top of page
Our Story

RC2FM Connector was the brainchild of Automation USA, LLC and was developed to help propel the FileMaker platform into the Cloud age.

As long term FileMaker developers,  FileMaker Business Alliance Partners, and also RingCentral Partners, we saw a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between two worlds. RC2FM Connector is among the first FileMaker integrations of its kind.

Our Product

RC2FM Connector was a subscription service enabling bolt-on RingCentral Cloud Telephony Integration (CTI) for apps developed in FileMaker.

With features like single tap/click dialing, 2-way SMS/MMS, 2-way e-faxing, call logging, and the ability to download and store voicemails, faxes, and call recordings inside FileMaker data containers, our integration let RingCentral users manage all their call related activities from within their own custom app.

Technology

Our integration leveraged RingCentral's REST APIs to quickly connect any RingCentral business phone system (PBX) to any compatible FileMaker custom application.

RC2FM Connector was also a 100%
Cloud based microservice deployed on Amazon's AWS infrastructure, providing scalable, secure, and global availability. 

VoIP CALLING

Click/tap to call. Start an outbound call from any FileMaker supported device and  pick up your call on any smart phone, desk phone, cordless, or RingCentral app.

2-WAY MESSAGING

Send and receive SMS and MMS messages right from FileMaker in near-real time.

Turn your FileMaker custom app into a full-fledged business messaging app. Just snap a photo and send using your business caller ID.

MESSAGE  RETRIEVAL

Download call history, store voicemails and call recordings as MP3s, and store faxes as PDFs (incoming and outgoing) inside container fields within your FileMaker custom app. 

2-WAY E-FAXING

Send/receive digital Faxes directly into and out of

your FileMaker app's data containers.

Or select from your device's  photo library or file system.

FileMaker demo file RC2FM RingCentral MMS Chat user interface
FileMaker demo file RC2FM RingCentral MMS attachment zoom display

Your look and feel

RC2FM Connector was a backend service that offers no user interface. We provided the connectivity, and you as a FileMaker developer provided the customized look and feel.

Our demo file template is merely an illustration of what's possible. You decide which features to implement and how they will behave.

Supports FileMaker Go

All RC2FM features were supported on FileMaker Go for iOS. 

Supports FileMaker Pro

All RC2FM features were supported on FileMaker Pro/Advanced

Supports FileMaker WebDirect

All RC2FM features were supported on FileMaker WebDirect 16, and most features are supported in older versions.

Supports FileMaker Cloud/Server

RC2FM was 100% FileMaker Cloud and FileMaker Server compatible right from the start.

FMGO17-App-Icon.png
FMP17-ADV-App-Icon.png
FM-WebDirect-17-App-Icons.png
icon_fms.png
FM-Cloud-17-App-Icon.png

Great compatibility

RC2FM demo file Contact Manager UI
Compatible with all platforms

All RC2FM features ran on all platforms where FileMaker offers a native client. 

This includes iOS, macOS, and Windows.

Great Integration

Bolt-On

Connect using FileMaker Scripts and store data in native FileMaker tables. Get started quickly by pasting scripts and tables from our sample file. It's as easy as 1-2-3.

No Plugins

RC2FM works natively on iOS because it needs no plugins. While plugins are great for extending functionality, they impose the use of Server or Desktop technology.

No CWP Coding

RC2FM required no web coding or complicated  installations. RC2FM works great on apps that are not hosted, and works even better on apps hosted on FileMaker Server.

100% Cloud

We deployed RC2FM as a scalable Cloud integration available across redundant AWS regions. All you need is a RingCentral account an Internet connection.

How it works
  • What was RC2FM?
    RC2FM Connector stands for "RingCentral to FileMaker Connector". RC2FM was a web-based microservice that integrates Claris FileMaker with RingCentral Office®, enabling any FileMaker custom app to quickly establish two-way communication with RingCentral's Cloud-based Unified Communications Platform. ​ RC2FM Connector was an authorized RingCentral Public App developed on PHP by leveraging RingCentral's REST APIs. In technical terms, RC2FM Connector was a hosted microservice that enabled telephony integration for custom apps developed in FileMaker running on iOS, Mac, Windows and the Web.
  • What can I do with it?
    Sign into a RingCentral phone extension and use your business Caller ID to: • Click/Tap to dial any phone number stored in FileMaker. • Send outbound calls to your cell phone, personal phone, or RingCentral extension. • Send/receive SMS and MMS messages to/from any contact stored in FileMaker in near real time. • Send/receive Faxes directly from FileMaker containers or from your device's file system. • Download call log and message log history and store them as FileMaker records. • Download voicemails and store them as MP3's in FileMaker containers. • Download call recordings and store them as MP3's in FileMaker containers. • Download sent/received Faxes and store them as PDFs in FileMaker containers. • Set “Read” status of unread SMS, voicemails, and fax messages. • Trigger scripts in your FileMaker custom app on incoming calls (Pro/Advanced only).** ​ **Requires RingCentral Desktop app.
  • How did it work?
    RC2FM communicated with FileMaker over the internet using either the "Insert from URL" script step or the scripting of "WebViewer" objects. By calling secured URLs on our Cloud servers, FileMaker was able to transmit and receive encrypted data to/from your RingCentral account. ​ RC2FM required no plugins, connector files, Custom Web Publishing, or PHP code.
  • How was it sold?
    RC2FM is no longer in operation. RC2FM was retired effective May 31st 2024 and is no longer being sold. Throughout its eight years of operation, RC2FM was offered as Software as a Service (SaaS) in monthly or annual subscription plans. ​ Subscriptions were sold on a per user basis in several price tiers, with pricing ranging from $15/month for a single user to as low as $4.15/month for groups of 25 subscribers or more.
  • Is it private?
    It is only possible to activate service if you are an admin. We do this to protect customers against unauthorized information retrieval (leaks/thefts). Our system will reject service activations from anyone other than a user with super-admin or manage accounts credentials. Once access has been granted, anyone in your organization can sign-in and utilize our service, including multiple concurrent users (up to the maximum number of users covered by your subscription). RC2FM is a pass-thru system, so your data transmissions are never retained. Even if your transmission fails, you must request it again, as it is not cached or buffered. As far as access to private messages (i.e. call recordings, voicemails, faxes, sms/mms communications), RingCentral’s message store is per-user, not company-wide, therefore your messages and attachments can only be retrieved by you (using your unique RingCentral credentials). As for access to other company-wide reports (i.e. call history logs), the level of information that can be retrieved via RC2FM depends more on your subscription level than on your credentials. Even if you are the super-admin, unless you've purchased a premium subscription (i.e. a site license), you will not be able to retrieve company-wide call history, only your own call logs.
  • Was it HIPAA compliant?
    RC2FM Connector was Automation USA's RingCentral integration offering, which consisted of two parts. The first part was our back-end web service which we developed and operated in the Cloud, and the second part was your own FileMaker custom app, which you have designed around your business case leveraging the scripts and tables we provide. While RC2FM Connector was not HIPAA compliant, our web service was simply a pass-through which stored no user data. While we could conceivably qualify for HIPAA conduit, it would only make sense for us to do that if our customers' custom apps (the second part of the equation) also become HIPAA compliant. RingCentral's level of HIPAA compliance is contingent on your service plan. We invite you to read more about RingCentral's compliance levels at this link.
  • What's the technical route?
    All API requests terminate at our endpoints and our back-end servers then forward all applicable requests to the corresponding RingCentral endpoints. Therefore, client data such as outbound faxes and SMS/MMS messages transit through our servers, however no payload data is ever retained, even if the transaction fails. RingCentral’s binary responses (voicemails, inbound messages, etc.) also transit through our servers on their way back to the client. No payload data is ever retained, even if the transaction fails. RingCentral’s text responses (i.e. log downloads) can be handled one of two ways: we have legacy endpoints (for backwards compatibility) that parse JSON data to triple-pipe (“|||”) delimited text (as lists similar to standard ExecuteSQL output). we have new endpoints (not yet published) that echo RingCentral's JSON payload directly back to client and we provide new FileMaker schema and scripts (not yet published) that will parse and store the entire payload.
  • What platforms/versions were supported?
    RC2FM Connector initially supported FileMaker versions 13 through 15 , but effective July 27, 2021, only Claris FileMaker versions 16 and above running on iOS, macOS, Windows, and WebDirect were supported. Automation USA strongly recommended developers implement RC2FM Connector on the most current release of Claris FileMaker, or minimally version 16.0.3.302 or higher. As a general rule, RC2FM Connector supported all versions of FileMaker currently supported by Claris International. As Claris discontinued support for older releases of FileMaker, Automation USA would discontinue support for them as well.
  • Other questions?
    If you have any other questions, please reach out to us via our Online Chat, or by filling out our Contact form below.
Contact Us
Get in touch
  • LinkedIn - White Circle
  • Facebook - White Circle
  • Twitter - White Circle
To schedule a product demo with one of our product consultants, please fill in your contact details

Thanks for submitting!

bottom of page