SendSafely

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New User Setup Guide

Welcome to SendSafely! This setup guide is designed to get you up and running within your organization's SendSafely portal in just a few easy steps. 

  • Register your Account
  • Trust your Browser
  • Review Package Expiration & Deletion Settings
  • Integrate SendSafely with your Daily Workflows 

Step 1 - Register your Account

When first registering your account within your organization’s SendSafely web portal, be sure to use your main work computer. Depending on how your organization's SendSafely portal is configured, you may be able to self-register with SendSafely or will need to be invited by one of your portal's SendSafely administrators.  

In order to self-register, navigate to your organization’s SendSafely web portal (the URL typically follows the structure {yourorganization}.sendsafely.com) and click the “Register Now” button. If you do not see this button, you should contact an authorized SendSafely Administrator for your company or email support@sendsafely.com for more help.  

  • Registering with SSO or your company Google Account (preferred) - If you see the option for "Log in with Single Sign-On" or your company uses Google and you see the "Log in using your Google Account" button you should use one of these option. Logging in with SSO or Google are the preferred method for accessing SendSafely since they do not require you to set up new username and password.

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  • Registering with a Username and Password - If you do not see the SSO button and your company does not use Google, type your email address into the registration box and press "Get Started". A registration link will be sent to you that can be used to create your SendSafely username and password. 

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Here are a few important tips to note when creating a SendSafely username and password: 

Note: These tips do not apply for SSO and Google Login users

  • Use a strong and unique password.  to protect your account from un-authorized access. A unique password is one you do not use for any other accounts. A strong password is long, with a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters.
  • Enable Two Step Authentication. When you use this option, we send a unique security code to your mobile phone every time you log in from a new device. This adds an extra layer of protection on your account and is highly recommended. If you elect not to protect your account with Two Step Authentication, you must provide a Secret Question and Answer in case you need to reset your password. Make sure to use a question and answer that cannot be easily guessed.

If you prefer to use an Authenticator App instead of SMS for Two Step Authentication, you can do so after completing all of the steps outlined in this guide (once your account is set up) by following the process detailed in this blog post. 

Step 2 - Trust your Browser

After completing the registration process, you will be presented with the "Trust This Browser" screen. By trusting the browser, you will generate a unique "Device Key" which is an encryption key that will allow easier access to all of your sent and received items and shared SendSafely Workspaces.  You’ll still need to log in to access SendSafely, but once authenticated you’ll be able to access any item sent or received using SendSafely.

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In the box provided, type a name for your computer and then press "continue". After the device key is generated, you will be asked to export a backup copy of the key. Do not skip this step. The backup key file will be saved as an encrypted “.sskey” file on your computer. This initial “Day 1” device key is your most powerful key since it gets created before you started sending and receiving packages.  

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Make sure to copy the encrypted .sskey file you exported from your Downloads folder to somewhere stable and safe, like within your Password Manager or a private secure network folder. It is important not to ever overwrite or delete this initial Day 1 key, and it should be stored somewhere it can be easily located and re-imported into new and existing browsers when needed. For example, if you clear your browser cache, or need to access SendSafely on a different device or browser, you can import the .sskey file when prompted, rather than generating a new trusted device key. 

You can read more about Best Practices for Using Trusted Browsers and watch this Trusted Browser Key tutorial video for more information. 

Step 3 - Review Package Expiration & Deletion Settings 

One of the principal ways that SendSafely can protect the privacy and confidentiality of sensitive data is by allowing organizations and registered users to control the “lifetime” of items that are sent or received through the platform.  The lifetime of an item is how long it is available for “pickup” by authorized recipients, before being expired and then deleted.  Specifically, after an item is created, it is then subject to two separate but related events:

  • Expiration - Access to the files and/or message is blocked but can be re-enabled if needed.  
  • Deletion  - Deletion happens automatically 5 days after the item expires (unless you extend the lifetime of the item within the 5 day grace period). Once an item is deleted, the files and/or message are permanently deleted and can never be accessed again.

Here are a few important tips to note about package expiration: 

  • Your Default Expiration Settings: The default expiration setting for your account can be found under the "Edit Profile" screen. Click your initials in top right corner of screen, then look for the "Default Expiration" option. All items you send through SendSafely (including those sent with ourGmail Integration and Outlook plugin) will default to this value along with any items that get sent to you. By default, the package expiration value you choose can be anywhere between 1 and 365 days. 

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  • Package-specific Settings:  When sending a file or message through the SendSafely portal, you can specify a different expiration setting for each item you send. 
  • Extending access to Expired Items: There is 5 day grace period after each item expires during which you can extend the availability window. After the grace period has passed, the item will be permanently deleted and cannot be restored.
Expiration does not apply to files stored in a SendSafely Workspace. Workspace files are stored and accessible until they are manually deleted or the entire workspace is deleted. Additionally, if you enable the Dropzone for your SendSafely account, the Dropzone has its own expiration settings that are applied to inbound Dropzone uploads. 

Step 4 - Integrate SendSafely with your Daily Workflows 

The last step of the setup process is to integrate SendSafely into your daily workflow. This step will largely depend on how your organization or team is using SendSafely. Here are some of the most common examples of how to integrate SendSafely into your daily workflow: 

Sending Secure Email with SendSafely 

SendSafely’s Gmail and Outlook integrations allow you to send encrypted files and emails directly from your email inbox.

Use our Dropzone to Securely Receive Files from Clients and Customers 

The SendSafely Dropzone is a turn-key file drop that can be used by external users to easily submit files to internal teams. The Dropzone lets you control which team members can access inbound files, and also has the capability to notify other systems when files are received. 

The Hosted Dropzone runs directly on the SendSafely portal and can be enabled with a few clicks. The Embedded Dropzone Widget provides the same capabilities as our Hosted Dropzone but can be embedded directly into your own web form, providing a completely customized experience for your users. 

You can read more about how to set up and use the SendSafely Dropzone. 

Collaborate with others using SendSafely Workspaces 

Workspaces are a secure, collaborative, long term file storage solution with built-in versioning and a natural folder structure. Workspaces are ideal for sharing files many with the same group of people over time, both inside and outside your organization.  Key features of SendSafely Workspaces include:

  • Support for Folders and Subfolders - Keep files organized with a flexible directory structure
  • File Versioning - Maintain and store multiple versions of any file in every Workspace
  • Activity Logging - Monitor user actions like uploads and downloads
  • Access Control - Individual read and write restrictions for internal and external users

You can read our Workspaces Quick Start Guide here, and watch the Workspaces portion of our Web Demo video for more information–please note that the link starts at the 21m44s mark, where the relevant content begins. Discussion of our Workspaces feature ends at the 25m00s mark.

Using SendSafely with your Customer Service Desk Platform 

Many teams that provide customer service use SendSafely to securely exchange sensitive files as part of their customer service workflow. SendSafely offers easy-to-implement integrations for popular customer service platforms such as Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud, and Freshdesk.

If your team uses one of these platforms, here are some helpful links to learn more about how you can integrate with SendSafely: 

There are many ways to use SendSafely beyond the features and integrations highlighted above, but this should be enough to get you started. Please explore our Help Center, our Developer Documentation, and our GitHub for more resources!

 

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