Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is Microsoft’s enterprise cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) solution. Azure AD is the backbone of the Office 365 system, and it can sync with on-premise Active Directory and provide authentication to other cloud-based systems such as Ronspot via OAuth.
Is Ronspot compatible with Azure AD?
Yes. Whether employees are on-site or remote, Azure AD gives staff seamless access to the Ronspot service so they can book and release desks or parking spaces from anywhere.
Single sign-on means an employee doesn’t have to sign in to every application they use. The staff member logs in once and that credential is used for other apps too. If you’re an end user, you likely don’t care much about SSO details. You just want to use the apps that make you productive without having to type your password so much.
At its most basic level, it also means company employees will not need to register independently to use Ronspot. They simply download the Ronspot App from the App Store and choose using the ‘Sign In with Microsoft’ option. Pending confirmation by the company administrator, this grants them instant access to Ronspot.
How does it work?
Single sign-on provides a giant leap forward in how users sign in and use applications. Single sign-on based authentication systems are often called “modern authentication”. Modern authentication and single sign-on fall into a category of computing called Identity and Access Management (IAM).
SSO is an authentication process in which a user is provided access to the Ronspot App and/or Ronspot website by using only a single set of login credentials. Typically, their work email and password. This prevents the need for the employee to register and log in separately.
The user credentials and other identifying information are stored and managed by a centralized system called Identity Provider (IdP). The Identity Provider is a trusted system that provides access to other websites and applications.
SSO based authentication systems are commonly used in enterprise environments where employees require access to multiple applications/websites of their organizations. In this scenario, the SSO service provider uses the organization’s directory, like Microsoft Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, for authenticating users and providing access to the various applications/websites.
How to implement?
As a company administrator you may wish to control access to the Ronspot App for your company employees using Microsoft Azure Active Directory (AD). This is a very straight forward task. Just take the following steps. This process will work for company owned devices or privately managed devices. To perform these steps the admin must have the required permission levels within Azure.
Step 1 – Login to the Azure portal
Step 2 – Go to ‘Manage Azure Active Directory’
Click on the View button under ‘Manage Azure Active Directory’ (see red arrow below).
Step 3 – Go to ‘Entreprise Applications’
This will bring you to your company overview page. On the left hand side is an option called “Enterprise applications“. Click on this.
Step 4 – Select the Ronspot app
Depending on the number of applications available to your organisation, you may be able to find ‘Ronspot Parking and Desk Management’ in the list. Or use the search box and type in Ronspot. Once located, click on the Ronspot App as it appears in the list. See image below with red outline.
Note, if the Ronspot App is not available in this list, try to login to the App using the Microsoft Sign In using your email ID. This is force the App to appear in the list below.
Step 5 – Go to ‘Users and Groups’
From this next page, called the ‘Overview Page’, select Users and Groups on the left hand side menu. This will bring you to the user page where you can manage who in your organisation has the rights to login to the Ronspot app.
Step 6 – Click on ‘Add user/group’
Here we can see the full list of employees who have been granted permission to access Ronspot via their Azure AD SSO. To add a new employee to the list click on the ‘Add user/group’ at the top of the list. Highlighted in red below.
Step 7 – Select a user
Search the name of the employee that needs to be given Ronspot app access and press on the select button.
This employee has now got instant access to the Ronspot app using the Azure AD SSO. They need to download the App and chose the “Sign in with Microsoft’ option in the login screen. They will be directed to enter their company email address and password. Depending on how the company has set up multi factor authentication the employee may be asked for further information such as a one time use code.
This will confirm access and after a few seconds they will be directed to the calendar booking screen of Ronspot. The employee will remain logged in unless they log themselves out. The admin can remove access at any point using the Azure AD control panel.
