How do I work from home

Working from home is increasingly part of our working lives, and poses no problems for OpenAthens - you won't need VPNs or proxies to access the administration pages.

When you sign in from an unknown location you will trigger an email to your registered address and see this on your screen:

Login screen headed 'OpenAthens - Sign in as an administrator'. Advisory text reads, 'You are attempting to sign in from an unknown computer or location. An email has been sent to you with an access code to confirm your identity. If you do not receive an email remember to check your spam folder. If you still have problems, please contact the OpenAthens Service Desk.' Following this message is a field labeled 'Please enter your access code'. Finally, there is a 'Sign in' button.

Leave the page open when you check your email. Copy the code from the email into the box and you'll be signed in. This will cover you for up to 15 days at your current location, but you may see it more often if your location appears to change - e.g. if you use a different browser, or cookies are cleared or blocked.

What if the code doesn't work?

Codes can only be used once and must be used within an hour (from the time they're generated). If you're confident that neither of these are the reason a code hasn't worked for you, please contact your usual support provider.

What if I can't access my email?

You will need to have someone update the email address on your account. Ideally this will be someone from your own organisation as they should know that you are you, but if you have to contact us or your support provider you will need your 4 digit pin from the organisation record, so you should make a note of this before you need it.

How to reset your password

If you don't have access to the password - e.g. saved in your browser on your work computer - a fellow administrator will be able to reset it for you. If there is no-one available who can, contact your support provider. If you are contacting them by telephone you may be asked for a 4 digit pin from the organisation record, so you should make a note of this before you need it.