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 square below)
Step 3 – Go to ‘Entreprise Applications’
This will bring you to your company overview page. On the left sidebar, click on Enterprise applications (see red square below)
Step 4 – Add a ‘New application’
At the top of the page, press on the button New application (highlighted in red below)
Step 5 – Find the Ronspot app in the Azure AD Gallery
This will take you to the Azure AD Gallery. Type the word ronspot in the search bar and click on the app named Ronspot Parking and Desk Management (see red square below)
Step 6 – Sign up for the Ronspot application
This will open a pop-up on the right side. Cick on the blue button Sign up for Ronspot Parking and Desk Management (see red square below).
Step 7 – Give permissions
On the Microsoft page, tick the option Consent of behalf of your organisation (this might not show based on your company seetings), then click on the button Accept (see image below)
Step 8 – Edit the Ronspot application
Back on the All applications page, click on the application Ronspot Parking and Desk Management (see below)
Step 9 – Go to ‘Users and groups’
On the sidebar, click on Users and groups (see red square below)
Step 10 – Click on ‘Add user/group’
On this page, you can find the list of employees who have been granted permission to access the Ronspot application via Azure AD. To add a new employee to the list, simply click on Add user/group at the top of the list (highlighted in red below).
Step 11 – Add new users
Type the name of the user in the search box, then select the corresponding user below, and press the Select button
This user 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.
