Work with self-service accounts

Equitrac offers a feature which allows schools to create a Self-service Equitrac user account, and add funds to it via Cashier or Web Deposit. A Self-service account is considered a normal user account, and has access to all the features associated with Equitrac. Self-service users are validated by CAS for their credentials when they print, fax, copy, or scan. However, you may prefer to group Self-service users into a single department (e.g. Self-service) for pricing, billing, and reporting purposes.

To configure how Self-service accounts are created, do the following:

  1. In System Configuration, select Global Configuration Settings > Accounting and Quotas > Self-service Account.
  2. Select the Enable self-service account creation option to allow user to create their own account through the User Dashboard application in Web Client.
  3. Select the User IDoption that Web System Manager uses to generate the Self-service user ID:
    • Auto generate format - The user ID is created with the format of GUEST_%d, where %d is replaced by an auto-generated number. For example, GUEST_%d becomes GUEST_123. Maximum 240 characters allowed.
    • Use email address - The Self-service user's email address becomes their user ID.
  4. Select the Default department from the drop-down list for the Self-service account to belong to. The drop-down list is populated with all existing departments listed in Accounts > Departments. This option is disabled if there are no existing departments.
  5. Select Allow users to select department checkbox to allow users to choose a desired department (disabled by default if the Enable self-service account creation checkbox is deselected).
  6. If the selected department name matches one in Accounts, then the Self-service account is associated with that department. If no department is entered, or the name entered does not match an existing department, then the Self-service account is associated with the configured default department.

  7. Enter number of days for the account activation expiration in the Expires after field. If the user does not activate their account within the specified time period, then the application expires, and they must reapply to create a new account (maximum is 365 days).
  8. In the Configure email content section, do the following:
    1. Enter an Email subject line for the email sent to the user indicating that their account requires activation.
    2. Enter an Email message with the following information:
      • Direct the user to activate their Self-service account by clicking the provided URL link.
      • Indicate how many days they have to activate the account before the application expires.
  9. Select the On web page appears after activation option to open a web page displaying their login credentials after the user clicks the URL in the initial account activation email.
  10. In the Configure web content section, enter the web page content.
  11. Its default value is:

    Account details: User name: %1 Primary PIN: %2 Secondary PIN: %3 %b(Please login to %1(User Dashboard, %5) and change your password.) Note: These details about the activated account were sent to the %4 email address.

    Automatically replaced content:

    %1 - User ID

    %2 - Primary PIN

    %3 - Secondary PIN

    %4 - Email address

    %5 - URL of the User Dashboard

    %b(text) - Display text in bold

    %1(text, URL) - Display a link
    The Web page content field must not be empty and can have maximum 1000 characters.

  12. Select the Sending email option to send a second email confirming that the account has been created, and provides their login credentials.
  13. User login credentials can be displayed on a Web page, in an Email, via both options, or not provided to the user. If the login credentials are not provided to the user, then the user must contact the administrator to get their login information.

  14. Click Apply to save the settings.
The SMTP mail server must be configured to accept email notifications in order for the Self-service user to receive an email to activate their account. See Configuring the Mail Server for Email Notifications.

Once Equitrac is used (User Dashboard is installed for Web Client and Self-service account creation is enabled), a link to account creation is displayed on the Web Client login page that navigates to the web page where self-service account creation can be started.