Information

Below details of license types and authorisation form-factors for Freedom Scientific product JAWS/Zoomtext/Fusion.

Applies to

• JAWS (version 4.51 to present)
• ZoomText (version 2018 to present
• Magic (discontinued)

Introduction to authorisation

Authorisation is a process that Freedom Scientific products go through to exit 40 minute demo mode and run as a fully license productg. When so authorised the software checks for a license is present.

Related articles
Link: Freedom Scientific product launch authorisation scenarios
Link: Checking ILM Authorisation for a Freedom Scientific product
Link: Check dongle authorisation for a Freedom Scientific product

License form factors

There are two main license form factors that are used. The first is the ILM (Internet License Manager) software-based license, then also is a USB dongle which is a physical representation of the license discussed in more detail below.

ILM authorisation (software)

This ILM (Internet License Manager) license is the most commonly found and consists of a serial number linked to a 20-digit ILM key similar to a product key. This key must be used when installing a new copy on a computer or may require updating if product software is upgraded. This license form is typically supplied to single user versions and also multi-user versions of the software. In the case of multiple user versions there may be either a single ILM network license or a block of 5 or more that are grouped under a single serial number.

Example ILM single user license:
Serial number: 12345678****
ILM authorisation number: abcdef0123456789abcd

Information about the license type of the above may be obtained through use of the FSActivate website to check the license.

USB Dongle (physical hardware)

A USB dongle is a physical form of license that is often used instead of the ILM type license. This can be useful for both single user and multi-user licenses where there is a need to re-deploy licenses very frequently or among more than three computers at any given time. Unless requested at the time of order a dongle is a chargeable item. The dongle must be present the entire time the product is in use on a PC. It can however be moved to another PC where the software is installed to provide a license to that machine for the time that it is being run.

As a USB dongle is the license for the software it should be kept carefully and not lost. Replacement dongle is available, please call sales for pricing.

License types

Different types of license are appropriate for different cases. Where you have a single domestic or commercial user who requires the benefit of he product a single user license will be most appropriate. For organisations where multiple users may require the software it may be most practical to purchase a multi-user license for all the users within the organisation that require the software. A single user license may be either software (ILM) or physical (USB dongle).

Please click the links below for information on checking the license.

• Checking ILM Authorisation for a Freedom Scientific product
• Check dongle authorisation for a Freedom Scientific product

Single user ILM or dongle

A single user license whether in the form or ILM code or physical USB dongle is intedned for the use of a single indicidual. No more than one copy of the software should be running at a time. Three activation keys are provided for convenience with ILM but as it is a single user license only one copy should be in operation at a time.

Pros

• Ideal for single indiciduals
• Easy to understand
• Can be deployed almost anywhere

Cons

• Is only for the use of single individual and therefore not suitable for use by multiple users or computer labs.

Multi-user license

To support different use cases multiple user licenses can be further subdivided into two types; Network multi-user and Non-network multi-user. These two types of license can be described thus.

Multi-user (Network)

A network license may be used where there the software is required to support multiple individuals within a single organisation networked environment. As many copies of the product may be installed on client computers but the network license will support a given number of seats the license supports. In order to support this a Sentinel License Server software is required that all network computers can see on the network.

Pros

• Ideal for organisations or education institutions supporting a large number of users
• Install as many copies of the product and allow the license server to manage the maxmimum number of concurrent users.

Cons

• Not suitable if the computer maybe out of range of the institution network (eg. student/work laptops that may be taken out of range of the network.
• May be difficult to implement with some complex netrwork environments (eg. where VLANs are used).

Multi-user non-network license

Where multi-user concurrent license is required but network licensing is impractical a non-network license can be usesd. This type of license for practical implementation is similar to stand alone installation of single user license. These licenses are purchased in blocks of five users. An ILM code may be provided for each seat on that license or dongles used instread.
Below are some pros and cons to help decide which license may be most suitable for the customer.

Pro

• Will support multiple users but installs like single user
• No requirement for Sentinel License server

Con
• Authorisation can be unwieldy to mange with large numbers of users to support.

USB Dongle for single use or non-network users

The USB dongle authorisation may be thought of as a direct replacement for ILM Authorisation. For some scenarios this may provide greater flexibility.

Pros
• USB Dongle is a flexible physical token to re-deploy between PCs where are large number need to be accessed by an individual.

Cons
• As a physical replacement it may be prone to being lost causing inconvenience if this happens.
• Requires a free USB port which should be considered especially with laptop and portable use.