Open when the cruise ship docks, not after

The challenge

Nobody tells her when they arrive. Some mornings two hundred passengers stream through the old town while her shop is still shut and her nephew is still asleep. Other days she opens early for nobody at all.

How the flow works

With xMap Flows, Lucia built Harbor. Harbor is an AI employee: a flow of 6 blocks.

1. Every hour,

   Every hour (Schedule)

2. at the river port,

   Seville river port (Area of interest)

3. Harbor listens for the ships on the Guadalquivir,

   Ships on the river (Ships (AIS))

4. keeps the passenger ships,

   Passenger ships only (Filter)

5. spots the moment one reaches the quay,

   Docked at the quay (Zone alert)

6. and messages Lucia and her nephew on WhatsApp.

   To Lucia and her nephew (WhatsApp Business)

What it solves

• No word on arrivals: solved by Ships (AIS) and Zone alert
• Shut when crowds pass: solved by WhatsApp Business
• Open early for nobody: solved by Filter and Zone alert

The result

At seven on Wednesday, Harbor tells her a cruise ship has reached the quay. Lucia opens at eight with fresh coffee and her nephew at the door. By noon, she has sold more tiles and plates than in the whole week before.

Lucia no longer waits for the crowds. She is open when they step ashore.

An illustrative scenario: the figures are modelled to show what the flow produces, not a customer's results.

The flow, block by block

1. 1

   Every hour

   Schedule

   Starts the flow on a timetable.

2. 2

   Seville river port

   Area of interest

   Sets where the flow looks: countries, cities or specific places, or areas you draw on a map.

3. 3

   Ships on the river

   Ships (AIS)

   Ships at sea or in port right now, from AIS (the signal ships send with their position, speed and heading; live from AISStream): every vessel heard in the Area of interest before this block, or around a point.

4. 4

   Passenger ships only

   Filter

   Keeps only the items that match a rule.

5. 5

   Docked at the quay

   Zone alert

   Reports items (ships, for example) that entered, crossed, are inside or left a zone.

6. 6

   To Lucia and her nephew

   WhatsApp Business · WhatsApp

   Send text, media and template messages from your WhatsApp Business number.

Templates to build it

Ready-made flows with the same blocks. Open one, change the city and the kind of place, and run it.

• Cruise ships arriving at the portAn alert, with WhatsApp to the guides, when a cruise ship enters the port.
• Fast boats entering a protected areaFast boats entering a protected area, sent to enforcement at once.
• Ships approaching the pilot boarding areaShips entering the pilot boarding area, to the pilot station every 15 minutes.
• Fishing boats inside a marine protected areaFishing boats inside a protected area, to the officers every hour.
• Ships entering my zoneAn email when a ship enters or passes through your zone, every hour.
• Heat stop for outdoor work, every hourA WhatsApp heat stop to supervisors when a site reaches 45 degrees.

Industries

Learn how it works

• GeofencingA virtual boundary that triggers something when an item enters or leaves it.
• AIS (ship tracking)Radio messages ships send with their identity, position and course.
• How to be alerted when ships enter a port areaA zone, a live AIS stream and an alert.
• Zone alerts: know when something enters an areaShips, vehicles or any moving item crossing your zone.
• Ships (AIS)Ships in a sea area, their type, speed and destination.
• Draw your areas and pointsShapes, circles and points with a distance around each.

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