Managing users in SmartAdvocate involves two separate but related functions, adding new users and replacing existing users. You will need to have Admin rights to perform these tasks.

 To Create a New User:

1. Click the ‘Admin’ tab on the top tool bar and then select ‘Users’ from the dropdown menu.

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2. Click the ‘New User’ tab in the upper left corner of the Users Page.

3. Enter the required information for Login Name and Password (the login name is not case sensitive; the password is).

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4. Click the ‘Contact Name’ dropdown. If you have previously entered the new user into the system, locate and choose that person. If you have not already done so, you will need to add the new user before proceeding further. Click the ‘Add New Contact’ tab (bottom left corner of the dialog box).

5. Complete the contact card for the new user.

6. Add your firm as the Organization on the contact card which, by default, will use the firm’s address and phone numbers for the contact.

7.  The Contact Type should be ‘General’. Click the ‘Save’ tab at the bottom right corner of the contact card when finished. 

8. The contact name will now populate on the Add User dialog box. Complete the remaining information as appropriate, selecting Default Case Role, Firm Role, Title, and Permission Group from the respective drop down lists for each category. Billing Rate is optional. Check the boxes for ‘Active’ and ‘Visible’. ‘Mobile Application’ and ‘Enforce password change’ are optional and can be selected or not based on the firm’s access policy for the specific group or user.

A user can be added to multiple Permission Groups. To the extent that the Permission Groups to which a User has been added have different permission levels for any function or location within SmartAdvocate, the user will have the broadest or greatest permission granted by any of such Permission Groups to that function or location.

 The ‘User Email Login’, ‘User Email Password’, ‘SMTP Server Address’, ‘SMTP Server Port’, and ‘Enable SSL’ sections are optional. They essentially allows use of different email servers within SmartAdvocate for each user. Additionally, if configured for each user individually, they would eliminate the need for configuring the general SA email account with “Send As” permissions for each user, as is otherwise required if your firm uses Office 365.

9. Click the ‘Update’ button to save the information and complete creating the new user.

To Replace an Existing User:

The first step in replacing an existing user is to deactivate the former user, in order to free up that user’s license for the new user. Users cannot be deleted from the system. DO NOT simply edit the user card or contact card of the former user by replacing the information from the former user with that of the new user. Doing so will cause the system to indicate that actions previously taken by the former user were taken by the new user, even if the new user may not have been employed by your firm at that time. It is not recommended that you attempt to replace the former user with the new user on actions that have already been completed, as this will prevent you from later determining who actually performed a specific action.

To deactivate the former user:

 1. Click the ‘Admin’ tab on the top tool bar and then select ‘Users’ from the dropdown menu.

2. Choose the user to be deactivated and click the edit icon on the right side of that row. An Add/Edit panel will open.

3.  Uncheck the Active and Mobile Application checkboxes (if checked). Be sure to leave the Visible box checked. Click on Update to save the changes. The former user will now be deactivated but still visible when choosing or searching for staff members in the system. Deactivating a user also frees their SmartAdvocate license for use by a new employee. 

4.  Add the new user following the steps in the To Create a New User section above.

5.  Once the former user has been deactivated and the new user created, you may want to replace the former user with the new user in connection with all future actions (i.e.: open tasks, notifications, assignments to cases, etc.). This function is accomplished in Case Browse.

6.  Click on the Case Browse button in the Top Task Bar. Click on Clear All Filters, in case a Default Favorite Filter has been created. Click on the Staff tab and then choose the former staff member. Click on Search Cases. This will provide you with a list of all cases to which the former staff member has been assigned in any capacity. (If the former staff member has not actually left the firm but is in a new role, you can limit your search to only those cases in which he or she is assigned to a case in a specific role.)

7. Using the checkboxes in the left column, choose the cases in which you want to replace the former staff member with the new staff member. (Use the checkbox at the top of the column to choose all cases listed.) Once at least one case has been chosen, the Mass Update button will become active. 

8. Click on the Mass Update button, which will cause a list of possible actions to drop down. Click on the Reassign Staff option.

9. This will cause the Reassign Staff panel to open. Enter the former staff member in the ‘From:’ box and the new staff member in the ‘To:’ box. You can then choose which types of events to transfer from the former staff member to the new staff member. The options are to reassign Case Staff, Tasks, Appointments, and Medical Records Requests, and Send Invite/Cancel Requests. Click on the Reassign Staff button, which will transfer the chosen items from the former staff member to the new staff member. 

10. Once you have completed the Reassign Staff function, go back to the User card of the former staff member and uncheck the visible box. The former user will no longer be visible when choosing staff members in the system to add to a case, appointment, task, etc. They will, however, continue to be visible for any completed actions.