By Glyn Povah (@glynpovah), Founder of JetSetMe (@jetsetme)

• Telefónica Digital launches new JetSetMe Channel on IFTTT – empowering O2 UK customers to build personalised products or services using their own travel data

12 June 2013: How about this – wire your phone to create a status message on Facebook as soon as you switch your phone on when you arrive in a new country. Or let your loved ones know you’ve just landed and will be home soon.

That’s right – get your phone to really work for you.

Today we’re excited to officially roll out the new JetSetMe Channel on IFTTT (If This Then That) that can be used by O2 UK customers to personalise their own products and services using the data from their mobile phones when travelling abroad.

By launching our JetSetMe Channel on IFTTT, we’re putting tools and technology in your hands, letting you co-create and innovate in a really simple and accessible way. It’s currently offered free of charge and you can try it out at https://ifttt.com/jetsetme

 

Above graphic courtesy: ifttt.com

Here’s how it works:

• O2 UK customers need to opt-in and activate the JetSetMe Channel on IFTTT to create their own ‘Recipes’ or use ones we’ve already created.

• To activate the Channel, you’ll need to type in your mobile number and will receive a PIN code to activate the Channel. This isn’t just for smartphone users by the way – it works from any O2 UK SMS-enabled phone.

Users can connect the JetSetMe Channel to services such as Facebook, Evernote, and Yammer with “If This Then That Recipes” that work “If” your activated phone travels to a new country.

• The Triggers activate automatically whenever customers travel abroad (and switch on their phone!) and return to the UK.

• Each new country generates a new Trigger which fires once, upon arrival.

• The ‘this’ part of a Recipe is a Trigger (e.g. “I’m tagged in a photo on Facebook” or “I check in on Foursquare”) and the ‘that’ part is an Action (e.g. “send me a text message” or “create a status message on Facebook.”)

To get you started and help fire your imagination, we’ve created three straight-forward Recipes that use the JetSetMe travel Trigger:

World Tour – Update my Facebook automatically to create a travel blog as I travel around the world. Great for bands on tour, DJs or even students going euro-railing.

Don’t call me – I’m asleep! – Update my Facebook or Yammer feed automatically to let friends or colleagues know I’m abroad – and where I am – so they don’t call me in the middle of the night!

Arrived Safely / I’ll be home soon – link with your internet-enabled Philips Hue light bulbs and let your loved ones know you’ve arrived safely at your destination or you’ll be home soon from the airport by blinking the lights.

JetSetMe is a new service from Telefónica Digital that is initially available for Telefónica’s O2 UK customers and there are plans to make JetSetMe available to other markets in due course. It provides opted in customers with access to their phone roaming status for services such as IFTTT.

Looking forward, Telefónica is also exploring other potential uses for the technology. For example, if a customer chooses to share this information with their bank it would remove the need for the customer to inform their bank that they are travelling and thereby reduce the likelihood of having their card declined while abroad.

Try out the JetSetMe Channel at https://ifttt.com/jetsetme

Give us your feedback or make suggestions for new features via email (feedback@jetsetme.com) or on Twitter @jetsetme