Key benefits

Key benefits – What problems are we solving?

Active Login Manager (ALM) is a Cisco Extension Mobility SSO PC client.

ALM can also contribute in a better company reachability because of several enhancements and integrations with other Cisco and Microsoft products.

Key benefits are split between three categories: Reachability, Security and Flexibility.
Each category lists their associated problems and how ALM solves it.

Reachability

> Reachability responsibility

• Why is it a problem?
  Employees are not reachable when logged out but at their desk or logged in and not at their desk.
• How does ALM solve it?
  When employees login or logout their PC all incoming calls will be forwarded automatically to predefined destinations. A User can be made responsible for his own reachability, reducing IT Support calls.

> Limited behaviour awareness

• Why is it a problem?
  Employees do not often see the need to login to their Phone because it is not clear for them how many times a day the phone is not reachable because they are not logged in.
• How does ALM solve it?
  Every login or logout action is made visible to a user, creating awareness and allowing a user to change its behaviour and take action.

> Employees forget to login/logout their phones

• Why is it a problem?
  Employees are not reachable when logged out but at their desk or logged in and not at their desk.
• How does ALM solve it?
  When employees login or logout their PC, their phone will automatically login or logout as well.

> Difficult for employees to enter complex credentials on phone

• Why is it a problem?
  User names sometimes consist of long e-mail addresses which are difficult to type on numeric keyboards.
• How does ALM solve it?
  The username is entered once in ALM using the PC keyboard and remembered in their profile.

> Inconvenient having to login to multiple applications and or devices

• Why is it a problem?
  This is an extra step each day which is easy to forget and consumes valuable time.
• How does ALM solve it?
  When employees login or logout their PC, their phone will automatically login or logout as well.

> Additional capacity needed at helpdesk and front desk

• Why is it a problem?
  When employees forget their password or forget to login/logout properly, helpdesk calls will increase to request password resets and front desk has to cover non-answered phone calls.
• How does ALM solve it?
  It’s not required to enter a Phone password anymore, as the employee’s Windows PC will already have authenticated the employee.

Security

> Moderate secure communications

• Why is it a problem?
  Using the existing Cisco Extension Mobility implementation most authentication requests to the central Call Processing server are transmitted in clear-text across the infrastructure. A protentional attacker could harvest these credentials and gain access to (parts of) the Call Processing server solution.
• How does ALM solve it?
  By moving all Extension Mobility network traffic from untrusted or unsecure IPPhones to a secured ALM solution using signed certificates any potential leaks are limited.

 > Failure to comply with government regulations

• Why is it a problem?
  Governments, banks and medical companies are required by law to apply the highest available security measurements in order to protect unauthorized phone usage.
• How does ALM solve it?
  Without Single Sign-On, employees have to remember multiple passwords and employees might write them down on discoverable notebooks.

> Difficult to audit and track phone login behaviour

• Why is it a problem?
  When certain phones are used outside office hours it’s difficult and/or a lengthy process to figure out which individuals have used those phones.
• How does ALM solve it?
  By providing reporting capabilities that list login/logout locations and timestamps of connected company phones.

> Inability to prevent unauthorized phone usage

• Why is it a problem?
  Phones can be used to make unauthorized calls when employees forget to logout.
• How does ALM solve it?
  Phones will automatically logout when an employee’s PC is locked, shut down or at other configurable events.

> Errors in keeping employee’s application permissions up-to-date

• Why is it a problem?
  When an employee resigns, moves department or stops working for their company, multiple application and device access profiles have to be modified or deactivated which causes space for human error.
• How does ALM solve it?
  When access to the employee’s PC is revoked or altered this will automatically prevent automatic login to their phone.

Flexibility

> Extension Mobility from Cisco is not SSO enabled

• Why is it a problem?
  The Extension Mobility implementation of Cisco is not SSO enabled, it requires the user to enter userID’s and a PIN via the numeric keypad on the IPPhone and it is not synchronised with AD in any possible way.
• How does ALM solve it?
  By improving the authentication process and adjusting the login tasks ALM allows users to experience a true SSO solution. Integrating CUCM with ActiveDirectory could not be easier and by using ALM the user adoption and user experience will increase with real SSO.

 > Other Single Sign-On products are difficult to deploy

• Why is it a problem?
  Most Single Sign-On products require a central server and/or changes to the network configuration and/or permissions. This involves additional time and costs.
• How does ALM solve it?
  By providing a fully automated setup wizard, including scripted roll-out capabilities for easy and automated deployment without the need for extra hardware.

> My company requires an application that is customizable

• Why is it a problem?
  Especially in large enterprises, different departments or job roles require different behaviour of Single Sign-On software but custom software is more expensive and not immediately available.
• How does ALM solve it?
  By providing customizable settings which can be set company wide, by department or even individual. Optionally employees can even personalize their own settings.

> Employees find it difficult to remember multiple passwords

• Why is it a problem?
  The more applications or devices are protected the more passwords are required, each with their own formats. Employees might write them down or make mistakes and are locked out.
• How does ALM solve it?
  By making the Windows PC login leading and automate logins to the phone and additional communication software, such as Microsoft MOC and Cisco CUPS.