Did you know that user accounts on the AF website were case sensitive? This means that the user whose login ID is jsmith is considered an entirely different user than one whose login ID is JSmith. As you might imagine, this can cause some confusion with some in our user community. So what are our recommendations to minimize this?

1. Refrain from using capital letters when creating a new user’s login ID.

2. Use a template, specific to your organization, for your naming convention. One common standard is the format {FirstInitial}{FirstSevenLettersOfLastName}.{AFCompanyCode}.  For example, the login name for Jeff Schumacher with XYZ Insurance Company would be jschumac.12345. 

If you do not know your AF company code, you may contact our Member Services Center at 866-977-3434 or search for it in our member directory. Your company code is the first five numbers listed next to the company name. In this screenshot, Arbitration Forums, Inc.’s company code is 10001.


3. Using a template and the company identifier at the end of the user name simplifies creating unique login IDs, particularly for common names, because it helps avoid duplication when checking possible user names in the system from other member organizations.

4. In the event of a common first initial/last name combination, you may instead include the user’s middle initial, second letter of their first name, or a unique modifier after the last name. For example, say XYZ Insurance Company employs both Andrea K. Jones and Albert M. Jones. Combinations for user names might include:
 

For Andrea	For Albert
akjones.12345	amjones.12345
ajones.12345	aljones.12345
ajones1.12345	ajones2.12345