User Security and Permissions

The following is a brief description of the User Security System in The Business Edge.

Each Users security access is setup in Enter & Edit User Permissions. This is where they are provided access to the main modules of the system. Some Users may have access to the Order Entry System, Purchase Order System and Inventory System while others may also have access to Accounts Receivable and the Quality System for instance.

One of the Permission flags is to limit a User to My Menu only. When this is set to yes, that particular User would only have access the specific item that are in their custom menu.

In addition to User Permissions each user is also assigned a Security Level. There are ten levels of security. The Security Level is where you can fine tune additional permissions. Even though a User has access to the Order Entry System, you may not want then to be able to delete a Sales Order. You may want certain Users to be able to Add Alternate Part Numbers to the Inventory Master but you might not want then entering new Products. These are just a couple examples of how you customize the security.

When adding a new User, the first step is to have the User Setup. Computer Insights will add Users upon request. The following information should be submitted when requesting a new User.

Login

Password

Full Name

Email Address

This information needs to be filled in as completely as possible. The e-mail address will be used when a user receives an in-bound fax or gets a failed document message. Users can receive an e-mail alerting them that there is a fax waiting for them or a fax failed to go out. Their email address is also used as the return address when they are e-mailing documents out of the system. The e-mail tab under Options has all of the e-mail settings so that their e-mail will send them messages back to their default email program such as Outlook when there is a problem with an email arriving at its destination.

If the new User will have the same permissions as an existing User, those permissions can be copied over to the new User.

You will need to establish the functions that each (e.g. System Administrator or Minimum Access User) is allowed to use in The Business Edge. You will do this in Edit Security Levels in the menu below:

You will need to decide how many Security Levels you will need. You can have up to ten security levels. To see the different levels simply click on the selection icon or press Space-bar and Enter at the security level prompt. More than one department can share the same level, reducing maintenance for the System Administrator.

The Security Level setup will default the fields in the screen below so all the options that are shown are for the entire group. You will want to click on the additional options on the right to setup Document Access, Notes Access and Entry & Deletion Access. Examples of these screens are displayed on the following pages

The flags in the Security Level setup contain options that relate to the detailed information that is available after Users are in a particular menu, such as Order & Quote Entry. The first screen below pertains to the values displayed on the screen as well as different Inquiries throughout the system. Inquiries throughout the system do not give the User the ability to change Master File information but the ability to view it. The Inquires in the system are very detailed, all of the open and processed information is available through the Inquiries.

Security Level – Document Access – The screen below is available through the Doc Access button within each Security Level. If you would like to limit User access to specific types of documents, you can do so here.

The last question in the first box pertains to manually adjusting your inventory. If you do not want all levels of employees to have access to adding or reducing your inventory, change this flag to No for those levels that should not be adjusting inventory. Manual Adjustments are available through the Inventory System as well as through the Actions menu, so simply keeping them out of the Inventory System will not prevent them from access unless you answer No here.

The final question on this screen pertains to sending out-bound faxes and e-mails. Throughout the system you have the ability to fax out Orders, Quotes, P.O.s, Invoices, etc. If this flag is set to No for a specific level, they will receive an Access Denied Message if they attempt to fax or e-mail a document out of the system. Since some Users never need this ability, it simply ensures they never accidentally send documents out.

Security Level – Notes Click on the Notes Access button in Edit Security Levels to edit these flags. Internal Notes are available for Customers, Products and Vendors and documents. When a note is stored in the system, it is stored along with the Date, Time and User Name that created the note.

Notes are accessible through file maintenance and Inquires, as well as through some of the Enter & Edit functions. These are internal notes and do not print on any documents or reports. A common use of Customer Notes is to record collection call conversations and commitments or notes to follow up on Quotes. Recording an internal note eliminates written notes that get lost and they help with communication to others as to the status of a particular account.

Some features of the Notes – All Notes have the ability to Pop up for the User that entered the note, all Users, specific departments or not to pop up at all. A follow-up date can also be entered in a note. Starting on the follow-up date the User that entered the note will get a reminder each time they log into the system until either the note is deleted or the follow up date is removed. You can design the security so that some users may only view the internal notes but not enter and/or edit the Notes.

Security Level – Entry and Deletion Access – This screen is available through the Entry & Deletion button. This provides security for entering and editing Master File information and Documents in the system. Once a Customer Product or Vendor has history, Users cannot delete them. Initially if no history is imported, you run the risk of an employee accidentally deleting a record if the access is set to yes on this screen. Entering Customers, Products and Vendors is available through the File Maintenance areas in the system as well as through the Master File option on the Tool Bar.

Enter & Edit User Security – Once you have established the Security Levels, you are now ready to setup the overall security for each User. This is done through Enter & Edit User Permissions in the Security Menu

You can enter a User Name, click on the selection icon or press space-bar and enter to get a drop-down list of all Users that are in the system. The first question is Security Level; select the appropriate security level for the user you have selected. There are up to eight screens with flags that are based on menu and higher security type options. Access to the System Administrator System should be limited, since users that have access to the System Administrator also have access to the Security System

There are flags that can be used prevent access to items on the first level of the menu tree. For example, this user cannot access anything within the “General Ledger System” If this user tries to open the “General Ledger System” they will get an “Access Denied” message

Printer Access – If you would like to limit the use of certain printers to specific employees, you can do so with the Printer Access button. This is an efficient way to isolate certain Printers for specific uses. You may want to designate Warehouse Printers, the printer that prints A/P Checks, etc. This can reduce the list of printers that a user has to choose from. It will also prevent someone accidentally printing to the wrong printer.

Location Access – If you would like to limit access to specific locations by User, you can do so with the Location Access button. This comes in handy if your warehouse structure is such that all products are received into a specified receiving location or all products are shipped from a specified location.

Customer Salesperson Access-can be left blank to allow access to all of the customers. If a salesperson is selected the user will only be able to see customers that are assigned to that salesperson. The same is true for Vendor Salesperson Access. The Customer Types flag is only available when using the CRM Actions module.

When the user is set to “Limit to My Menu Only” the only item in the menu tree will be “My Menu” and the only toolbar menus that give access to menu items will be My Tasks, Auto Launch, and My History.

When removing access to something a user previously had access to it is important to remember clear their My History list..

Clearing a User’s history takes away their access to it but leaves it in the system for Administrators to see. You cannot do something and hide the fact that you did it.

Below is an example of a User’s screen with “Limit to My Menu Only” set to Yes. They are only given access to the exact functions needed for their Warehouse position.

Management has access to information detailing what menu items Users were in. The User History Inquiry shows by User, the Programs they were in by Date and Time

The Report History Inquiry will show every report that was generated by User, Date and Time.

In the Change Audit Inquiry Menu shown below, management can view changes made to Master Records and Documents. If someone is wondering how re-order points were changed in Inventory they can easily find that information for a single part or a range of parts within a date range. There are also Audit Inquires available through the standard Inquiries from the Tool bar.