Forwarding Rule	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to creating/removing the mail forwarding rule), Prior to Scheduling and End of the automation
Tech Assist	Pia: Add or Remove User From Groups	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to updating group access), Prior to Scheduling and End of the automation
Tech Assist and SmartForms	Pia: Update User Details	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to updating user details), Prior to Scheduling (Tech Assist Only) and End of the automation
Tech Assist and SmartForms	Pia: Add or Remove Users from Allow List	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to adding or removing users from Allow List) and End of the automation
Tech Assist and SmartForms	Pia: Add or Remove Users from Block List	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to adding or removing users from Block List), End of the automation
Tech Assist and SmartForms	Pia: Change Calendar Permissions	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to updating user calendar permissions), End of the automation
Tech Assist and SmartForms	Pia: Setup or Remove Out of Office	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to updating out of office), End of the automation
Tech Assist and SmartForms	Pia: Grant or Revoke Mailbox Access	Start of the automation, Middle of the automation (Prior to making mailbox changes), End of the automation

Use data from the parent automation in your extension

Pia gives you the ability to use the data from the parent automation in your extension automation. The data will be available as a json object in the format as required by the automation.

You can use the data from the parent automation using an inline PowerShell activity in your extension automation where you can set the input property as:

- task: inline_powershell
  inputs:
    data: =extension_automation.parent_data
    script: |
        $obj = $(ConvertFrom-Json $data)
        write-host $data

Data available from Staff Onboarding automation

Extension Point 1 (Start of the automation) There is no data available for this extension point.

Extension Point 2 (Middle of the automation)

{
    "additionalAttributes": "",
    "additionalProxyAddresses": "",
    "alAdditionalAttributes": "",
    "changeAtLogon": true,
    "city": "",
    "company": "",
    "countryCode": "",
    "department": "",
    "description": "",
    "displayName": "",
    "email": "",
    "employeeId": "",
    "expiration": "",
    "firstName": "",
    "groups": "",
    "jobTitle": "",
    "lastName": "",
    "managerUpn": "",
    "middleName": "",
    "mobilePhone": "",
    "office": "",
    "officePhone": "",
    "ou": "",
    "password": "",
    "postalCode": "",
    "skipMailNickname": true,
    "state": "",
    "street": "",
    "userName": "",
    "userPrincipalName": ""
}

Extension Point 3 (End of the automation)

{
    "adGroupsAssigned": [],
    "additionalAttributes": "",
    "additionalProxyAddresses": "",
    "alAdditionalAttributes": "",
    "azureGroupsAssigned": [],
    "changeAtLogon": true,
    "city": "",
    "company": "",
    "country": "",
    "department": "",
    "description": ""
    "displayName": "",
    "emailAddress": "",
    "employeeId": "",
    "expiration": "",
    "firstName": "",
    "groups": "",
    "jobTitle": "",
    "lastName": "",
    "licenses": [],
    "manager": "",
    "middleName": "",
    "mobilePhone": "",
    "office": "",
    "officePhone": "",
    "orgUnit": "",
    "ou": "",
    "password": "",
    "postcode": "",
    "samAccountName": "",
    "skipMailNickname": true,
    "state": "",
    "street": "",
    "userPrincipalName": ""

}

Data available from Staff Offboarding automation

Extension Point 1 (Start of the automation) There is no data available for this extension point.

Extension Point 2 (Middle of the automation)

{
    "additionalAttributes": "",
    "clientId": 123,
    "immutableId": "",
    "samAccountName": "",
    "scheduleDate": "",
    "scheduleForLater": true,
    "userPrincipalName": ""
}

Extension Point 3 (End of the automation)

{
    "adGroupsRemoved": [],
    "additionalAttributes": "",
    "azureGroupsRemoved": [],
    "clientId": 123,
    "displayName": "",
    "emailAddress": "",
    "emailAddresses": [],
    "firstName": "",
    "licenses": [],
    "orgUnit": "",
    "samAccountName": "",
    "scheduleDate": "",
    "scheduleForLater": true,
    "surname": "",
    "userPrincipalName": ""
}

Data available from Reset Network Password automation

Extension Point 1 (Middle of the automation)

{
    "userPrincipalName": "",
    "password": "!",
    "changeAtNextLogon": true,
    "clientId": 123
}

Linking Extensions to a Client

See the instructions for adding an Extension to a Client

First, see it in action​

Demo of running an extension after Staff Onboarding creation​

How we built it​

Quick Start​

Deciding on Extension Automation Properties​

Use data from the parent automation in your extension​

Data available from Staff Onboarding automation​

Data available from Staff Offboarding automation​

Data available from Reset Network Password automation​

Linking Extensions to a Client​