Chapter 30

Signing in from more than one place

Your TechieCRM ID belongs to one person, so it can be used in one place at a time. When you sign in somewhere new while your ID is still open somewhere else, TechieCRM asks you what to do instead of silently letting two people work under one name. This chapter explains what you see, what each button does, and what happens to anything you were typing.

TechieCRM switches this on for each workspace. Until it is switched on for yours, nothing in this chapter happens: you can sign in wherever you like, exactly as before.

In this chapter

What counts as a place

Each of these is one place:

Place Examples
The TechieCRM desktop app on a computer Your office PC, a laptop
The web portal in a browser, on any device Chrome on your PC, Safari on your Mac, the browser on your phone or tablet
Your office portal in a browser The portal your company runs on its own server

Things to know:

  • Your registered phone app never counts. The TechieCRM app on the phone registered to you (see The Mobile App, "Your phone is registered to you") is never asked, never prompted and never signed out by anything in this chapter. A browser on that same phone is a place, like any other browser.
  • Two browsers on one computer are two places. Chrome and Edge on the same PC, or a normal window and a private (incognito) window, are separate places, and signing in to the second one prompts you. Several tabs or windows of the same browser share one sign-in, so they are one place.
  • The desktop app and a browser on the same computer are two places. TechieCRM lets you drag modules and windows onto other screens and monitors, and the desktop and the web portal look and work the same, so you never need both open at once. Choose one.
  • The desktop app follows the same rule once it is updated, and so does your office portal. Until each is on a version that includes it, it does not take part. The same applies to the TechieCRM app on a tablet: a tablet is shared rather than registered to one person, so once the tablet app is updated it counts as a place like a computer does.

When your ID is already in use

You sign in as usual. If your ID is in use in another place, and that place is being used, you see a page titled Your TechieCRM ID is already in use before anything else opens. It reads, for example:

Your ID, Jane Smith (jane@acme.com), is signed in on another device:

  • Chrome on Windows (TechieCRM web, client.techiecrm.com), signed in since 9:14 AM, last active 2 minutes ago, from 203.0.113.7 (the same network as you).

One ID can be used in one place at a time. Do you want to keep working here? The other device will be asked to sign out.

If your ID is open in several places, each one is listed and the page says "is signed in on other devices".

What each part of the device line means:

Part Meaning
The device For a browser: the browser and the operating system, then (TechieCRM web, ...) with the address it is using. For your office portal: (your office portal, ...) with the portal's name. For the desktop app, once updated: the computer's name, then (TechieCRM desktop, ...) with the Windows user signed in to that computer.
signed in since When that place signed in. A time on its own is today; an earlier day shows the date, for example 28 Sep at 9:14 AM.
last active When someone last typed, clicked or touched the screen there.
from The internet address the other place is connecting from. (the same network as you) is added when it is your own address or one right next to it, which usually means the same office or the same home connection. It does not prove it is you. TechieCRM does not show a town or city.

Underneath are your choices:

Choice What happens
Continue here The other place is asked to sign out, and you wait while it answers (next section).
Cancel Nothing changes on the other device. This sign-in ends and you are back on the sign-in page, which says "You cancelled the sign-in."
This wasn't me (link) For when you did not sign in on the other device. See This wasn't me.

The page ends with "One ID can be used in one place at a time. Your registered phone app is never affected." Until you choose, TechieCRM does not open any of your data in this browser: any page you try takes you back to this one.

Another device acted first. If the other place pressed Continue here a moment before you did, you see Another device acted first instead: "The other device chose to keep working there. Its request to sign this browser out will appear here in a moment." Wait a second or press Refresh: the "You are being signed out" countdown described below appears, and you can still choose to keep working here.

Continue here: waiting for the other device

After Continue here you see Asking the other device to sign out, with a line such as "Asking Chrome on Windows (TechieCRM web, client.techiecrm.com) to sign out. This takes up to 50 seconds.", the device being asked, and a progress bar.

  1. The other device shows a 15-second countdown as soon as it hears of your request. Its user can sign out at once, let the countdown run out, or choose to keep working there instead.
  2. As soon as it has signed out, you are taken into TechieCRM, to the page you were going to. Usually this takes about 20 seconds.
  3. If nobody answers (the other computer is asleep, closed or offline), you still get in: TechieCRM stops waiting and signs that place out itself, at most about 50 seconds after you pressed Continue here. The next time that device connects, it shows that it was signed out because it did not answer in time.
  4. If the other device chooses to keep working, this page changes to The other device wants to keep working: "It has asked this browser to sign out instead. The countdown will appear here in a moment." You then get the same 15-second countdown, with the same choices, described in the next section.

Cancel on the waiting page withdraws your request. The other device stops its countdown and is told "The other device cancelled. You can keep working.", and this sign-in ends.

On the other device: "You are being signed out"

When another place asks yours to sign out, a window titled You are being signed out covers the page you are on:

Your TechieCRM ID is now being used on Chrome on Windows (TechieCRM web, client.techiecrm.com), which has asked this device to sign out. You will be signed out in 15 seconds. Your unsaved work will be kept on this device.

A large number counts down the seconds. The window cannot be closed and the Escape key does nothing, so the choice is never missed. Your choices:

Choice What happens
Sign out now You are signed out straight away and the other place gets in.
Cancel, and sign the other device out instead You keep working here. The other place gets the same 15-second countdown and the same choices. You see Asking the other device to sign out while it answers, and then return to the page you were on.
This wasn't me (link) You did not sign in on the other device. See This wasn't me.
Do nothing When the count reaches 0 you are signed out.

The window also says "Your unsaved work on this page has been kept in this browser." See Your unsaved work.

The countdown is kept by TechieCRM's server, not by your computer's clock, so a computer with the wrong time cannot shorten or stretch it. If the other place cancels while you are counting down, the window disappears and you see "The other device cancelled. You can keep working."

A place you left alone for 15 minutes

A place where nobody has typed, clicked or touched the screen for 15 minutes is treated as left alone. When you sign in somewhere else, that place is signed out without asking and without a countdown, because nobody is there to answer one. You are told about it on the new place, for example: "Your ID was also signed in on Chrome on Windows (TechieCRM web, client.techiecrm.com), idle since 9:14 AM. That session has been signed out..."

The place that was left alone shows, when someone next looks at it: "You were signed out because this session was idle and your ID signed in on another device."

The web portal also signs you out on its own after 15 minutes without use, as described in Users, security & logging in, "Staying signed in, and signing out". This rule is about a second place, so it matters most for a computer that stays signed in, such as the desktop app once updated.

This wasn't me

Use This wasn't me when the other device on the list is not one you signed in on. It is offered on the "already in use" page and in the "You are being signed out" window.

  1. Press This wasn't me. A page titled This wasn't me explains: "We will sign your ID out everywhere except here, and you will choose a new password now."
  2. Press Sign my ID out everywhere else (or Back if you pressed it by mistake).
  3. You see Your ID is signed out everywhere else. Every other place was signed out at once, with no countdown and no chance to keep working there. Only this browser stays signed in.
  4. Press Change my password and choose a new password, so whoever had your old one cannot sign in again. This opens the usual Change password page. Type your current password first: it is always asked, even if you signed in a moment ago. Then type the new password twice, save it, and press Continue to TechieCRM.
  5. Your registered phone app was not signed out. If the page's My devices link shows a phone you do not recognise, remove it there.

The places that were signed out see "Your ID was signed out because its owner reported it being used without their permission."

Also tell your administrator, so they know someone else may have your password.

Your unsaved work

If you are typing in a form when your place is signed out (because you pressed Sign out now, the countdown reached 0, or you were signed out for being left alone), what you typed is not lost:

  • It is kept in that browser on that device. It is never saved to the database: TechieCRM will not save half-finished changes on your behalf, because that could overwrite a record with something you never meant to keep.
  • The signed-out page says "Anything you were typing and had not saved was kept in this browser, not in the database. The next time you open that record after signing in, you will be offered it back."
  • The next time you sign in on that browser and open the same form, a bar at the top of it says "You have unsaved changes here from when you were signed out at 10:02 AM."
  • Restore puts your typing back into the form. Check it, then save as usual.
  • Discard throws it away and leaves the record as it is in the database.
  • Kept work is removed automatically after 7 days.

This covers notes, contacts and the sections of a record's dialog. It only works in the same browser on the same device: kept work does not follow you to another computer, and clearing your browser's data for TechieCRM (for example Forget my credentials on this computer when you sign out) removes it.

On the desktop app the same idea applies, with a review of the before and after of each record: see Recovered work on the desktop.

Why you were signed out

When a place is signed out by this rule, it lands on a page titled You were signed out with one of these reasons, and a Sign in again button:

Reason shown What happened
You were signed out because your ID is now being used on another device. Someone pressed Continue here somewhere else, and this place signed out or its countdown ran out. The device is named when TechieCRM knows it.
You were signed out because your ID is now being used on another device and this device did not answer in time. This place could not show the countdown in time (asleep, closed or offline).
You were signed out because this session was idle and your ID signed in on another device. Nobody had used this place for 15 minutes.
Your ID was signed out because its owner reported it being used without their permission. Someone chose This wasn't me on another device. If that was not you, sign in, change your password and tell your administrator.
Your ID has been disabled because it was being used by two people at the same time. Call TechieCRM to resolve this. The three strikes rule, below.

The page ends with "Was this not you? Sign in and choose This wasn't me on the prompt to sign your ID out everywhere."

"Sign-in is temporarily unavailable." If TechieCRM cannot check whether your ID is in use elsewhere, the web portal does not let you in unchecked. You see "TechieCRM could not check whether your ID is in use elsewhere. Nothing was changed. Please try again in a minute." Press Try again.

Administrators

Administrators follow the same rule, with one allowance, because an administrator often does two jobs at once: one session doing administrator work beside one session doing everyday client work is allowed. In the web portal, administrator work means the Admin Portal pages.

Your two sessions Allowed?
Client work in one place, administrator work in another, on the same computer Yes
Client work in one place, administrator work on a different computer that is still in use No: you are asked to choose, as above
Client work on one computer that has been left alone for 15 minutes, administrator work on another Yes (the place left alone may be signed out, as described above)
Client work in two places No
Administrator work in two places No

A browser cannot tell TechieCRM which computer it is on, so in the web portal the allowance applies only when the other place has been left alone. The desktop app will report its computer once it is updated.

Seeing who is signed in, and signing a place out

In the desktop's Administrator program, File ▸ Signed in now… lists every place where someone is signed in to your workspace: the person, the device, Desktop / Web / Office portal, the state (Active, Idle, Waiting, Signing out), when they signed in, when they were last active, and any strikes or flags against their ID. Select a place and press Sign out (or Sign out everywhere for every place of that person): that place gets the 15-second countdown with the words "Your administrator signed you out." and no button to cancel it. The same page clears the Password must be changed flag described under This wasn't me. Only administrators can open it. The full steps are in The Administrator program, "Signed in now".

Sharing an ID between shifts

A business that runs around the clock may share one ID between people who work different shifts (up to three people on 8-hour shifts in a 24-hour day). That is allowed: one person signs in when the previous one has finished, and each sign-in simply takes over from the last (you may see the "already in use" page if the last person left their place open; Continue here is the right choice). Handing over never counts against you. You only lose the record of which person did what, because everything is done under one name.

Using one ID on two systems at the same time: the three strikes rule

One ID is licensed for one person. TechieCRM watches for an ID being actively used on two systems at the same time, which means:

  • someone typed, clicked or touched the screen on both systems within 2 minutes of each other, and
  • the use switched back and forth between the two at least twice.

Simply staying signed in on one system while you work on another never counts, and neither does a hand-over between shifts.

Each separate occasion is a strike:

  1. First and second occasion. You are told each time, for example: "Your TechieCRM ID was actively used on two systems at the same time (on ... and ...). One ID is licensed for one person. This is occasion 1 of 3; if it happens 2 more times the ID will be disabled and only TechieCRM can re-enable it." TechieCRM is told as well.
  2. Third occasion. The ID is disabled and every place using it is signed out. Signing in shows "Your ID has been disabled because it was being used by two people at the same time. Call TechieCRM to resolve this."
  3. Call TechieCRM. If the strikes turn out to be a fault in the system, TechieCRM fixes it and re-enables your ID. If the ID really was being used by two people, the second person needs their own licence. For an office that runs TechieCRM on its own database, TechieCRM asks your administrator to press Re-enable ID… in Administrator ▸ File ▸ Signed in now… during the call, and to type TechieCRM's reference for it.

On the desktop app

The TechieCRM desktop app follows the same rule, with the same words, once it is switched on for your office: Setup ▸ Settings ▸ General ▸ Signing in from more than one place (A5). For an office that runs TechieCRM on its own database (no cloud subscription) the switch is set once, for the whole office, by an administrator, and every computer follows it at its next sign-in; everyone else sees the current value there but cannot change it. The switch is Off until an administrator changes it, so nothing in this section happens before then. Observe records where your ID is used and never prompts; Enforce is the full rule described in this chapter. An office that uses the TechieCRM cloud follows the cloud's own setting instead.

Where the desktop differs from the browser:

  • The prompt appears after your password is accepted, before the main window opens. Cancel takes you back to the Login dialog; Continue here shows Asking ... to sign out with a progress bar until the other place has gone, then the main window opens.
  • The countdown is a window that stays on top of everything else. Escape and its close box do nothing; the only ways out are Sign out now, Cancel, and sign the other device out instead, This wasn't me, or the number reaching 0.
  • When the desktop is signed out it closes every open window and dialog, disconnects from the database and returns to the Login dialog, with the reason shown above the fields (the same sentences as the table above). The program itself keeps running, so the office portal on the same computer is not affected.
  • Your unsaved work is handled as described under Your unsaved work below, with one difference: it is kept in a file on that computer rather than in a browser.
  • "Active" means using TechieCRM. The 15 minutes under A place you left alone are 15 minutes without typing or clicking in TechieCRM itself. Working in another program, or moving the mouse, does not keep your TechieCRM place active, so a sign-in elsewhere then replaces it without asking (your unsaved work is still kept, see below).
  • If the desktop cannot reach the registry (the TechieCRM cloud, or your office's own database) it lets you sign in anyway and shows Couldn't check whether your ID is in use elsewhere in the status bar; it keeps trying, and reports the sign-in when it reconnects. That is the opposite of the web portal, which never lets you in unchecked. While you were unreachable your use is recorded on that computer and compared later: two places actively used at the same time still count under the three strikes rule below.
  • If this computer's license isn't linked to your workspace (for example, it still holds an old trial license), the desktop says so after your password is accepted: This computer's license isn't linked to an active TechieCRM workspace. A license problem never locks you out of your own data, so you can always sign in. Press Continue to sign in now; the status bar shows Sign-ins aren't checked until the license is fixed. If you have a TechieCRM license, press Enter a license key…, paste your key (your administrator can find it in the TechieCRM Admin Portal) and press Activate. Then sign out and sign in again, and the check comes back on. If the message comes back with your own key, ask TechieCRM to link the license to your workspace.
  • The Administrator program counts as administrator work for the Administrators rule above; the main TechieCRM window counts as client work.
  • This wasn't me on a desktop that signs in with a source-CRM login (the usual office sign-in) does what the rule says for those logins: every other place is signed out at once and your ID is flagged for your administrator, who changes the password in your office database and then clears the flag in Administrator ▸ File ▸ Signed in now…. Until then your ID can still sign in where it is not in use, but cannot take over another place. TechieCRM never writes that password, and the dialog has no password fields: it only tells you to ask your administrator. On a desktop that signs in with a TechieCRM cloud account, you change the password in the same dialog: type your Current password, then the New password and Confirm new password, and press Change password. The current password is always asked, even if you signed in a moment ago; if it is wrong the dialog says so and asks again. Your registered phone app is not signed out.

Recovered work on the desktop

If a record was open with unsaved changes when the desktop was signed out (and the sign-out was not your own Sign out), TechieCRM saves it on that computer first, never to the database. It covers a note, a document in the document editor, a client or contact you were adding or editing, and an email you were writing. Any other window with unsaved changes is closed and named in the signed-out message so you know what was lost.

The next time you sign in on that computer you see Unsaved work from your last session: the records on the left, and for the selected one a table of every changed field with its Before (as loaded) and After (as you left it) value.

  • Keep this (open it again) puts the record back in its editor with your changes, so you review it and save it the normal way (or close it without saving). The saved copy is removed.
  • Discard this removes the saved copy; the record stays as it is in the database.
  • Close (decide later) leaves the rest for your next sign-in. Saved copies are removed after 30 days.

Not yet available

  • Your office portal follows the same rule once it is updated and switched on, for an office that keeps its data on its own server. A desktop and the office portal then see each other: signing in to the portal while your ID is in use on a desktop asks you to choose one. An office portal in a workspace on the TechieCRM cloud does not check sign-ins yet.
  • Signing in to the desktop while the cloud is unreachable: the desktop reports the sessions it held while unreachable to your office database today; a TechieCRM cloud workspace receives them once the cloud accepts that report.
  • A new password straight from "This wasn't me" on the web. For now the page sends you to the usual Change password page. When the page asks for it directly, it will still ask for your current password first.
  • Signed in now in the web portal and in your office portal. Today the list and Sign out are in the desktop's Administrator program only (see Administrators). The web portal's Admin Portal and the office portal's administrator pages will get the same page.
  • On Signed in now: the number of phones registered to each person, a History tab of sign-in events (use the activity log meanwhile, A11), and Peak simultaneous people this month.