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Overview

The Power BI Connector app integrates with Freshdesk, providing admins with the capability to export reporting data to a streaming dataset in Power BI.

The app includes three options:

1. Ability to export data at a daily frequency
2. Ability to export data at a weekly frequency
3. Ability to export data at a monthly frequency

The app also provides flexibility to control which analytics export needs to be extracted.

Prerequisites

Create Streaming Datasets

Before installing the PowerBI connector, it's important to create a streaming dataset within PowerBI. This dataset will receive data pushed to it via API, essential for continuously updating data from the report extract.

Steps to create streaming datasets:

1. Click Create from the left menu and choose Streaming Dataset.
   
2. Choose API as an option inside the streaming dataset.
   
3. Give a name to the Streaming Dataset.
4. Create all the fields under PowerBi and turn on the Historical Data Analysis tab.
   
5. Do this for all the reports you want to export to PowerBI.

Create PowerBI Embed App

Before installing the app, you need to create a Power BI embedded app to obtain the necessary credentials for connecting Freshdesk and Power BI.

Steps to Create PowerBI Embed App:

1. To set up your environment, navigate to Power BI Embedded Analytics setup tool > Embed for your organization.
   
2. Authenticate and sign in with your PowerBI account.
   
3. Name your app and fill in the details. 
4. For the redirect URL, choose the custom URL option and enter the specified URL - https://www.workato.com/oauth/callback. If you are in the EU data center, use this URL - https://app.eu.workato.com/oauth/callback
5. Choose Select All under API access.
   
6. Click Register to complete the app registration.
7. You can create a new workspace if needed or click on skip to continue with an existing workspace.
   
8. Click Skip to complete.

Make note of the presented Application ID and Application Secret, as they will be needed in the installation process.

Create Data Export API

The final prerequisite is to create a data export schedule and get the API. 

Steps to Create Data Export Schedule 

1. Go to Analytics > Settings.
2. Choose Data Export tab and click Create Report.
   
3. Name the export and choose the module.
4. Select the schedule and time to trigger the export. Ensure that the time and time zone are accurate.
   
5. Choose the fields to export and select to receive as API. 
6. Make note of the URL, as this will be needed in later steps.
   
7. Click Schedule to create the export schedule.

Installation

Installing the Powerbi App in Freshdesk

To install the Powerbi Connector App on Freshdesk, 

1. Navigate to Admin > Support Operations > Apps > PowerBI Connector App.
2. Click Install and provide your Freshdesk credentials.

Connect your Freshdesk Account

The details listed below can be found on the profile page.

1. Provide your Freshdesk domain and provide the URL in the format yourcompany.freshdesk.com
2. Provide the Freshdesk API Key.
3. Click Install. Once the app installation is complete, navigate to the full-page app. 

Configuring Data Sync

To synchronize data between Powerbi and Freshdesk,

1. Go to the Data sync tab in the full-page app (requires Connector apps add-on; see pricing section).
2. Connect the Powerbi account by providing the Application ID and Application Secret.
3. Choose Auth type as Oauth2 Authorization code.
4. Provide the ID and secret in the Client Id and Client secret fields.
   
5. Select API version as Version 1.0 and Account Type based on your Powerbi account (usually Multitenant).
6. Click on Connect to complete the setup.
7. View recipes to push reporting data into Powerbi, with options for daily, weekly, or monthly syncing.
8. Choose the frequency and the module you want to export from the recipe list.

Freshdesk to PowerBI

To export your Freshdesk data to PowerBI, follow the below steps.

1. Open the recipe of the module and frequency you want to export.
   
2. Go to step 1 in the recipe screen.
   1. Ensure the schedule frequency and time match your API export schedule.
   2. Set the trigger time in the recipe to 5-10 minutes after the API export schedule.
3. Click the second block inside the recipe and go to Connection tab.
   
4. Click Switch Connections and then click New Connection.
5. In the New Connection tab:
   1. Choose Authentication Type as Basic.
   2. Enter your Freshdesk API key in the Basic Auth Username field.
   3. Set the password as X.
   4. Set the base URL of the connection to your Freshdesk URL (e.g., https://domain.freshdesk.com).
6. Set Use Custom TLS/SSLcertificate settings option as No.
   
7. In the setup tab, enter the API URL of your data export in the Request URL option. (Ignore the warning about sensitive data)
   
8. In step 4 of the recipe, upload a sample CSV of your export file to capture the export schema.
   
9. In step 5 of the recipe, select the PowerBI dataset where you want to load the data and map the fields from the export to the dataset fields.
   
10. Save the recipe and activate it.

  You can now start exporting data to PowerBI according to your chosen schedule.

Task Management

The Power BI Connector app uses 4 tasks per sync.

• Initial Tasks: You receive 500 free tasks upon installation.
• Recharging Tasks: After exhausting the free tasks, you can purchase the Connector Apps add-on, which provides 5,000 additional tasks.
• Usage Estimation: You can estimate your usage by calculating 4 tasks per sync based on their data export schedule (daily, weekly, or monthly).

How are Tasks Calculated?

The following table explains how tasks are calculated per sync. The direction of sync is always from Freshdesk to PowerBI.