The authentication system within the Co. Society desktop application and web admin panels support authentication via email, Microsoft 365 (via Entra ID), and Google.
Selecting a sign-in method
When you first launch the Co. Society Desktop Application, you will be presented with an authentication screen as below.
Authentication via email
Where your email is NOT connected to an organizational “Microsoft 365” Entra ID (Formerly Active Directory) setup or where you are NOT using Google authentication (private or business / Goole Workspace), email is the simplest way to authenticate yourself in the Co. Society application. If you do not already have an email sign in setup with Co. Society, you will first need to go through the sign-up process described in the following section.
Email Sign Up
If you have NOT previously signed-in to the Co. Society desktop application or web admin panel via the email flow, you will need to select the Sign up now link below the email address and password fields. Then follow that account sign up flow.
Email Sign In
If you have previously created an email account (using the sign-up flow) they you can sign-in using the main form (entering email address and password) and then select Sign In.
Authentication via Microsoft 365
Where your organization uses Microsoft 365 / Entra ID / Active Directory authentication, the Microsoft 365 option can be selected. This will trigger the standard Entra sign-in process.
Please note: The conditional access rules (e.g. multifactor authentication rules) and style of the subsequent screens having selected the Microsoft 365 option is determined by your own organization in the Azure portal. Meaning you will see your own organizations Entra ID flow and branding.
Authentication via Google
Where your organization uses Google Workspace or where you want to sign-in with a Gmail account, you can do so using the Google option and this will present the standard google authentication flow.
Provider Agnostic Authentication
The Co. Society application treats all user authentication methods uniformly. It focuses solely on verifying users through secure and approved methods, ensuring access based on the verified email address. This means you can sign in using different authentication methods, such as Email Sign In, Microsoft 365, or Google, as long as your email address is associated with your Co. Society account. All supported methods are considered equal, with the verified email address determining your user account in Co. Society.
Selecting the Environment to Connect
Where your user email is associated with one or more organizations or environments, you will be presented with the Organizational Select screen before being sent to the main menu for the selected organization.
This screen will only be shown where your user belongs to more than one organization. E.g. where a user is a member of a “primary” organization and a guest in another.
Please Note: If you select an environment where the server is not at the same version as the desktop client application, this will result in an error when you select Enter Office from the main menu.
Automatic Login
Where you have successfully signed in via email or Google, or where you have selected the appropriate “Keep Me Signed In” options during Microsoft Office 365 authentication flow, you will be automatically logged in to the last selected environment the next time you open the Co. Society Application.
This means they you will bypass the authentication and environment selection screens until your login token expires (determined by the provider / your organization) or until you Logout from the main Co. Society Application screen.
Selecting Exit closes the application but keeps you signed in / logged in.
Logout
If you want to logout / sign out from the Co. Society desktop application completely, perhaps to select an alternate client environment, you can do so from the Logout option on the main menu.
