Administration Guide Introduction

Safe4 offers the capability for any organisation to deliver information securely to a any internal or external party, instantly over the internet, and allow permanent subsequent access to such information without compromising the organisation’s mission critical systems and databases.  It enhances communication, reduces cost and improves security, as well as radically reducing carbon emissions.

This chapter of the guide is broken down into a number of sections. Please click on the links below to move directly to the page you wish to view:

This manual is aimed at those who have responsibility for administering or managing the operation of the Safe4 system. It should be used in conjunction with the Safe4 User Guide, which describes day-to-day usage of the system.

How the Safe4 System works

When an organisation needs to deliver important information to a client, employee, contractor or any other party, it can be uploaded over a secure internet connection to a secure vault that only the providing organisation and its designated recipients can access. The Safe4 vault automatically notifies the recipient when information has been delivered and is available for them to download or view. Information can be stored in Safe4 vaults as documents, or in structured format in columns and rows, similar to spreadsheets or simple databases.

The information is stored securely within a folder structure that the provider can define, similar to Windows Explorer, and which is fully backed up and always accessible over encrypted internet connections for authorised users only.

The recipient can access the information directly through the Safe4 secure online portal. Authentication based on Username, Password and 2-Factor Authentication applies, and all actions are logged for audit and reporting purposes. Importantly, the recipient does not need to have access to the provider’s business applications. Safe4 also offers a comprehensive Restful Application Programming Interface, so that other business applications can make use of the system’s highly secure information storage and delivery facilities.

Providers, Client Vaults and Users

The three main elements of the Safe4 approach are:-

  • A Provider who supplies the Safe4 service to its clients, or other parties with whom it interacts. A Provider may be a professional practitioner – an accountant, a lawyer, an IFA, a medical practitioner – or a business that regularly provides important information to a client, supplier, agent or employee. Typically the Provider sets up a vault for each participating party or project, and then delivers and stores all important information in the vault for those parties to access securely online.
  • A Client Vault, which is made available by the Provider to a client or other recipient party, may have a standardised folder structure so that documents can be stored and accessed consistently. Safe4 stores information in electronic form online in “the Cloud” in ISO-27001 accredited data centres within the United Kingdom. Folders can be restricted so that access is given only to authorised Users. In these help pages the terms Client and Vault are used interchangeably.
  • A User, who can be an end client or recipient of information from the Provider, or one of the Provider’s own internal staff. Different users can have different rights and permissions to access information stored in vaults. Users can also have access to multiple provider accounts and client vaults.

Please read the Safe4 User Guide before undertaking any of the system administration functions described in this section of the guide. The Safe4 Administration Guide is based on the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the standard user functions of the system.