CTI Expert Spotlight: Demystifying SSO Integration

Welcome to our first CTI Expert Spotlight! In this series, we team up with our in-house experts to shed light on topics crucial for cAdmin users. For our first spotlight, we sat down with CTI’s Operations Developer Manager, Philip Johnson, to untangle the intricacies of Single Sign-On (SSO) integration.

What is SSO Integration?

Single Sign-On—or SSO—is an authentication method which allows users to access applications and services using just one set of credentials.

Beyond just convenience, SSO offers significant benefits:

• Enhanced Security: By reducing the number of passwords users need to remember, SSO minimizes the risk of weak or reused passwords, which are common entry points for cyberattacks. It also centralizes user authentication, making it easier to enforce strong security policies like multi-factor authentication (MFA).
• Improved User Experience: SSO streamlines the login process, saving users time and frustration. This leads to increased productivity and a smoother workflow.
• Reduced IT Overhead: For IT teams, SSO simplifies user management. Onboarding new employees and offboarding departing ones becomes more efficient, as access to multiple systems can be managed from a central location. It also reduces the number of help desk tickets related to forgotten passwords.

How Does It Work

Philip Johnson shares a perfect real-world example to illustrate how SSO integration functions. Think about those “Sign in with Google” or “Sign in with Facebook” buttons you see on many websites. In this scenario:

• Google or Facebook acts as the Identity Provider (IdP). They are the trusted entity that verifies your identity. They hold your login credentials and confirm who you are to other services.
• The website or app you’re trying to access (like Spotify, Airbnb, or a news site) is the Service Provider (SP). This is the application or resource that relies on the IdP to authenticate its users.

Once you sign in with your Google or Facebook account, the Service Provider trusts Google or Facebook to verify your identity. This means you don’t need to create a new password specifically for that website or app, providing a seamless and secure login experience.

Common Questions

A great majority of CTI clients use SSO integration for their meetings, so here are some common questions that are asked:

• People often aren’t sure what details are required: This is a key area of confusion. You’ll typically need several pieces of information from your Identity Provider, including:
  • Metadata URL: This URL provides a standardized XML file containing all the necessary configuration details for your IdP (like its public key, endpoints, and supported protocols).
  • Certificates: These are digital documents that verify the authenticity of your IdP and encrypt communications, ensuring secure data exchange.
  • Specific Field Mappings: This refers to how user attributes (like email, first name, last name) from your IdP will correspond to the fields required by the Service Provider.
• Terms like Identity Provider (IdP) and Service Provider (SP) can be confusing: The IdP is the authority that authenticates users (e.g., Okta, Azure AD, Google). The SP is the application or service that relies on the IdP for authentication (e.g., CTI’s platform, Salesforce).
• Users often don’t know where to find their company’s IdP configuration: Your company’s Identity Provider configuration is typically managed by your IT department. Common IdPs include Okta, Azure AD (Microsoft Entra ID), Ping Identity, OneLogin, and Google Workspace. Your IT team can provide the necessary metadata, certificates, and attribute mapping information.
• Users may not understand what attributes are (like credentials, lastName, memberType) or how to match them between systems: Attributes are pieces of information about a user, such as their email address, first name, last name, unique identifier (like uid), or user type (membertype). Matching them involves ensuring that the names and formats of these attributes in your IdP align with what the Service Provider expects. For example, if your IdP sends a user’s last name as surname but the Service Provider expects lastname, you’ll need to configure a mapping to bridge this difference.
• Can we go live with SSO quickly, or should we plan for a longer timeline? While a basic SSO setup can be relatively quick, a comprehensive and robust integration often requires careful planning and testing. It’s wise to plan for a longer timeline, especially if custom configurations, extensive attribute mappings, or integration with complex legacy systems are involved. Testing is crucial to ensure a seamless user experience and prevent unexpected issues.

Common Pain Points

Following these common questions, Philip Johnson also highlights some frequent challenges clients encounter when implementing SSO:

• Technical Complexity: Integrating SSO with existing systems often demands significant technical knowledge and close coordination between your internal teams and the identity provider’s administrators.
• Ambiguous Field Names: Some platforms only display the common name of a field in their user interface, making it difficult to discern the actual technical field name used in the SSO payload. This often leads to frustrating trial-and-error testing or back-and-forth communication with vendors to clarify mappings.
• Difficult Troubleshooting: When an issue arises, it can be challenging to pinpoint the root cause—whether it’s with the SSO provider, the application itself, or even user credentials.
• Lack of Support Team Visibility: Support teams may lack sufficient visibility into the SSO authentication flow, making it harder for them to quickly assist users encountering login problems.

Good-to-Know for a Stress-Free SSO Experience

While SSO integration can appear complex, it should be a seamless experience with the right team supporting you. Philip Johnson offers valuable insights to help ensure a smooth rollout:

• Even if the company already uses SSO, integrating a new app or vendor often requires custom configuration, testing, and coordination with both internal and external teams.
• Different systems use different names for the same data (e.g., surname vs. lastName), and aligning these fields correctly is critical — and time-consuming.
• Developers often rely on vendors to provide SSO documentation, metadata, supported protocols (SAML, OAuth, etc.), and test environments. Missing or unclear info can stall progress.
• We need test accounts, access to staging environments, and sometimes real user data to validate the integration.
• Unexpected issues (like mismatched attributes, expired certificates, or vendor limitations) can delay go-live. It’s important to build in buffer time.

Wrapping Up…

SSO integration offers substantial benefits in terms of security, user experience, and IT efficiency. While the process can involve technical complexities like attribute mapping and understanding IdPs and SPs, clear documentation, thorough testing, and effective communication are crucial for a successful implementation. By addressing common questions and pain points proactively, organizations can ensure a smoother, more stress-free rollout of SSO.