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 * Getting Started
 * How To
 * Troubleshooting
 * What's New
 * Business Intelligence

 * Getting Started
 * How To
 * Troubleshooting
 * What's New
 * Business Intelligence

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 * Release Archive
   * BenefitPoint 2021 R3 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2021 R2 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2021 R1 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2020 R3 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2020 R2 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2020 R1 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2019 R3 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2019 R2 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2019 R1 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2018 R3 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2018 R2 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2018 R1 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2017 R3 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2017R2 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2017 R1 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2016 R3 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2016 R2 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2016 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2015 R2 Release Notes
   * BenefitPoint 2015 Release Notes

BenefitPoint > What's New > Release Archive > BenefitPoint 2021 R3 Release Notes


BENEFITPOINT 2021 R3 RELEASE NOTES

October 5, 2021

Vertafore is pleased to release BenefitPoint 2021 R3. With each release, we are
incrementally improving and updating BenefitPoint to provide you with the best
possible experience.

SSO Login

SSO will now be used as the login method for all BenefitPoint users. With this
release, every BenefitPoint user must perform a short migration flow to be able
to log in.

 * For customers that do not have the VSSO (Vertafore Single Sign-On) product:
   Your users will see a change in how they log in to the application.

 * For customers that do have the VSSO product: Logging into BenefitPoint will
   work in the same way as your other VSSO-enabled applications.

What does this mean for my users?

 1. ALL users must migrate their BenefitPoint user account to SSO by following
    this simple migration flow:
    
    https://support.vertafore.com/apex/Article?Id=kA24N000000McJXSA0
    
    It is a simple three-step process:
    
    1. On the login page, click the Migrate Now link. Enter your BenefitPoint
       production credentials and click Migrate.
    
    2. You will receive an SSO email in your inbox. Click Join Now.
    
    3. You will be redirected to an SSO page where you will enter a new password
       for your SSO login.
       
       1. This can match your existing BenefitPoint if desired, but it does not
          have to.
    
    4. Done! Return to the BenefitPoint login page and click the SSO Login
       button to log into BenefitPoint.x
    
    Note: If a user’s BenefitPoint password has expired but they need to
    migrate, a broker admin may simply navigate to that user in the User tab and
    click Save. This will auto-migrate them. For more detailed instructions, see
    the link mentioned above.
    
    
    
    Note: If your firm already uses VSSO, this migration process is still
    necessary. The process will link the BenefitPoint user to the existing VSSO
    user.
    
    

 2. Any user that wishes to log in to BenefitPoint MUST have a username that is
    a legitimate email address where they can receive emails.
    
    1. A key part of SSO’s functionality relies on sending emails to users. This
       is done for first-time account setup but also for all password resets,
       and, if applicable, multi-factor authentication.
    
    2. The migration flow gives users the option to change their username if
       they were not using a legitimate email address. Alternatively, broker
       admins can make these changes by editing users manually.
    
    3. Any users that do not log in to BenefitPoint do not need to have
       legitimate email addresses and do not need to migrate.
    
    4. For any admin users that need to log in to multiple BenefitPoint
       brokerages, see the Multi-Brokerage Access feature.

 3. The BenefitPoint login page now looks different:
    
    
    
    After performing the migration process, you can login by clicking the orange
    SSO login button, which redirects you to the SSO login page:
    
    
    
    After entering your credentials here, you will be logged into BenefitPoint.

 4. Once migrated to SSO, password resets can be performed by the users and does
    not require admin intervention.
    
    1. At any time, a user may click on the SSO login button on the BenefitPoint
       login page, then click the Change Password link (or Forgot Password if
       they forgot it).
    
    2. There is no limit on how many password resets can be performed in any
       period.
    
    3. Entering the incorrect password three times will result in the account
       being locked for 15 minutes. After that time, the Forgot Password link
       may be used. Any firms that have the full VSSO product and have access to
       the VIM user management tool can manually reset the user’s password to
       bypass the 15-minute lockout.

What does this mean for admins?

 * Admins no longer need to reset user passwords.
   
   * If a user forgets their password or wishes to change it, they can use the
     Forgot Password or Change Password links on the SSO login page.

 * The password field when creating or editing users has been removed. Each user
   now sets their own password and can reset it themselves when needed.

 * Creating a new user will automatically migrate that user to SSO.
   
   * Upon creation, a new user will receive a first-time account setup email
     from SSO. This is the same email that is sent when existing users migrate.
   
   * If a user is created with an illegitimate email address, an account setup
     email will not be able to reach them and they won’t be able to log in. Once
     their email address is corrected to be legitimate, another email will not
     be sent. However the user can use the Forgot Password link to set their
     first-time password so they can log in.

 * Saving an existing user will automatically migrate that user to SSO if they
   are not already migrated.

 * Editing a user’s first name, last name, and/or email address will push those
   changes to SSO.

 * If your firm has the full VSSO product and uses the VIM user management tool,
   any changes made to a user’s first name, last name, or email address will be
   reflected in BenefitPoint next time that user logs in to BenefitPoint.

What does this mean for API users?

 * API users still use a native BenefitPoint password; BenefitPoint’s API
   endpoints will NOT use SSO upon this release. We do plan on eventually
   implementing SSO login for our APIs but have no timeline on this yet.

 * A new section exists on the create/edit user screen called “Web Service
   Password” where this native password may still be set.

 * Upon this release, no native passwords will be changed for any users. There
   is no need to reset any web service users’ passwords after the release.

 * If an API user also needs to log in to the BenefitPoint UI, they will need to
   migrate to SSO like any other UI user. This will not affect their API
   password or API access. They will need to use their native BenefitPoint
   password to access the API, and a separate SSO password to access the UI.

What will happen with multi-factor authentication (MFA)?

 * BenefitPoint’s MFA will be turned off and you will instead use SSO’s built-in
   MFA. No extra action is needed to make this transition.

 * If you currently use MFA in BenefitPoint, then upon migration, each of your
   users will be asked to set up their MFA again (i.e., input their phone number
   or email for MFA).

 * After that, the experience of MFA will be the same, but the system sending
   the MFA requests will be SSO instead of BenefitPoint.

What does this mean for test environments?

 * BenefitPoint test environments (Test1, Test2, Preview1, Preview2, etc.) are
   often one version behind production for a span of time. A BenefitPoint
   environment needs to be on version 21R3 or higher for SSO to be enabled.
   Until this happens, native login must still be used.

 * Once a test environment is on version 21R3 or higher, SSO must be used. If
   you have migrated your user in production, you do not need to migrate again!
   As long as your username on the test environment matches your SSO username,
   you can log in to the environment using your SSO credentials.

 * Test/training users:
   
   * If you have users that do not exist in production, who have illegitimate
     email addresses, or who are passed between trainees on a temporary basis,
     you will not be able to service these accounts in the same way you did
     before.
   
   * If you wish to continue using these users, there are two options:
     
     * Instead of using illegitimate email addresses, create users on the test
       environment that match the trainees’ actual work email addresses. This
       will create an SSO account for them, but they will not be able to log in
       to the production environment until you add them there as well.
     
     * If you wish to keep the old users with illegitimate email addresses, you
       will need a way to receive emails on behalf of these users so their
       passwords can be managed. Your IT department should be able to set it up
       so that emails sent to these illegitimate email addresses get forwarded
       to legitimate ones (i.e. email aliases). Each email sent from the SSO
       system will state the user’s first name, and as long as the first name of
       the test users are unique and recognizable, you should have no problem
       servicing multiple users’ password resets under a single inbox.

Multi-Brokerage Access

If you are an admin that needs to have access to multiple BenefitPoint
brokerages, you may now use the same username (i.e. email address) for each
brokerage.

Usernames must still be unique within a single brokerage, but no longer need to
be unique across all of BenefitPoint.

When a multi-brokerage user logs in, they are presented a selection screen to
choose which instance they wish to log in to.

If you have users that exist in multiple brokerages, you can use the SSO
migration workflow from the login page to change all your users to the same
email address:

 1. Perform the migration workflow for the user whose email matches your work
    email address.

 2. For each additional user, perform the migration workflow and check the
    “Username change desired” checkbox. You can change each of your multiple
    users so their username matches your work email address.

 3. Once all your users have gone through the migration and username change
    process, log in to BenefitPoint via SSO. After logging in, you will be
    presented a screen where you can select which brokerage to log in to.

SSO vs. VSSO

SSO is a method of logging in, and VSSO is a Vertafore product built around it
that allows user management across all Vertafore products. BenefitPoint will use
the VSSO’s SSO functionality on the backend to authenticate all BenefitPoint
users, and if you did not have the VSSO product before, you will have it now.
That is why we are referring to the BenefitPoint-specific feature as “SSO” not
“VSSO.” Managing BenefitPoint users can still occur within BenefitPoint without
the help of VSSO’s user management features.

Browser Enablement

Microsoft has announced that beginning August 17, 2021, all Microsoft 365 apps
and services will no longer support Internet Explorer. Moving forward,
BenefitPoint will only be fully supported in Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.

 * We will continue to test BenefitPoint’s functionality using the most recent
   version of these three browsers at the time of release. We always support the
   latest versions of these browsers.

 * Internet Explorer compatibility mode is no longer necessary for Edge users
   and can be disabled for all BenefitPoint URLs.

Miscellaneous Enhancements

A new warning message will show up when a Sagitta-integrated user attempts to
post a statement whose Entry Date does not match the current date. This is to
prevent unintentional posting of statements that could cause a mismatched
posting date in Sagitta.

Production Defects Fixed

Defect Number Description DE21801 Fixed an issue for Sagitta-integrated firms
where the dropdown for Bill-to accounts in the installments window would not
show up. DE22690 Fixed an issue where the Cancel Current Plans and Products link
on the Plans tab would miss or incompletely audit log entries on the affected
plans/products. DE22801 Fixed an issue where activity log notification emails
were intermittently failing to send. DE23387 Improved the speed and performance
of the integration error log page, for those firms integrated with AMS360 or
Sagitta. DE23859 Fixed an issue where firms using an older version of the plan
listing page were unable to renew plans from that page. DE24051 Fixed an issue
where certain products did not have available departments listed, and therefore
could not be edited or saved. DE24194 Improved the speed and performance of the
Carrier Codes subtab under the Broker Admin AMS360 Integration tab. DE24378
Fixed an issue where payees without addresses could not be added to standard
splits. DE24482 Fixed an issue where the BBI Account Listing report would not
show in the Notes field. DE23851 Corrected an issue from 21R2 where the Number
of Lives field on a rate could be set to a decimal value instead of an integer.
DE23983 Fixed an issue with inquirer info on activity log records where the
Insured information section was not automatically displaying after selecting
Insured as the inquirer type. DE24210 Fixed an issue where firms using an older
version of the plan listing page were unable to navigate through the pages of
plans. DE25121 Fixed a performance issue that prevented users from editing
certain payees.

System Requirements

For optimal performance of the application, we recommend the following as a
minimal configuration:

HARDWARE/SOFTWARE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS/RECOMMENDATIONS Processor/CPU Speed

Recommended: i5, i7 or Multi-core: 2.6 GHz or above

Minimum: Core 2 Duo: 2.3 GHz or above

Not supported: Single Core, Reduced feature CPUs, such as Celeron or AMD Sempron

Memory:

Recommended: 4GB

Minimum: 2 GB

Hard Drive Space Minimum: 150Mb of local disc space per user Video
Minimum: Resolution 1024x768 with 16-bit high color or better Operating System

Recommended: Windows 10 (64-bit)

Microsoft Office (Word, Excel)

Recommended: Office 365

Supported Web Browsers

Chrome, Firefox, and Edge

 

  BenefitPoint Web App BenefitPoint Outlook Plugin Latest Version 21.1.0.0.146
4.12 Recommended OS

Windows 10 (64-bit)

Windows 10 (64-bit) Recommended MS Office Office 365 Office 365 Supported
Browsers

Chrome, Firefox, or Edge

N/A Minimum AMS360 Version

19R1

N/A Minimum Sagitta Version 19R1 N/A

Feedback

https://support.vertafore.com/

We value your feedback to ensure we are working on what is most important to
you. Please use My Vertafore to provide feedback. We appreciate your input,
whether positive or negative, on any visible change.


QUESTIONS?

If you encounter problems or have questions concerning this release, Vertafore
offers the following helpful resources:

 * Click the new Help link in the footer to access BenefitPoint Help.

 * Search the Knowledge Base on My Vertafore.
 * Create a Case at My Vertafore.

 

 




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