Method offers two types of licensing: Named and Shared.

Named (fewer than 20 licenses)[top]

This type of licensing applies if your account has fewer than 20 licenses. Each user signing into Method is considered a Named license. In order for everyone to be able to sign in, each active user must have their own Named license.

Example: John, Sarah and Jim work for Fox Services. Each of them needs to sign into Method:CRM to track their daily phone calls, so Fox Services needs three Named licenses. Later, Fox Services hires Russell, who also needs to sign in to Method. At this time, they must increase their Named licenses to four.

Shared (20 licenses or more)[top]

Shared licensing is automatically applied to Method accounts with 20 or more licenses. In this case, each user signing into Method does not require their own license. Instead, they share a pool of licenses with other users. While this means you can create as many users as you like in Method, it also means a shared license must be available in order for them to sign in. Your number of licenses therefore determines how many users can actively be signed into Method simultaneously.

Example: Fox Services recently increased their team to 30 employees. They currently have 20 licenses, so Shared licensing is automatically applied. It is unlikely that all 30 employees will need to sign into Method at the same time, since 10 employees work in the evenings. Using Shared licensing, Fox Services saves on their monthly subscription by sharing licenses between their staff. If more than 20 employees needed to be signed in at the same time each day, Fox Services can increase their licenses as needed.

When you sign in with Shared licensing, Method checks how many users are currently signed in. 

• If there are fewer users signed in than your license count (e.g. 15 of 20 licenses), Method allows you to sign in.
• If the count of users currently signed in has reached your paid license count (e.g. 20 of 20 licenses), Method checks if anyone is idle (signed in, but not used Method for over 20 minutes). An idle user is signed out in order to let you sign in.  
  • If more than one user is idle, the user who has been idle longest is signed out.  
  • If no users are idle, your sign in is rejected.

FAQ[top]

Can I have shared licensing if I have fewer than 20 licenses?
No. Shared licensing can only be used if your account has 20 licenses or more. If you try to lower the amount of licenses below 20, you are asked to set that number of users to inactive.  If you have fewer than 20 users, and wish to save on users who rarely sign in, consider setting up a portal where unlimited staff can log into the portal.   Please see our documentation on portal setup and portal pricing for more details. 

Do portal users count towards regular shared licensing users?
No. They are independent from each other. You can have unlimited users sign in via a portal at any one time, regardless of your licensing model.

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