Getting Started with Safe4
To get the best from Safe4, you should consult the User and Administration Guides. These are accessible from the main Safe4 online help facility. However, this short guide will assist you to become a user of the system quickly, and to carry out the most basic functions.
Invitation to become a vault user
You will receive an email invitation to become a user of Safe4. The email will look similar to this:
Note that the invitation uses branding for Alpha and Omega. This is the name of the provider that has issued the invitation, and will be used throughout this guide.
Responding to an invitation
By clicking “Click Here to accept this invitation”, a Create Account page will be presented as follows:
This page offers the options of creating a new account or using an existing account. If you are a new user you should complete the panel on the left-hand side of this page. If you already have an account in Safe4 and are being invited to register for another vault, the right-hand side of the page should be completed.
Username: Your username must be unique and contain at least 8 characters; it is important to remember it as it is never displayed within Safe4 for security reasons. If your username is forgotten, it can be recovered by emailing [email protected]. Most browsers will allow the username and password to be saved; this should only be done if the computer being used to access Safe4 is always under the total control of the authorised user. For subsequent logins, the username is not case sensitive.
Password: The Safe4 password must contain between 10 and 150 characters, and can include any combination of alpha and numeric characters and symbols, as well as spaces. Passwords are case sensitive. You are required to choose a password or phrase that contains a combination of upper and lower case alpha characters, as well as numeric digits and special characters such as punctuation marks. Following the advice of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, we recommend using a longer pass-phrase that may be a favourite saying, or a line from a poem or song. Such phrases are much more difficult for unauthorised parties to crack, and are easier to remember.
Safe4 applies a Password Strength Checker, which will require you to select a password that is sufficiently strong to reduce the risk of unauthorised intrusion. As each of the password criteria are satisfied, the list of requirements will be updated. When all of the requirements have been met, the status bar will turn green.
If you have chosen a password that has already been compromised on another website, the system will inform you. You can still proceed with the chosen password if you wish, although this may be less secure than using a unique one.
The password will then need to be entered a second time.
Logging In and Out
When accessing the Safe4 system, enter the following URL into your web browser:
https://www.safe4im.com/login
This will bring up the standard login screen:
Please note that your provider may have given you an alternative URL, which contains the branding specific to that provider. This will bring up the same screen, but with different branding:
If you have forgotten your password, the “Forgot your Password?” link on the login page can be used. The system will send you a temporary password, and will prompt you to set up a new permanent password when you login.
If the incorrect password is entered more than 5 times, you will be locked out of the system and will have to restart your browser before you can login. If you are unsure of your password, it will be safest to request a new one from the system.
2-Factor Authentication (2FA): The process for enabling 2FA on your user account is described in detail on a separate help page, click here to view this page.
To log out of Safe4, click your username in the dark band at the top right of the screen, and select the Logout option.
Confirmation of your User Account
When your account has been set up, Safe4 will send you an email confirming the details for logging in whenever you need to enter the system subsequently. As stated in the email, it is recommended that you save the URL in your browser as a favourite:
The Home Page and Vaults
After logging in, the first page displayed is known as your “Home Page”. More information on the various elements displayed on this page is given in the Home Page section in the User Guide.
Viewing Documents
To view or open a file shown within a folder, click on the filename itself. This will cause Safe4 to present the chosen file in a new tab within the web browser, or alternatively to download the file for viewing within the mother application. For image files (such as .PDF, .JPG, .TIF, etc) the file will be opened and shown in a separate tab inside the same browser window, although some versions of Internet Explorer may present the file in a separate window. For non-image files such as Microsoft Office documents, depending on the web browser being used and the settings that have been chosen for that browser, you may be offered the option to open or save the file.
In the example below, the user wishes to view the file “Health and Safety Law”:
After clicking on the filename, the file will be presented as an additional tab in the browser:
Uploading Documents
If you have been granted permission to upload documents into the Safe4 vault, an orange “Upload” button will be shown at the top right of the files pane:
The folder which is to contain the file should be selected before the Upload button is clicked, as shown in the example above. The uploaded file(s) will be placed into the “Legal” subfolder.
After clicking the “Upload” button, you will be prompted to select the file(s) for upload:
If you prefer, rather than browsing through the Windows folders on your computer or network, you can drag the files you wish to upload directly into the Upload window shown above.
When the upload process has been completed, the files and folders page will be displayed showing the newly uploaded file.
After upload, the filename will be displayed with a “Processing” prefix for a few seconds, while the server-based functions of virus checking and encryption are being carried out. This can be cleared by refreshing the window, or by clicking the folder name again.
For more detail on the use of Safe4, please refer to the User Guide.
