As my wife was out at a meeting this evening I decided to tackle the task of setting up my new 'e-judiciary' Internet account. Now I am not easily fazed by computers; I bought my first one in 1983, but I am quite baffled by this lot. Like many people I have used a multiplicity of accounts and passwords over the years, and in the nature of things which password goes where is now a mystery. To make things worse, the way in to the new website is via Microsoft Office 365's login page , a program with which I am totally unfamiliar. I seemed to be making progress when the bloody thing asked me for my Microsoft account, which I have not accessed this decade. Apparently my next step is to ask a colleague for help.
I anticipate that hundreds of JPs will struggle with the new system and that this will come as a nasty surprise to the MoJ.
Since I am in my last year on the Bench I am sorely tempted to say 'sod it' and rely on teasing information out of friendly colleagues.
Damn.
You're not alone: MS Office 365 is a masterpiece when it comes to making easy things difficult. I have the misfortune to need to use it for a couple of specific things, and I find myself putting them off until I've plenty of time to jump through the hoops. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteTangential, but password managers like LastPass are rather awesome.
ReplyDeleteWell there we are Bystander. This JP mallarkey is clearly for the youngsters now - you and I are just too old. Hang up your gavel!
ReplyDeleteWhich gavel would this be - are you hinting that Bystander is an auctioneer or council chairman in his day job?
DeleteBut re the judicial password, like Anon 3rd Dec below I was up and running in 2 minutes, perhaps helped by a combination of newly-installed Windows 10 and my Microsoft 365 account. But other bench colleagues have been pulling out their hair. Despair not, HMCTS has volunteered bench 'champions', JPs to mentor the rest of us Luddites, as if they didn't have enough on their plates already.
It's probably simpler to just create a new account rather than trying to get access to your existing Microsoft account. It also means that the new account will only have magistrate specific emails in it so when you retire you can arrange to have it deleted.
ReplyDeleteI find it stunning that such bad design still exists in the modern world. Perhaps it's just Government, but the assumption that everyone has (or wants) a Microsoft account is an error you wouldn't expect a 14 year old to make.
ReplyDeleteI pity you.
Well, I eventually did it with the help of my teenage daughter (bribed with a bottle of wine) but it was a real struggle.
ReplyDeleteBystander, you are not alone - a lovely JP colleague of mine, also with only one year left to serve, troubled by the iniquities of the CCC, found it the last straw and has retired early.
It was the same with the online expenses which required you to use Outlook as your email app and even managed to crash all Office programs requiring a reboot. My feedback to the team responsible was ignored so I continue to use paper.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the MoJ IT people have ever heard of end users or involving real world people in the design/implementation.
Whilst I hate to disagree, I must. I have never seen Office 365 before and I have no Microsoft account. I set up my new password in all of two minutes. Whether or not the new system will prove to be good or bad is a whole other story and from history it doesn't bode well, although I've seen the online rota system and that did look pretty good.
ReplyDeleteIt is almost impossible to avoid getting a Windows ID if you upgrade ti Windows 10. You have to be a real expert to avoid it!
DeleteWho pays for these Microsoft programs? There is a tendency by IT 'experts' to believe that everybody has Microsoft Office and associated programs on their home computers without realising the cost as their software is paid for by their employer. Now I'm retired, I use 'Libre Office' which is free and does most things that Microsoft Office can do - fortunately it can read and saved in MS formats.
ReplyDeleteIt's time that IT people got a few ordinary people to check out what they've done before foisting it on the public.
Who pays is a good question. Presumably MoJ pays Microsoft a lot of money for this resource. I believe the average school pays Microsoft many thousands ot pounds annually for Windows licenses, Office, Outlook and so on, the University equivalent is hundreds of thousands annually. Met Police systems are also locked in to Microsoft.
DeleteI'm curious why nobody has had the initiative to look at alternatives - Universities in France use open source software which works fine.
On upgrading to Windows 10 I saw mention during the process of the fact I seem to have been assigned an "Advertising Id". When I queried this with the IT department they told me everyone has an Advertising Id as this is how Microsoft knows what adverts to send you. I imagine this ties in neatly with your Office365 Id.
ReplyDeleteGrunt. Some people just don't know when they're lucky. I've just filed an IT- trial motion : one certified mail from me to the court, FOUR certified mails to me just as aknowledgment that I did file it into the system, before not a judge, but a court clerk has even looked at it. More will follow when they do, and all must be saved and kept ready for future inspection. When it comes to making easy things difficult, let me tell you, HM's Government is a bunch of amateurs compared to the Belpaese's government.
ReplyDeleteFor these purposes, your Microsoft Account is your e-judiciary account. Use your e-judiciary login information when it asks for your MS Account info.
ReplyDeleteI can so empathise with those struggling. I too managed to get my JP account finally up and running only to find that documents attached cannot be printed and out IT champion hasn't bothered to get back to me! I tried logging in again today and was diverted to a portal in India, then to a web site for developmental dance. Why can't those imposing such drastic changes realise they need to roll out proper training too!
ReplyDeleteAnd wait until you get locked out of your account - the password expires after 90 days and if you haven't filled in the phone number verification (which was installed after the account was initialised) then you lose access to your email at the point you request a password reset. Now waiting for someone to reply WITHOUT using the ejuduciary account which can no longer be accessed..... Aargh!
ReplyDeleteI set up my email as soon as I had the paper work,I went in to it twice since no mail nothing,try to get in today 5 hours later no luck, set up new password but cannot get in to my judiciary account, almost about to scream, help.!!!!
ReplyDeleteHow do you actually get into ejudiciary?- I have tried about 20 different combinations of e-judiciary e-Judiciary ejudiciary e.judiciary ejudiciary.net etc My password will expire before I even get into the website!
ReplyDeleteGoto http://home.ejudiciary.net Your id is firstname.lastname.jp@ejudiciary.net Enter your password and you should be in!
ReplyDeleteThankyou, tried this and still can't get in!
ReplyDeleteI think this is the worst esite I have ever used and I have a web based business
ReplyDeleteIt does not matter how many times I try to update information,the system NEVER recognises me
It is so frustrating I am beginning to wonder if I should just resign the bench as this is obviously beyond me!
I have been thinking of resigning for a while. I have neither the time nor the inclination to be bothered with all this and will not be patronised because I cannot cope with the IT
ReplyDelete