Signal processes data from your events in real-time.
Signal passes data from Certain Platform to your target third-party application.
The target application could be any app with webhook integration, such as Slack or Google Forms.
The real-time integration empowers sales and marketing teams to take intelligent, prompt action on the right event data.
Almost everything is set up at the account level.
Signal processes information from the events in your account.
For event-level information, Signal relies on the custom tags you attach to data such as Registration Statuses, as explained in this guide.
Signal processes outbound information and sends it to your target application.
Prerequisites
Data-Flow Considerations
Do you capture data in registration questions that will be synced to the third-party app to which you are integrating? If so, apply tags to those questions; see Registration Questions.
Do you have different data mappings based on registration status, or attendee type? If so, apply tags to those items; see Applying Tags in an Event.
Credentials in Target Application
The administrator of the target third-party application will need to provide information described under “Adding a Connection.”
If the chosen Authentication Method is OAuth2, the administrator will need to create an OAuth2 app in that system and provide Endpoint, Client Id, and Client Secret.
Overview of Setup Steps
Step 1 (On Certain Platform): Add tags in the account (Setting Tags Up for an Account).
Step 2 (On Certain Signal): Apply those tags (Applying Tags in an Account).
Step 3 (On Certain Signal): Add a Connection (Setting up a Connection).
Step 4 (On Certain Platform): Configure a Flow (Setting Up Flows).
Setting up Tags
What Are Tags?
Tags are a way of identifying event-level data using labels you set at the account level.
Setting Tags Up for an Account
As an Administrator, go to Account Settings > Management > Tags.
Enter a Name and a Label for the tag.
Select the Object(s) to which the tag can apply; for example Registration Statuses and/or Custom Registration Properties.
Click Add.
Repeat as required for as many tags as you need.
Add enough tags to apply to all of the following you will use in flows and in filters:
Registration Statuses
Custom Registration Properties
Attendee Types
Events
Also add enough tags to apply to all of the following that you will use in filters for flows:
Attendee Types
Events
Applying Tags in an Account
In each event from which you want information to flow through Certain Signal, apply tags to the relevant information:
Registration Statuses
Registration Custom Properties
You can also tag Attendee Types and Events to filter registration records by attendee type or event (see Flow Filters).
Default Registration Statuses (Automatic)
These tags apply to all events, so an Administrator applies the tags at the account level.
The set includes one or more tags for each status; the exact tags mirror the status names.
If you do use standard registration statuses, tag them all so that you can use them in the Flows configured in Signal (see page 9).
Applying Tags in an Event
Custom Registration Statuses
If any Flows watch or activate for changes of Registration Status, go to Plan > Event Setup > Custom Statuses.
Select at least one tag for each status.
Custom Registration Properties
If any Flows watch or activate for Custom Registration Properties, go to Plan > Configure.
Under Custom Registration Properties, select at least one tag for each custom registration property in the event.
Standard Registration Properties (Automatic)
These tags are set up for you automatically, with names identical to the properties themselves: Complete, Badge Printed, On To Do List, Invoice Generated, and Test.
In Signal, you can activate Flows for them, just like Custom Registration Properties.
There is nothing to edit on Certain Platform.
Attendee Types
In each event, go to Plan > Event Setup > Attendee Types.
Tag one or more tags for each attendee type on which you may wish to filter registrations (see Flow Filters).
Events
In each event that you may wish to include in a filter, go to Plan > Event Setup > Details.
Tag one or more events (see Flow Filters).
Registration Questions
(Optional) for use with mapping Certain fields to fields in the target application.
In each event with registration questions, go to Plan > Event Setup > Questions.
Select just one Tag for each question (selecting more could result in duplicate data in the target application).
Opening Certain Signal
When Signal is activated for the account, the Account Settings > Implementation menu includes an extra option: Signal Real-Time Data Integration.
Click that link to open Certain Signal in a separate window; it runs separately from Certain Platform.
To return to Certain Platform, click the provided link.
Setting up a Connection
What are Connections?
A Connection in Certain Signal specifies how to connect to a target application.
Multiple connections are possible, including connections to other third-party applications.
Each Flow requires a Connection.
Multiple flows may use the same Connection.
Adding a Connection
As an Administrator, go to Account Settings > Implementation > Signal Real-Time Data Integration.
Signal opens in a separate window.
Click Connections in the left navigation panel.
Click Add A Connection in the Connection List page.
Enter details in the Connection Setup screen:
Target: Use the pre-selected value, Webhook
Connection Name: Enter a name of your choosing
Authentication Type: Select from available options (your choice determines other fields)
Basic Authentication: URL, Content Type (application/json or x-www-form-urlencoded), Request Method (POST or GET), User Name, Password
Open / No Auth: Lowest level of security
API Key / Token: Provided by the administrator of the target application
OAuth2: All values provided by the administrator; include Grant Type, Client Id, Client Secret, Authorization URL, Access Token URL, Refresh Token URL, Scope, Test Connection URL
Is this a primary connection: Leave this unchecked unless required for Eloqua, Marketo, or Salesforce
Click Save & Test
If the test is successful, click Close; otherwise verify values
Setting Up Flows
What is a “Flow”?
A flow is a configuration to manage the flow of data from Certain to the target application.
You can create several flows for an account, which may share the same Connection.
A flow configuration begins at the account level and, when complete, starts picking up data for each event in the account within about a minute.
The Flow List
The main screen in Signal is the Flow List.
The Flow List shows a Status column indicating whether a flow is completely set up.
The Flow List shows an Active column indicating whether the flow is running.
Use the toggle to switch a flow between Active and Inactive.
Configuring a Flow
Click ADD A FLOW to start configuring a new flow (see screenshot).
The configuration includes:
Name
Live or Test status
Source: what information the Flow will watch for (Flow Data Source)
Filters: optional filters (Flow Filters)
Destination: where the information goes (Flow Destination)
Live vs Test
Live: a Live Flow will pick up all live registrations in live events; it will ignore test registrations.
Test: a Test Flow picks up all test registrations (test in live events too).
Best Practice: create a Flow as Test, test it, then set it to Live.
Flow Data Source
The Source determines what the Flow will watch for and when it will activate.
Examples include any change to a Registration Status or a status tagged as “Registered.”
Activate for …
Choose which tags to activate for by selecting tags in Registration Statuses and/or Registration Properties.
If watching for Registration Status Change, activate for Registration Statuses.
If watching for Session Registration Status Change, activate for Session Registration Statuses.
If watching for Event Create Update, activate for Event Statuses.
Tags available for selection come from the object’s Tag configuration.
Flow Filters
Flow Filters narrow data by Event fields, Profile fields, and Attendee Type tags.
A registration will be included only if it meets the filter rules.
Flow Destination
Select Webhooks from the integrations set up for the account.
If needed, click New Connection to add a connection (process described in Setting up a Connection).
Step 1: Name the Destination.
Step 2: Select the Connection to use.
Step 3: Select Webhook as the Action for the connection.
Step 4: Select or add mappings (Payload and Http Header).
Mappings
A mapping specifies how each target field in the third-party application matches a source field in Certain.
Create a mapping by naming it and selecting source fields from Certain for each target field.
The source fields can include:
Profile Standard Fields
Profile Custom Fields
Registration Standard Fields
Registration Custom Question Tags
Registration Standard Properties
Account Standard Fields
Event Standard Fields
Event Custom Fields
Flow Fields
Macros
You can concatenate multiple source fields for the same target field.
You can mark a target field as required.
You can edit or preview a mapping after selecting it.
Metrics Dashboard
To see statistics in Signal, select Metrics in the left navigation panel.
The Insights tab displays data such as Unique Registrations, Changes Processed, Actions Triggered, and more.
The Troubleshooting tab shows information to help diagnose processing issues.
The Retry Queue tab lists items that failed and will be retried, with details on retry behavior and causes.
The Activity Feed tab shows a rolling history of processed registrations.
The Retry Queue
When an action fails, the item joins the Retry Queue and will be retried up to three times.
If a failure is resolved, the item can be retried; otherwise, the queue may require intervention.
You can filter the Retry Queue by Integration, Status, and Category.
Submitting to the Retry Queue moves an item to the front of the queue for another attempt.
Retry behavior and causes include tagging issues, connection problems, and other configuration issues.
Replaying a Flow
If a flow is altered while running, you may want to replay the flow for the same registrations.
Replay requests are coordinated with Certain support and may include a date range or event.
What is Signal? How does it work? (continued)
Signal processes data from events in real-time, passing it from Signal to target third-party applications via webhooks.
This real-time integration enables intelligent, prompt actions on event data.
Setting Up Tags (Additional Details)
The content includes detailed steps for Tag creation, usage in accounts and events, and mapping Tags to event data.
Tag usage covers specific areas such as Registration Statuses, Custom Registration Properties, Event and Attendee information, and Registration Questions.
Setting Up a Destination (Mapping Examples)
The Mapping Setup includes example mappings and target field selection, showing how to map Source Fields to Target Fields.
The examples illustrate how fields such as FirstName can be mapped to a corresponding field in the target application.
Flow Data Source: Available Sources
Registration Create Update: When a registration is created or updated.
Registration Status Change: When a registration’s status changes.
Session Registration Status Change: When a registration’s session status changes.
Availability of Content
The article contains sections labeled with topics such as Overview of Setup Steps, Setting up Tags, Opening Certain Signal, Setting up a Connection, Setting Up Flows, Flow Data Source, Flow Filters, Flow Destination, Metrics Dashboard, The Retry Queue, Replaying a Flow, and Was this article helpful?
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