Automated Access Codes in Verba Connect
What is it?
We are excited to introduce Automated Access Codes in Connect!
Connect is now equipped with functionality allowing users to seamlessly provision courseware access codes for IA/EA adoptions from Manage.
By integrating with Manage’s Courseware Access Code API and introducing a new field to more easily identify Items that require Access Codes, users can now configure items so that access codes are automatically pulled from Manage’s robust courseware access code system and assigned to active student licenses.
This means that we’ll no longer be working from “banks” of access codes in Connect for VitalSource-delivered Access Code Required courseware and bundles.
What does this look like?
Codes will now be provisioned to students based on the following activities:
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Catalog Activation: At catalog activation, enrolled students in active sections with “Access Code Required = Yes” items will be provisioned codes.
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At New Enrollment: After catalog activation, as new students are enrolled in courses with Access Code Required items or new sections are activated, students will be provisioned codes.
This means that if you check code levels via the dashboard, it will always look as if there are no unassigned codes in the bank. This is not cause for worry, as we will have as many as we need and continue to automatically provision them based on the above two events.
In order to implement this functionality, the Connect team created a field for users to explicitly indicate when Connect should take action to request courseware access codes from Manage.
This field is called “Access Codes Required?”, and it will replace the exciting “Content Access Method” setting on the Edit Item page. Where users previously indicated that an adoption was delivered via “Single Sign On” or “Access Codes”, users will now choose “Yes” or “No” (via a button toggle) for the field “Access Codes Required?”
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When ACR is set to “No”, this implies that students will access the adoption via single sign-on methods
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When ACR is set to “Yes”, this explicitly means that students will access the adoption via access codes
This field is informational-only when applied to From Publisher delivered items and existing processes to import access codes to specific users’ catalogs will be supported until we can move all of this content into Manage.
When this field is applied to VitalSource-delivered items that meet certain conditions, Connect will now interact with the Courseware Access Codes API and automate the access code provisioning process.
To provision access codes from Manage, the following conditions must be met:
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A Delivery Method of VitalSource
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A matched VitalSource SKU for an online resource or online resource bundle (note: price verification is preferred but not required.)
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A Content Type of Courseware or Bundle
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Access Codes Required? set to Yes
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Enrollment imported for sections in a participating group
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Section(s) Marked as Active
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Catalog Activated
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When these conditions are met, and a student’s license requires access codes, Connect requests a courseware access code via the API from Manage and assigns it to that student’s license and repeats for all active licenses in that item's group.
What do I need to do?
Check out the how-to guide below to understand how to set up Access Code items using this new functionality.
Ensure that your customers understand that when they set up new Access Code Required courseware or bundle items after we enable this functionality, they own the responsibility of need setting the new “Access Codes Required?” field to “Yes”.
Anywhere they’ve already set up Access Code Required courseware or bundles using Content Access Method, we'll change them to ACR = Yes on their behalf when we enable this functionality.
Note: These settings will not need to be applied to pre-purchased codes distributed via a “Store Publisher.” Those codes will still need to be banked.
As always, please ensure that your bookstores activate their catalogs at least one day prior to Welcome Emails being sent, in order to ensure that students' Access Codes are included in those emails.
How to Set Up Access Code Required Items with Automated Access Codes
Activating automated access codes provisioning requires an item setup with specific settings.
Item Settings
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Navigate to the Items page
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Select the Item identified as requiring access codes
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Ensure the item is matched
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Set the following:
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Delivery Method = “VitalSource”
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Content Type of “Bundle” or “Courseware” as appropriate
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Ensure the matched SKU is an Online Resource or Online Resource Bundle
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Set the “Access Codes Required?” configuration to “Yes”
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Catalog Settings
Items must have active sections assigned, with enrollments, and the catalog must be active in order for codes to be automatically provisioned.
Ensure that you’ve completed the following steps:
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Add Sections to a Group on the item
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Activate the Sections
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Ensure enrollment is imported for the respective sections
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Activate the Catalog
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*NOTE: We recommend activating your catalog at least one day prior to welcome emails being sent
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Item Creation Import
The new “Access Codes Required?” can also be able to be set using the Item Creation Import.
When Automated Access Codes is enabled, users will need to update the column in the import file named “Content Access Method” to say Access Codes Required?. Acceptable values in this field are Yes and No
A sample file is attached.