Virtual Office 2.0 allows organizations to group people into organizational units, limiting access so that users with specific tasks or jobs can only access specific areas. For example, there can be a “Management” VO2 Office, an “Accounting” VO2 Office, etc.
In most cases, access to Offices in VO2 is managed by the office administrator. However, and office can be configured so that members of an office can invite other users in the organization, or non-registered users into the office.
Inviting users into an office has several advantages:
- A large number of users can be quickly invited into the office – all that’s required is an email address for each user.
- Administrators are saved the task of creating accounts for new users and then assigning them to the office.
- Invited users are able to specify their own details while registering. Therefore, there is no need to confirm the spelling of names or to create and relay temporary passwords.
- Administrators can designate a default “role” for invited users, so they are automatically granted a specific permission level.
- Users have the ability to ignore or decline an invitation. They only appear in the member list if they have accepted an invitation so it is easy to tell who has accepted an invitation and is ready to participate in the office.
The following is an overview of how to setup an office to allow invitations, and the steps involved in accepting an invitation.
Administration – Setting Up Invitations
By default all VO2 offices allow invitations to be made. It is the role-permissions that control whether or not a user can invite users into an office.
The first step to controlling invitations is to specify a default role invited users are assigned to. When editing or creating an office, the Administrator should pick a “Default Invitation Role”. This is the role assigned to users that accept an invitation into the office.
Users invited into an office are assigned a specific role.
The administrator is able to control who can invite users by setting up the permissions for specific roles.
Only users with the "Invite New Members" permission have the ability to invite people.
Users who belong to a role with “Invite new members” checked are presented with the “Invite Users” command while in the office.
That’s it! Once these settings have been setup by the administrator, then specific users within an office will have the ability to invite new and existing users into their Virtual Office 2.0 office environment for future collaboration.
Inviting User(s) into a VO2 Office
Users in a VO2 Office belonging to a role that has been granted the “Invite New Members” permission can invite new users into the office in the “Members” section. When in the “Members” section, there will be an “Invite Users” menu option.
Use "Invite Users" in the "Members" area to start the wizard.
Clicking the button will start the “Invite Users” wizard. The first step asks for a list of one or more email addresses to send an invitation to. Each email address should be entered on a separate line. There is no limit to the number of users to invite.
Each email address should be on a separate line.
After entering the email address(es), clicking “Next” will show the default invitation email’s message. This can be customized to contain specific information for the invitation.
Provide a custom message to accompany the invitation.
Clicking “Send Invitation(s)” will send the message to all the email addresses entered in the first step. A confirmation dialog will then be displayed.
The status of each invitation is shown here.
Each invitee will receive the notification email and will be able to accept or ignore the invitation. Now we will look at the process required to Accept an invitation to a VO2 Office.
Accepting an Invitation to a VO2 Office
To accept an invitation, click on the link in the notification email. Upon reaching the login screen, the user will be presented with the following message:
This message is displayed above the login dialog.
If you are already registered, login as usual. Unregistered users should click the “Register Now” link below the login box. Upon completing the registration process, return to the login page and login to the system.
Upon logging in to Virtual Office 2.0, see the “Invitations” box on the left-hand side. It will list any VO2 offices that you have been invited to.
All pending office-invitations will be listed here.
Clicking an office will present you with a brief description of the office. You can then choose to “Accept” or “Decline” the invitation.
An administrator provides the office overview - choose whether or not to accept the invitation.
Clicking on “Accept Invitation” will add you to the office, and you will be assigned the role selected by Administrators and granted the permissions available in that role.
You have successfully joined the office.
By following these simple steps, any number of users can be quickly invited to participate in a VO2 Office, collaborating via discussions, live meetings, and sharing documents.
Check back soon for more information about how Permissions and Roles work Virtual Office 2.0.