The Microsoft Entra ID integration enables HiHello Business and HiHello Enterprise subscribers to deploy HiHello to their teams at scale. With the integration, administrators can easily provision and deprovision users from the organization’s HiHello account.
HiHello’s native integration enables admins to efficiently create, distribute, and update digital business cards. After an admin connects Microsoft Entra ID to HiHello, HiHello will create an account for each user in the selected groups. When users log in to HiHello using Microsoft Single Sign-On (SSO), they will have instant access to their account and digital business card. Admins can update digital business cards in bulk by updating the linked template in HiHello.
Removing employees from connected Microsoft Entra ID groups will remove them from HiHello and pause their cards. This gives account administrators control over company contacts and the choice to reactivate or delete disabled cards.
- Preparing Your Card Template
- Preparing Your Microsoft Entra ID Account
- Connecting HiHello to Microsoft Entra ID
- Syncing Your Template to Microsoft Entra ID
- Adding and Removing HiHello Users Through Entra ID
- Frequently Asked Questions
Preparing Your Card Template
Before you start syncing with your Entra ID accounts, we recommend preparing your card template. Once you enable the integration and sync a template, that template will be used to create cards for your team. If you have not already created a template, you can find more information about making your first template here:
If there are fields that you would like to include on your cards that are not in your external directory, you can add them to the template and either fill them out on the template or enter placeholders so that your administrators or team members can enter this information manually at a later time. While creating your template, we recommend only adding generic information that will apply to everyone who will be issued a card from that template. This might include company colors, logo, headline, etc. Other personal information will be added to each card automatically when your directory syncs.
If you are going to be syncing multiple groups, it is possible to sync them all to a single template, however, we find that it works very well to create a different template for each group. To quickly create new templates that look similar, you can follow the steps in this guide to duplicate a template.
Preparing Your Microsoft Entra ID Account
Connecting your Microsoft Entra ID account to HiHello allows the information to flow from your directory to your digital business cards. This will automatically create cards for your team members - the information from your directory will fill in the template you created.
Since the information from your Microsoft Entra ID account will be added to your HiHello cards unaltered, we recommend taking the following steps to ensure that connecting your accounts will be a smooth process:
- Ensure that all of the information in your Microsoft Entra ID account is accurate, this will be the source of truth for all of your synced cards.
- Consider creating specific groups to connect to HiHello. Each person who receives at least one HiHello card will fill one seat on your subscription. If you remove a person from the Microsoft Entra ID group, they will be removed from your HiHello account and one seat will become available.
- We recommend labeling your HiHello groups clearly in Microsoft Entra ID, for example: “HiHello - Sales” could be the name of a group that includes members of your Sales team who will be issued HiHello cards.
- The formatting that you use in Microsoft Entra ID will be transferred to your HiHello cards, so check the fields that include formatting to ensure they look the way you want them to look on your digital business cards.
- For example, if you have some team members with a surname that is in all caps (“JONES”) their surname will also appear in all caps on their HiHello card.
- If you write your business address in one line with no commas or line breaks in Microsoft Entra ID, that is how it will display on your digital business cards.
- The information below can automatically populate from Microsoft Entra ID, so you do not need to manually add it to your card templates. You can also remove any of the information on this list by removing it from your Microsoft Entra ID group or setting it to “Not sync” in HiHello:
- givenName
- surname
- jobTitle
- businessPhones
- mobilePhone
- address
- faxNumber
- department
- Photo (recommended size is 1024x1024)
If you will be syncing phone numbers from Microsoft Entra ID, they must be complete, valid phone numbers that include the country code and conform to the international public telecommunication numbering standard E.164. |
Connecting HiHello to Microsoft Entra ID
- First, log into your account on the HiHello web app.
- Select the admin profile by using the drop-down menu in the top right corner.
- In the panel on the left, click the icon of three people to view your company dashboard:
- Click “Connect” in the User Management section:
- In the box that opens, click Connect under Entra ID:
- On the next screen, an admin for your Microsoft instance will need to log into an admin account.
- Granting approval will create an app in your Entra ID setup (with read-only access), which will allow anyone else from your organization to create an account using Microsoft SSO.
We strongly recommend using a service account with a password that will not need to change regularly. This means, that your Entra ID integration will not be affected if your staff changes, anyone with access to the service account will be able to manage the integration. |
- You will see a confirmation page once your integration is connected:
Syncing Your Template to Microsoft Entra ID
Now that your template is ready and your HiHello account is connected to your Microsoft Entra ID account, it's time to sync with your template so that you can create cards for your team.
- Log into your account on the HiHello web app.
- Select the admin profile by using the drop-down menu in the top right corner.
- Click the single card icon on the left to go to the Templates page:
- Select the template you want to sync.
- Click the edit button in the top right, represented by a pencil icon:
- In the Edit experience, click the toggle in the top right to allow this template to connect with Microsoft Entra ID:
- Set at least one item on your template to Sync (if there are no items set to Sync, the template will not successfully connect to your Microsoft Entra ID account). Any information set to Sync will be automatically populated using the information in your Microsoft Entra ID group(s) when you issue cards.
- When you are finished selecting which items you would like to sync with your directory, save your template.
- This will take you to view your template
- To sync your template with a Microsoft Entra ID group, click Settings at the top of the page then scroll down to Groups.
- Use the search bar to select the group(s) you would like to sync with this template:
- You can add or remove multiple groups, you will see how many cards will be created. Click Save to confirm the groups and create the new cards.
After issuing cards to your team, remember to add any individualized information that will not be synced from your directory, especially fields that are set as required and non-editable, since your team members will not be able to update those fields. Once the cards are ready, notify your team and instruct them to log into their HiHello account using Microsoft single sign-on (SSO) to see their new card.
Adding and Removing HiHello Users Through Entra ID
When you initially sync your Microsoft Entra ID group with HiHello, each person in the group will be instantly issued a digital business card.
After that initial sync, whenever you add a new person to your Microsoft Entra ID group, they will be issued a card during the next sync, at five minutes past the hour.
If you would like to remove a user that was added through your Microsoft Entra ID integration, you can simply remove them from the Microsoft Entra ID group. During the next sync, the user will be removed which will free up one seat or user license in your account.
This will not remove any templates, cards, or contacts from your business account, it will only remove the user. Their card will still exist on your cards page.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How often will my Microsoft Entra ID sync with HiHello?
- How many templates can I create?
- How many cards can I issue from a template?
- Can I add items on my template that aren’t in my Microsoft Entra ID group? For example, my Microsoft Entra ID group doesn’t include phone numbers, but I want to include phone numbers on our digital business cards.
- I’d like my team to be able to upload their own profile photos, is that possible?
- I want to update information on my cards that are synced to Microsoft Entra ID. Should I change the information in HiHello or in Microsoft Entra ID?
- If my template is syncing to my Microsoft Entra ID account, can I also invite an individual to claim a card manually through HiHello?
- Can I attach cards that I created previously to a new template?
- Can my team and I share our digital business cards from the HiHello mobile app?
- Can I create and edit templates in the mobile app?
- Can I choose which users on my team can edit their cards?
- Can I change the font on my template?
- Can I change the order of items on a template?
- Do all of the templates for my organization need to look the same?
- Can I create multiple cards for one employee?
- Can an employee copy their company-issued card and edit items that I do not want them to edit?
- Can an employee transfer their card to someone else?
- I used my template to create a card. Why does the card say “Not sharing with anyone” after I sent an invitation to my team member to claim it?
How often will my Microsoft Entra ID sync with HiHello?
- The integration will sync hourly at five minutes past the hour.
How many templates can I create?
- As many as your team needs, there is no limit.
How many cards can I issue from a template?
- There is no limit to the number of cards you can create from a single template.
Can I add items on my template that aren’t in my Microsoft Entra ID group? For example, my Microsoft Entra ID group doesn’t include phone numbers, but I want to include phone numbers on our digital business cards.
- Yes, you can add items that are not included in your Microsoft Entra ID group. If you’d like to add a field, like a phone number, you can go to the Fields tab while editing your template and add the Phone field to the template and mark it as “Don’t Sync.”
I’d like my team to be able to upload their own profile photos, is that possible?
- Yes, you can allow your team to update their profile photos. There are several ways to achieve this:
- If you would like to use their photo from Microsoft Entra ID initially, you can set the profile photo field to sync with Microsoft Entra ID and make the profile photo editable. When your cards are initially created, the profile photos will be imported from Microsoft Entra ID, and your individual team members will be able to upload their own photos at any time.
- If you do not want the profile photo to come from Microsoft Entra ID when the cards are created, you can set this field to “Don’t sync” and the profile photo field will remain blank when the cards are created. If the field is not editable, your account administrators will still be able to upload profile pictures for your team. If the field is editable, each of your team members will be able to upload their own profile picture to their own card.
I want to update information on my cards that are synced to Microsoft Entra ID. Should I change the information in HiHello or in Microsoft Entra ID?
- If you are updating a field that is syncing with Microsoft Entra ID, we generally recommend changing the information in your Microsoft Entra ID account to ensure that this is always an accurate source of information for all of your cards.
- If you are updating a field that is NOT syncing with Microsoft Entra ID, you can change it directly in HiHello.
If my template is syncing to my Microsoft Entra ID account, can I also invite an individual to claim a card manually through HiHello?
- Yes, you can invite individuals who are not in your Microsoft Entra ID group to claim a card using your template. Please note, if there are items on your template that are set to sync with Microsoft Entra ID, it could generate an error message when you manually invite a user to claim a card linked to that template. The best way to avoid this error message would be to mark those fields that are generating error messages as editable rather than non-editable.
Can I attach cards that I created previously to a new template?
- At the moment, cards that were created previously will not automatically be attached to a new template. Please reach out to your HiHello Customer Success specialist if you have questions about this.
Can my team and I share our digital business cards from the HiHello mobile app?
- Absolutely! Once you have claimed a card, you can view, edit, or share it from your personal profile which can be accessed from either the web app or the mobile app. Through the mobile app, you can share your card via QR code, email, or text. You can also share your card through some of our additional features, including the HiHello widget, Apple wallet integration, Apple Watch, and more. Click here to see a list of ways you can share your HiHello card.
Can I create and edit templates in the mobile app?
- The admin profile where templates are managed is currently only available on the web app.
Can I choose which users on my team can edit their cards?
- You can choose which individual items can be edited by your team. For example, if you would like users to be able to add their own profile photo, you can make that editable on your template. Everyone who has a card linked to that template will be able to edit their own profile picture.
Can I change the font on my template?
- No, to create the smoothest experience for our users, this feature is not currently available.
Can I change the order of items on a template?
- At the moment, the items on the General tab (Name, accreditation, pronouns, title, department, company, headline) appear in a predetermined order. The other items that you add on the Fields tab can be rearranged into the order of your choosing. If you choose to include an embedded video on your template, it will always appear at the bottom.
Do all of the templates for my organization need to look the same?
- You can create a completely unique look and style for each template. Each card that is linked to a specific template will share the characteristics and fields that you have set as required and non-editable.
Can I create multiple cards for one employee?
- Yes, there is no limit to the number of cards you can issue to each person. You can either use the same template every time, send them cards issued from different templates, or create individual cards that are not linked to a template.
Can an employee copy their company-issued card and edit items that I do not want them to edit?
- No, our copy feature cannot be used by individual team members on company-issued cards.
Can an employee transfer their card to someone else?
- No, company-issued cards cannot be transferred by individuals on your team.
I used my template to create a card. Why does the card say “Not sharing with anyone” after I sent an invitation to my team member to claim it?
- Once your team member claims their card, they will be listed as a user for that
card.