Wouldn't it be nice if your Vizy kept you informed throughout your day, such as when your dog jumps on the couch, when a car has pulled into your driveway, or when a unique bird species has visited your birdfeeder? Text messages are a good way to keep you informed in this way. Vizy could send you text updates, images, and/or videos directly to your phone regardless of your location. So, which dog jumped on the couch? (Barkley! You're so busted…)

As of software version 0.2.111, Vizy supports text messaging through Telegram.

• Apps can respond to specific text commands that you send to Vizy (e.g. send me pictures of the most recent birdfeeder visitors) .
• Apps can send you updates that you're interested in (e.g. cat is waiting to be let outside).
• You can subscribe/unsubscribe to these updates and so can your friends/family.
• Vizy can give you system information upon request, such as available RAM, CPU utilization, Web Share URL , etc.
• For more advanced users, you can add your own “text handlers” in Python .
• No fees (setup, monthly, etc.)

Setting up Telegram on your Vizy is straightforward. It's a few steps and shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

If you don't have a Telegram account, start by downloading the Telegram App on your phone. It will guide you through the sign-up process.

There will be a copy-and-paste operation that's pretty clumsy from a smartphone, so we recommend linking your Telegram account to your desktop/laptop so you can take advantage of your computer's mouse. If you're deft at copying and pasting on your smartphone, you can skip this step.

Start by going here. It will ask you to input your phone number, and then it will guide you through the linking process. There's some QR code business, and then voila, you're on Telegram from your desktop/laptop.

Click on the ☰ icon in the upper right corner (Settings Menu)
Select Texting.

If you have a Telegram Bot already setup, paste your Bot's Token into the textbox and click submit.
On Success, Congradulations! You have connected Vizy to Telegram and all Vizy Commands Keywords are available through the chat.
Sending commands, such as 'help' or 'webshare', will cause your Bot to respond with the requested resource.

If you do not have a Telegram Bot, easily create one in two steps using Telegram's BotFather. *Note*: You will need a Telegram Account to do this.
Click 'Create Token (Bot Father)', where you'll be taken to a webpage inviting you to a conversation with The BotFather. You can download the Telegram app for your computer or continue through the web by clicking 'Send Message'.
The BotFather is a versatile tool to control and modify any bots you create with Telegram. To get started, send '/start' in the chat. Beginning a word with a backslash such as '/start' is a Telegram Command, not to be confused with Vizy Command Keywords.
After sending '/start', all you need to do is give your Bot a name and a username then BotFather will create your bot, including the Bot Token.

Paste and Submit your Bot Token.
The dialog with give a 'Connected!' success message or an 'Invalid Token Error' failure message.
On failure, try resubmitting your token or reloading the page.
On success, Vizy has connected to your Telegram Bot and it's time to try some commands!

There are two Types of Vizy Commands: General and Application Specific. General Commands are always accessible while Application Specific commands only return if the given application is running on Vizy. All commands are single words sent in the chat. Telegram has its own set of commands that begin with a forwardslash '/' such as '/start'. See the Bot Father for examples.

help:
output a list of currently available commands.

webshare:
create a ssh tunnel using Vizy's WebShare and returns a link

sysinfo:
return information on Vizy's CPU, Memory, and Power

subscribe/unsubscribe:
users can subscribe for updates from Vizy. After subscribing, you will see a new button will appear in the Texting Dialog named 'Send Test Text' and a subscriber will be available in the DropDown. Select the new user and click the button to send a test message from Vizy. The message will say, “This is a test. Thank you for your cooperation”. Lastly, the help menu will update replacing the 'subscribe' command with 'unsubscribe'. Attempting to subscribe or unsubscribe when not available will simply return an error message.

Accessible when given application or example is currently running on Vizy

1. Video Example
   • grab: capture and send an Vizy's current view