How Documoto Supports Generic User Accounts

Customers with a need to share access to Documoto across multiple users can utilize a Generic User Account.  This article explains what Generic User Accounts are, how they differ from Named Users, and common use cases. 

Article Topics

• What is a Generic User Account? 
• How Generic User Accounts Differ from Named Users
• Common-Use-Cases-for-Generic-User-Accounts

What is a Generic User Account? 

A Generic User Account is a shared login credential that allows multiple users to:

• Access your Documoto Library concurrently 
• Create and support multiple active sessions across various devices and locations

How Generic User Accounts Differ from Named Users

Generic User Accounts:

• Allow multiple to log in concurrently into the same username across various devices and locations.
• The Shopping Cart is unique to the session for generic users (i.e. if two users are logged into the same generic user account, and they are both adding to their cart, Documoto will not combine the items they are adding between their two separate sessions).
• The Shopping Cart contents do not persist between sessions (i.e. if a user adds items to the cart then either logs out or their session expires, the next time they login the cart will be empty).
• Order History displays across all users with the same Generic User Account.
• Limited usage analytics will be available for login activity.
• Favorites Lists are not supported.
• News Items are not marked as 'read'.  Therefore, required and non-required reading display upon subsequent logins.

Named Users:

• Provide a unique login for each person.
• Shopping Cart items persist after logging out.
• Provide better analytics for:
  • Specific user login activity
  • Order activity
  • Part, page, and media views

Common Use Cases for Generic User Accounts

Below are the three (3) most common use cases for Generic User Accounts that further enhance the user experience:

1. Generic Users assigned by Site or Location: Used most commonly with Mining and Industrial Machinery Manufacturers, these type of customers often assign a generic user for all technicians or staff at a given site/location to access the system.
2. Generic User for Integrations and/or Guest Access: Used most commonly with Construction, Forestry, and Power Equipment industries, customers integrating to a public eCommerce solution such as Magento or Shopify, typically setup one generic user to authenticate from their eCommerce system into Documoto. Customers also looking to emulate a "Guest Account" experience will setup a Generic User to facilitate that. 
3. Generic Users for Kiosks: Used mostly with transit customers, in this use case, Documoto is connected to an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) solution on a kiosk that many technicians on a shop floor use. Because the kiosk is a shared computer for technicians to create work orders, the EAM solution simply launches Documoto using a generic user account. That generic user account is used for all kiosks in their shops.