How Does the 12-Hour Login Work in Abtrac?
Abtrac’s 12-hour login feature ensures that you remain logged in for an extended period, provided that your machine remains active and connected to the internet. Here’s a brief overview of how it works:
1. Ping Mechanism:
Abtrac requests your machine to send periodic ‘pings’ to our servers to confirm that you still require access. This process requires your machine to be on and active.
2. Continuous Connectivity:
For the 12-hour login to remain effective, your machine must stay connected to the internet, and Abtrac must remain open in your browser (it doesn’t have to be the active window, though).
Common Reasons for Connection Drops
Several factors can cause your machine to lose its connection to Abtrac, even with the 12-hour login feature enabled. Here are the most common reasons:
1. Internet Connection Issues:
If your machine loses internet connectivity, it will be unable to send the necessary pings to Abtrac.
2. Machine Sleep/Hibernation:
When your machine goes into sleep or hibernation mode, is locked, or the lid is closed on a laptop, it often results in the internet connection being cut off.
3. Power Saving Modes:
Many machines have eco or power-saving modes that reduce power consumption by putting the Wi-Fi connection to sleep. This setting can interrupt your connection to Abtrac.
4. Browser Power Saving Modes:
Some browsers, like Microsoft Edge, have eco modes that put unused tabs to sleep to save power. This feature can also disrupt your connection to Abtrac.
Solutions to Prevent Connection Drops
To maintain a continuous connection to Abtrac, consider the following adjustments:
1. Ensure Stable Internet Connection:
Make sure your machine has a reliable internet connection.
2. Adjust Sleep/Hibernation Settings:
Configure your machine to avoid sleep or hibernation modes during periods of activity with Abtrac.
3. Modify Power Saving Settings:
Disable power-saving options that affect your internet connection. This may include adjusting settings to prevent your Wi-Fi from going to sleep.
4. Browser Configuration:
If using Microsoft Edge, disable the sleeping tabs feature. Follow the instructions here to adjust this setting.
Getting Further Assistance
If you continue to experience issues with your Abtrac connection dropping, it is recommended to contact your IT support team, as they have control over your machine settings. In some cases, an Abtrac support person can also provide guidance to help resolve these issues.
What are the limits without using the 12-hour login feature?
For most pages in Abtrac the timeout limit is 60 minutes.
What this means is if there is no activity within most of the screens in Abtrac then the inactive user will be logged out within ONE hour.
The timeout activity criteria includes saved data modifications, screen navigation and page refreshes. In essence to keep a session active you need to either refresh your screen or enter and save some data every 60 minutes.
For the timesheet entry pages the limit is 10 hours.
The exception to the timeout rule is the timesheet entries screens. You can open a timesheet entry window and leave it open for TEN hours and you won’t get logged out. When setting the 10 hour limit we had in mind that a user may open their timesheet in the morning but not complete their timesheet until the end their working day.
Why have a timeout limit?
Most online applications employ a timeout settings after a period of inactivity, your internet banking sites are probably the most commonly experienced example.
Timeout limits online are mainly for two reasons, Security and Performance.
Although all communications between your browser and Abtrac are encrypted (using Https among other things) timing out an inactive session is an additional peace of mind for us and our users, extra insurance that the data remains secure.
Performance-wise if we allowed a six hour timeout for all screens then the connection would take up system resources. Even with no activity there’s still processing at both ends to maintain the connection – that’s on the local device accessing Abtrac and on the Abtrac application servers too.
Abtrac KB# 2060