Using the Sign-in Screen
The Sign-in screen is where the system administrator decides how people sign in to ABM Service over the web, and helps somebody who has lost the phone with their authenticator app on it. Open the menu and, under Administration, select Sign-in. Only ABM user number 1, the system administrator, has this screen.
What is the Sign-in screen for?
The Sign-in screen in ABM Service does two jobs for the whole company: it sets whether people signing in over the web need an authenticator app, and it lists every ABM user so that you can reset the authenticator of somebody who has lost their phone. Open it from the menu: under Administration, select Sign-in.
The line under the heading Sign-in reads How people sign in to followed by your company's name and over the web. That is exactly what the screen controls: the ABM Service sign-in page in a browser, for your company. It does not change:
- The ABM Service desktop app's sign-in, which is unchanged whatever you choose here.
- The Customer portal, where your customers sign in. Customers are never asked for an authenticator code, and who may sign in there is decided on the Customer sign-ins screen.
- Passwords and the list of people. Office passwords are ABM passwords, and adding, renaming or removing a person is done in ABM itself, by whoever looks after ABM at your company.
The setting is kept in your company's own database, so it is the same in every browser and on every computer. A site with two ABM companies has a Sign-in screen for each, and each company's setting is its own.
How do I open the Sign-in screen?
Open the ABM Service menu and select Sign-in under Administration. The entry is only in the menu when you are signed in as user 1.
- Open the menu with Menu on the Home screen, or Navigation menu at the top of the filters panel on the Calls, Customers or Scheduler screen.
- Select Sign-in under Administration. It comes after Database and before Customer sign-ins.
The Sign-in screen is in the ABM Service desktop app's menu too, under Administration, when you sign in there as user 1, and changing the setting from the desktop app changes it for the web sign-in in the same way.
If anybody else opens the Sign-in screen, for example from a link, they see This page is for the system administrator and the sentence How people sign in is set by the system administrator, and the Sign-in entry is only in their menu. Nothing else from the screen is shown to them, and nothing can be changed.
What is on the Sign-in screen?
The Sign-in screen has two parts, one under the other: Authenticator app at the top and People below it.
Authenticator app starts with a sentence saying what the setting is: A second step after the password: the six-digit code from an authenticator app on the person's phone, the kind you scan a square into once. It applies to the web only — the desktop application is unchanged. Under it are three choices, each with what it means:
- Off — Nobody is asked for a code.
- Optional — Anybody may set one up from the menu, and is asked for a code only if they did.
- Required — Everybody must set one up; a person without one is asked to at their next sign-in.
The choice is saved the moment you select it; there is no Save button. The line under the choices reads Saving… and then Saved. with what the choice means now, such as Saved. Nobody is signed out; the code is met at the next sign-in. for Required.
People starts with a count, such as 12 people, 3 with an authenticator., followed by Somebody who has lost their phone is reset here, and sets one up again at their next sign-in. A reset person is taken to setting one up at their next sign-in only when the setting is Required; under Optional they set one up from Your account in their menu when they choose. Then comes one line per person, and under the list the sentence Your own is not reset from here. If you lose your phone, whoever looks after this server can clear it for you.
What does the People list on the Sign-in screen show?
The People list on the Sign-in screen shows every ABM user, in order of name, and whether each has set up an authenticator app. The line above it counts them, for example 12 people, 3 with an authenticator., or ends none with an authenticator yet. when nobody has.
Under each name, the list says:
- Not set up — the person has no authenticator. There is nothing to reset, so there is no Reset button.
- Set up on and a date — the day they set up their authenticator app. Reset is beside it, except on your own row.
- ABM no longer lists this user, after the set-up date — ABM Service still holds an authenticator for a user number ABM has removed. The row is named User and the number, and Reset clears it.
The names come from ABM's own list of users, the same one people choose from when they sign in, so the list shows everybody on it, whichever companies they have been given.
The People list only reads ABM's list. You cannot add a person, change a name or a password, or remove somebody on the Sign-in screen, and it has no button to export or print the list.
The list is useful beyond resets. With Optional chosen, it shows who has taken up the authenticator app; before switching to Required, it shows who will be asked to set one up at their next sign-in.
What if the Sign-in screen cannot read the setting or the names?
The two parts of the Sign-in screen are read from two different places, so one can fail while the other works.
The Authenticator app setting comes from your company's database. While it is being read the screen says Reading how this company signs in…. If it cannot be read, the reason is shown in its place and nothing else is drawn; try again later, and if it keeps happening, give the reason to your software supplier's support team.
The names in the People list come from ABM's control database, ABM's own list of users. While they are being read the list says Reading who is on ABM's list…. If they cannot be read, the list says The names could not be read from ABM's control database, so the list below is not here. followed by a reason. The Authenticator app setting above it still works, because it is kept in your company's own database. Try the Sign-in screen again later; if it keeps happening, give the reason to your software supplier's support team or IT contact, because ABM's control database may be unavailable or not yet set up for this site.
If a choice or a reset could not be saved, the reason appears at the top of the Sign-in screen, and the screen goes back to showing what is really in force.