Here you can find questions and answers regarding IMDS content and usage in several categories. To see the content of each category and to read the answer to a question, please click on the category/question to expand the content.
You find OEM-specific IMDS documentation for suppliers in the Help category "OEM Specific Information" (no longer under FAQ).
Why am I getting notices that my User ID is expired or about
to expire?
Users with in-active accounts or accounts past the “Valid Until” date receive the following error when attempting to login: Login not allowed. Your IMDS account has expired. Please contact your IMDS Administrator (Company Administrator). When these users attempt to change their password, they receive the following error message: The New Password function is not applicable for this ID. Please contact your IMDS Administrator.
How / Why do IMDS Accounts Expire?
An IMDS user who created, sent, or received an MDS or other item cannot be deleted, so IMDS provides two methods in “Admin…”, “User…” to expire or deactivate a user, i.e. make the user unable to log on or change IMDS information. An IMDS User Account typically expires or becomes inactive in one of three ways:
A company administrator clears the “Active” checkbox on an employee who left the company, or whose job has changed and is no longer involved in managing MDSs. This immediately de-activates the user.
A company administrator sets the “Valid Until” date to a future date on which a user is leaving the company, typically through retirement, leave, etc., and then that date comes to pass. This disables login after that date.
A company administrator fails to maintain the account “Valid Until” date. In February 2012 IMDS Release 7.2 added two features: the first set the value for the “Valid Until” date to one year after the release was installed or an account is created, whichever is later. The second runs periodically and clears the Active checkbox if the user has not logged in within the last 12 months.
Users who have not logged into IMDS in the last eleven months receive an email before the account is deactivated, warning them to login. Many fail to do so. Company Administrators also receive an email warning about a month before the “Valid Until” date, but again, many fail to act. These emails are sent from imds-info@mdsystem.com, which also sends user-configured “Notifications”, so Company Administrators & users who receive notifications may assume these emails are notifications, and overlook them.
Who Manages IMDS Accounts?
As stated in the IMDS Terms of Use, which every user must acknowledge reading, understanding, and accepting on first login, IMDS is a self-service application, and managing user accounts is the responsibility of the Company Administrator (CA). Detailed instructions for Company Administrators (CAs) on how to manage “Valid Until” dates are available in the next question “How to Update a “Valid Until” Date”. A failure of the Company Administrator (CA) to understand or perform their IMDS responsibilities may require them to contact the IMDS Service Desk for support. This is not the intended role of the IMDS Service Desk. The primary responsibility of the Service Desk is ensuring system outages are resolved and answering questions regarding IMDS usage. The Service Desk is only intended to handle user account issues when the last Company Administrator (CA) leaves the company unexpectedly or under duress. IMDS is located in Germany, and is subject to strict European Union (EU) privacy and data confidentiality laws which limit the Service Desk to assisting only registered Company Administrators (CAs) with user account issues. Typical Service Desk turn-around time for these issues is one to three business days.
How Do I Avoid Having my Account Disabled?
As a User, make sure to log into IMDS every few months, check the accuracy of your user information (using the “Profile” selection from the left menu), and check with your IMDS Company Administrators (CAs) quarterly to ensure your “Valid Until” date is not set to expire soon.
As an IMDS Company Administrator (CA), we suggest you use your personal or company’s chosen “reminder” tool (Microsoft Outlook Calendar, Lotus Notes, etc.) to schedule re-occurring (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or at a minimum, annually) reminders to Log into IMDS “Administration… Users” and review all user accounts to ensure correct information. Pay special attention to the names, Email Address, “Active” status, and “Valid Until” date.
Update any that have changed since the last update, or any “Valid Until” dates that should be changed and will expire before your next review. Also, IMDS recommends all companies have at least two IMDS Company Administrators (CAs). This provides backup in the event one leaves, is unavailable, or is unable to logon.
Detailed instructions for Company Administrators (CAs) on how to manage “Valid Until” dates are available in the next question “How to Update a “Valid Until” Date”.
This function is not available to IMDS users with a “User” profile. This is available to IMDS Company Administrators (CA) only. This process applies for “Valid Until” dates for types of users, including Company Administrators updating their own information:
Log into IMDS.
Select “Administration” from the menu.
Select User in the Administration Submenu.
Optionally enter part or the entire user ID in the User ID field to reduce the resulting list size.
Select Search using the command button on the bottom to the left.
Find the user ID in the result list.
Select the ID in the list. This will highlight the ID. Doubleklick opens the Details tab.
The user data is displayed. Verify the information, especially the email address, Last Name, First Name, and active flag. Update or correct this information if needed.
Locate the field “Valid until:” in the middle of the page. This is the date after which the user will no longer be able to log in to IMDS. To extend the validity of the user ID, enter a future date. Under normal circumstances we recommend setting the date one year in the future, and reviewing User IDs at least annually. Far–future dates are valid, but may pose a security risk.
Click the “Save” symbol in the icon bar or in the Menu MDS. This will save the changes and return you to the User selection screen displayed in Step 3 above.
You may now perform updates for any other users, if necessary, or select “Menu” from the menu to return to the initial IMDS display, or select “Log off” from the menu to conclude your IMDS session.
My ID is locked, how do I reset my password?
Firstly, IMDS ONLY communicates login information to the e-mail that is on the User ID in the system. To check if it is your user ID, use the Forgot ID button on the login screen (top button on right) and enter your e-mail address. If you get an e-mail back from imds-info@mdsystem.com with an ID, you know that everything should be OK for you to use the new password button.
System Response: "No valid user ID has been found for the entered e-mail address" You are not the owner of the ID. The IMDS Service Center will only communicate login information to the e-mail address on the ID. You will have to find the owner and have them reset the password. This is why we strongly suggest each user have their own ID and it is important to update e-mail information on the ID through the Settings link found after login.
No error message and no e-mail? Your e-mail system is blocking e-mails from imds-info@mdsystem.com. You will have to work with your IT department to resolve the issue as you will never receive a password until the problem is fixed.
Everything checks out? Use the ID that is on the e-mail and click on the New Password button.
System Response: "Your password has been blocked and can only be reset by your Company Administrator. If you do not have another Company Administrator then contact the IMDS Service Center". This means exactly what it says. The IMDS Service Center will only reset the password if the ID in question has a Company Administrator profile AND it is the only Company Administrator in the company. Password resets require an e-mail to the IMDS Service Center of your choice (and please contact only one) from the e-mail on the ID. Communicating with more than one Service Center will not get it reset faster. To avoid confusion and duplication of effort, the IMDS Service Center will not take any action unless they are listed first in the "to:" field. The IMDS Service Center must verify that the e-mail on the ID is accurate prior to resetting. All passwords are emailed from imds-info@mdsystem.com and contain the word "password" in the text so if you do not receive an e-mail, you must work with your IT people to resolve the issue.
No error message and no e-mail? - Your e-mail system is blocking e-mails from imds-info@mdsystem.com. You will have to work with your IT department to resolve the issue as you will never receive a password until the problem is fixed. The IMDS Service Center cannot assist in fixing this problem - there is rarely (<0.1%) any error message from the recipient computer and from our perspective, it has been delivered.
The May 2018 General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) requires each IMDS contact person and user to authorize the display of their personal data (name, phone number, email address) to other users in IMDS. To comply with this regulation, we are required to ask each user and contact person to authorize sharing of their personal data. Users can provide authorization at first log-in, and/or in the Administration > Personal Settings. However, contact person and user are separate. Because a contact person does not have to be a User, IMDS always sees contact person and user as separate roles, and there is no link in IMDS between these two roles. Therefore, contact persons must always confirm authorization to share their personal data via an email process, which is initiated by a Company Administrator.
This email process operates as follows:
As a Company Administrator:
Administration for Contact persons is via the menu, using Administration > Contact Person.
If a desired contact person is shown as inactive, please re-activate the existing contact person instead of registering a new contact person for the same individual. If you create a new contact person for the same individual, the individual may be assigned to new MDSs, but any past MDSs that contact person to which that contact person was assigned will be blank, and the contact person will need to be reassigned.
To re-activate a contact person, please search your contact persons. Use double-click to access the details screen. From that screen, you can cause IMDS to send the contact person an email for confirmation. The email will be sent to the email of the contact. Inform the contact person they must not be logged into IMDS when they click the link on the activation email, or their session will be terminated and the activation may not work. The contact person must click the link on the activation email to display the Activate page, and then click the “Activate” link. The contact will be activated within minutes of clicking the Activate link.
A company administrator may also use a generic group mailbox for a contact person, so long as someone can use the Activate link email sent to the group mailbox to complete activation. This is a viable solution if there are no contact persons willing to permit sharing of their personal data.
If you change the email of a contact, the owner of the email address must confirm willingness to be an Active Contact Person.
As an IMDS Contact Person:
If you are new, missed the initial activation, or declined activation, only an IMDS company administrator can invite you to become or re-activate as an IMDS MDS contact person. When the company administrator requests that a contact person become active, the contact person will receive a confirmation email at the email address the company administrator specifies. This is not your User account email.
If you are an IMDS User, please ensure you are not logged in to IMDS when you click the activate email confirmation link. The activation will not work if you are logged in to IMDS.
Please read the activation mail carefully, as the activation process is described in the mail.
The activation link should display a custom IMDS Log-In page. Instead of the IMDS News, the contact person will see information about being a contact in IMDS. The button to activate or cancel your activation is located on the right side of the screen. You will be activated as a contact person only if you select the Activation option.
