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Verifying that privileged access is set up correctly
Answer ID 1779   |   Last Review Date 12/19/2018

How can I verify that privileged access is set up correctly?

Environment:

Privileged Access, Access Levels, Service Level Agreements

Resolution:

When working with privileged access, you may need to verify several features to ensure that answers are displaying as expected. See Answer ID 1838: Setting up privileged access for more information.

There are typically two different issues that arise when privileged access is set incorrectly. The first is that customers who do not have privileged access can see the privileged answers. The second is that customers who should be able to see privileged answers cannot see them. Each of these cases are addressed below.

Click the plus sign next to the appropriate heading below to expand that section for viewing.

Non-Privileged Customers Can See Privileged Answers

This behavior generally indicates that the privileged access level has been enabled for enduser visibility.  To correct this, use the steps below:

Step 1: First, verify that the answer is assigned to a public status and an access level that is not Everyone. That is, make sure the answer is assigned to one of your custom access levels used for privileged access.


Step 2: Verify that the access level for the answer is actually a privileged access level.

a) Go to Configuration > Application Appearance > Customizable Menus > System Menus

b) From the Answer Access Levels list, click on the access level and verify the "Visibility" check box is clear.  

Privileged access levels should NOT be enabled for end-user visibility for an interface. When setting up privileged access levels, the visibility boxes should be unchecked -- otherwise, answers published to that access level (with a public status type) are available to anyone using your site.

c) If necessary, clear the Visibility check box and Save changes.


  Privileged Customer Cannot See Privileged Answer  

In cases where a customer who should see a privileged answer cannot see that answer, you must verify that the ANS_PRV_ENABLED configuration setting is enabled. Also verify that the contact or organization is set with the correct SLA and that the order of the access levels is listed correctly:

Step 1: Verify ANS_PRV_ENABLED Setting is Enabled: By default, the ANS_PRV_ENABLED configuration setting is turned off. It is possible to configure the other aspects of privileged access even if the setting is disabled. However, privileged contacts cannot view privileged answers if the setting is disabled.

Path to setting(s): Select Configuration from the navigation area > Site Configuration > Configuration Settings > and search by Key.

For more information on accessing the Configuration Editor and editing settings, refer to Answer ID 1960: Editing Configuration Settings.


Step 2: Verify Organization or Contact SLA Association: 

After you create custom access levels, you must assign the access levels to SLAs. When you create or edit an SLA, you can select one or more access levels for the customers assigned to the SLA. That SLA needs to be assigned to a contact or organization.

To check the SLA configuration, use the steps below:

  1. From the Configuration items, select Service > Service Level Agreements > Service Level Agreements.
  2. Select the SLA you wish to edit.
  3. In the Access section, verify that the access level used for privileged access is checked.
  4. If necessary, enable applicable access level(s) and click Save and Close.
  5. Next, open the contact or organization and ensure the SLA you verified is applied.

To check the configuration of the organization or contact record, use the steps below:

  1. Open the organization or contact record for editing.
  2. Click the SLA field.
  3. In the pop-up window, verify that the SLA for allowing access is listed in the top section. If not, add the SLA to the bottom section and add an activation date and click OK.
  4. Click Save to save any modifications.

Note: If you have applied an SLA to a record and then edited the SLA afterwards, the edits to the SLA are not automatically updated for the organization or contact record. That is, in order for your edits to the SLA to take affect, you must edit the organization or contact to delete the SLA instance and then re-apply the SLA instance.


Step 3: Evaluate Order of Access Levels:  The order of the access levels determines which of the sibling answers displays to the customer. The "highest" level of priority, i.e. "Platinum" or "Gold" should be listed first in the access levels table with the Everyone and Help access levels listed at the bottom of the list.

For example, if your additional access levels are Platinum, Gold, and Silver, the order of the access levels should be:

1 - Platinum
2 - Gold
3 - Silver
4 - Everyone
5 - Help

If the Everyone access level is listed at the top of the list, then the answer that is assigned to the Everyone access level will display for all customers, regardless of which access level the customer is assigned access to.

To check the order of your access levels, go to Configuration > Application Appearance > Customizable Menus > System Menus > Answer Access Levels.  Use the up/down arrows to move each access level into the correct order.


Step 4: Determine if an Answer with Higher Access Exists: If the company record allows access to multiple access levels, within a group of sibling answers, the answer assigned to the access level that is highest in the list is what displays to the customer.

For example, let's say you have a privileged access level for Integration and another for Installation with the Integration access level listed above the Installation access level in the table. If the company record allows access to both levels, only one answer from a group of siblings will display to the customer. In this case, the answer associated with Integration displays to the end-user, even if there is a sibling answer for Installation.

You can determine which answers are siblings from the Relationships tab. If siblings exist for the answer, they are listed in the Siblings Answers section on that tab. Review each sibling to determine which answer has the highest access level that the end-user has access to. That is the answer that will be visible to the end-user.

If the Sibling Answers section does not display on the Relationships tab, edit the workspace and set the SiblingsVisible property for the Relationships item to be TRUE.  See Answer ID 2163: Accessing sibling answers for more information.