How to sync Remote time off data through Zapier

Zapier is an online automation tool that connects your favorite apps, such as Google Calendar, Slack and Asana with Zapier, to automate repetitive tasks without coding or relying on developers to build an integration.

In this guide, you will learn how to:

• Connect Zapier to a Remote account
• Using complementary information through mapping
• Using Remote information with Google Calendar as an example

Before you get started, ensure that your Remote account has admin rights, and that you have access to Remote’s Zapier App.

See also: Can I change a company user's role?

Create a Zap

1. In Zapier, click + Create Zap.
   
   
   
   
2. Add the trigger that tells Zapier when there is a new time off on Remote.
3. Search for Remote and select it.
   
   
   
   
4. Select New time off event and press the continue button.
   
   
   
   
5. Sign into your Remote admin account by pressing the Sign in button and filling the form with your Remote credentials. Zapier will need to have access to some information.
6. To test the connection to Remote, click on Continue.
   
   
   
   
7. If everything is set up right, a screen similar to the one below will show up with real time off data and a drop-down with more time offs available for testing. If this screen isn't showing, please check if the Remote account linked on Zapier has the right permissions, or if anyone in the company requested time off.
   
   

Adding external information

It is possible to add external information to your zap for mapping purposes. Remote’s time off trigger returns the employee’s Remote ID but not the employee’s name. You might want to map the employee ID to the employee’s actual name or an ID they have in another system.

Remote provides an employment ID, that is tied to an employment. It's possible to use a new action with Google Sheets, Airtable, Zapier Table or similar to insert more information about an employee.

In the example below, we used Google Sheets to get the name and team of a list of employees. This additional information can be used to add the employee’s name to Google Calendar events or create filters based on the team.

To figure out what is the employment ID, it's necessary to click on the employment profile inside your team tab. The employment ID will be in the URL.

How to use mappings

In the example above we used Google Sheets to store data, but the flow is similar for other spreadsheet or database tools.

1. Select the tool that you will use and select the action to search/look up a row.
   
   
   
   
2. Connect to your account and give Zapier the right permissions.
3. Zapier will ask for information about where to find the information needed. We will use the spreadsheet below to find the information needed. In this example, the spreadsheet name is "Remote Spreadsheet”, and the Worksheet name is “External Mapping”.
4. To do the mapping, Zapier will also ask for the Lookup Column and the Lookup value. In our spreadsheet, the employee’s Remote ID is stored in the “Remote ID” column. In the Lookup Column, select "Remote ID” from the given options. In the “Lookup Value”, select “Employment Id”.

5. After that, Zapier will ask us to test our action. If it finds an entry it will show the result. If nothings shows up, the employment_id could be wrong, or Zapier is looking in the wrong field, spreadsheet or worksheet.

   After this step, you will have the information Remote makes available, as well as information you mapped.
   
   

Using Remote time off information

After collecting all the information needed, it's possible to use it in apps such as Google Calendar. You can also filter information using Zapier filters to have more precise information, such as showing only approved time off or time off from a specific person or team, in case you mapped this information using the step above.

For this example, we will create an action that syncs the Remote time off data to Google Calendar.

1. After selecting Google Calendar, connect to a calendar account and select the event we will need. In this case, we will create a detailed event.
2. Zapier will ask for permissions.
3. The next step is to fill out the fields. At this point, you should be able to access not only Remote's time off information but the information previously mapped in the spreadsheet.
   • Although optional, including the Remote Time off ID is recommended, since this is the way Zapier finds what entry needs to be updated or deleted if needed. In Google Calendar, for example, Zapier will search for the ID field on the summary or in the description of a calendar event. Updating time off entries is not yet supported but will be coming soon.
     
     
     
     
4. Press Continue to test the action. If everything went right, the time off should be displayed on the calendar.