At this time the BusyPaws webcam functionality is set up to integrate only with iDogCam cameras. If you work with a different provider for your cameras, reach out to our team to let us know!
Many pet parents like to check in and get updates from time to time when their pet is away from home. Whether you run a boarding kennel, a daycare facility, or another type of pet care business, live webcam feeds can be a great way to allow your clients to check in on their pets throughout the day. These feeds are not only fun for your customers to watch, they can also help demonstrate to your clients the wonderful care provided by you and your team throughout their pets' stay.
In this guide, we will take a look everything you need to know about integrating and using webcams with your BusyPaws account.
Integration Setup
You will need to be logged into a user account with either Business Owner or Manager access level designation to be able to set up this integration. Once logged in, click the "Links/Integrations" icon in the left-hand menu bar.
This will take you to the management page for all of your account's client page links, BusyPaws integrations, and third-party integrations. The cards for your QuickBooks, Mailchimp, and Webcam integrations can be found in the Third-Party Integrations section partway down this page. Locate the Webcams card and select the "Configure" button.
You will then be prompted to choose the BusyPaws facility to which you want to connect your webcams. Click the "Connect Account" button under the desired facility to proceed to the next step.
At this time, the only available webcam provider for this integration is iDogCam. If you work with a different provider for your facility's cameras, reach out to our support team to let us know!
Enter the Kennel ID and ERP Code for the facility you have configured on your iDogCam account. Once you have confirmed the details are correct, click the "Connect" button.
After connecting your webcams, you will be redirected to a full list of cameras from your chosen iDogCam kennel. The names of each camera will pre-populate based on the cameras you have configured in iDogCam.
If you have multiple facilities on your BusyPaws account, and other sets of cameras you wish to connect to those facilities, return to your Links & Integrations page and repeat the integration setup for each facility in turn. Be sure to match the selected BusyPaws facility with the appropriate Kennel ID when configuring the webcam integrations.
Viewing/Adjusting Your Webcam Configuration
Only users Manager and Business Owner level users have access to these pages/settings.
Once you have connected webcams to your BusyPaws account you may find yourself needing to view those feeds and/or adjust their settings. To do this, start by navigating to your Links & Integrations page. From there, locate the Webcams card in the Third-Party Integrations section. If you have any webcams connected to your account, a green "Connected" tag will appear at the top-right of this card.
Click the "Configure" button to open the settings for your webcam configuration.
Then select "Configure Connection" for the facility you wish to view/edit.
This page displays all of the connected webcams for the chosen facility. Use the "Enabled" toggle for each webcam to control whether or not that feed is visible to clients. Webcams with their enabled toggle turned on (purple) will be visible. Those with their toggle turned off (grey) will not be visible.
It is not possible to edit the names of your webcams within BusyPaws. The names shown on this settings page are pulled directly from your iDogCam account. To make any edits to webcam names, log into iDogCam directly.
Click the "View Webcam" button beneath any webcam's thumbnail to open a pop-up displaying its live feed.
Use the icons at the bottom of the video feed to adjust the view.
 | This button is found at the bottom-left corner of the webcam feed. Select it to pause the video. After pausing, the button will switch to a play button that can be used to unpause the video. |
 | This button is found near the bottom-right corner of the webcam feed. Select it to move the feed to the bottom-right corner of the page, allowing you to close the pop-up while still seeing the video.
If you navigate away from the Webcam Configuration page, the video feed will not remain at the bottom-right corner of the page. |
 | This button is found near the bottom-right corner of the webcam feed. Select it to make the video full screen. Select it again to exit full-screen mode. |
To disconnect your webcam integration, click the "Delete" button located at the top-right corner of your Webcams page.
This action cannot be undone. Once the connection has been deleted for a facility you will need to restart the integration from the beginning to reconnect your webcams.
How Clients View Webcams
After connecting webcams to your facility and enabling the feeds, your clients will be able to access those feeds through their Private Client Portal login. Once they have logged into the portal, they will see a "Webcams" icon in the left-hand menu bar.
Selecting this icon takes them to a list of all enabled webcam streams. Here, they can see thumbnail previews for each thread and select "View" to see the live feed.
That opens a pop-up with a view of the live camera feed. Clients can pause use the buttons at the bottom of the video feed display to pause it or make it full screen.
If a client attempts to view a feed outside of the hours you have set within iDogCam, the pop-up will not show a live feed. Instead, it will display a list of the hours when the feed is available for viewing.
Webcams are a great way to allow your clients to check in with their pets throughout their stay with you. For more information on other items found on your Links & Integrations page, see our help guides on Using Links & Website Integrations, Integrating With QuickBooks Online and Integrating With MailChimp.