Doing Business with MSC

If we have engaged your company as an MSC Business Partner, you may need to have access to certain online resources at MSC.

MSC uses Google Workspace (formerly known as Google Apps for Business and G Suite) - a Google-hosted application platform.  As such, Google provides authentication and access control to our cloud-based resources.  In order to gain access to MSC online resources, you will need to have an email account that Google recognizes.  That can be accomplished in one of three ways:

1.  Your existing company's domain and email accounts are already hosted by Google (like MSC).  (There is no additional action necessary on your part.)

2.  MSC can share resources with you on an "as-needed" using Google's PIN Code sharing technology.  (You will be required to verify your identity using a PIN Code sent via email.)

3.  You can "register" your non-Google company email account with Google.  (This process takes about 5 minutes.)

1.  You have a Google-based email account

If your company's domain is hosted by Google (like MSC's is), then there is no further action to take.  Simply provide your company email address to your MSC colleague, and they can use that to share resources with you.

2.   MSC will share resources with you on an "as-needed" basis using PIN Code sharing

Except for already having a Google-based account, this is the easiest way for MSC to collaborate on projects with our business partners.  MSC will maintain the documents in our cloud-based Google Drive repository, and share folders and files with you as needed.  When we share a resource with you, Google will send you an email notification.  The first time you receive a notification it will include a link to generate a "verification code".  When you receive the code and enter it into the appropriate screen, you will then have access to our shared folder(s) and/or file(s) for 7 days.  You can now view, comment on, or edit (as appropriate) the shared Google file(s) or folder(s).  If you need to collaborate longer, you can use the link from the original sharing email to verify your identity again for another 7 days.

** Tip: After opening a shared document or folder the first time, you may wish to bookmark the link(s) for easy, continued access.  Otherwise, you can always refer back to link in the original notification email message(s) from Google.  For more information on accessing shared documents using PIN Code sharing, click here.

** Note: Some of the files we share with you from within MSC's Google Drive repository are likely to be MS Office files.  You will notice that when you follow the link in the email to access those files, you will be placed into Google's document applications (Docs, Sheets, or Slides).  These applications are compatible with MS Office Word, Excel, and Powerpoint (respectively) so even though you will not be using the MS Office tools, you can edit them as needed, and the files will continue to be MS Office files.  Almost all MS Office features you are probably used to are supported in the Google Docs applications, and will be easy to recognize and access in Google Docs.  Also note that there is no "Save" button in Google Docs.  Every keystroke or formatting change is saved instantly, in real-time.

Bottom line: Wait for your MSC contact to share a resource with you for the first time, and then follow the instructions you will receive via email.

3.  Register your non-Google email account with Google

If your company's domain is not hosted by Google, you may "register" your non-Google email account with Google.  To register your non-Google email account for use with Google-based resources, please go to this page (AFTER reading the important instructions below):

          https://accounts.google.com/SignUp

...and complete the Google account registration process.  It will take less than 5 minutes.

** Note: While slightly more involved than using "PIN Code sharing" (above), this method allows your non-Google account to be used to collaborate indefinitely with us on the current and any future project using our Google Drive repository.

** Note: If you have any other Google-based email accounts (e.g., a Gmail account), be sure to navigate to this link in a browser in which you are NOT logged into any Google accounts or resources.  To be sure you're using a "sterile" browser, either use "Incognito" mode in Chrome, or use a browser you rarely use at all, or at least one in which you do not access Google resources.

PLEASE FOLLOW THESE IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS WHEN REGISTERING YOUR NON-GOOGLE ACCOUNT:  (Refer to the screen shots below.)

• (Screen Shots 1 and 2)  In the email field, BE SURE TO CLICK "Use my current email address instead".  (See the purple arrow in the screen shot.)  That will let you enter your non-Google company email address.

  • • If you wish, you may choose to provide the same password in the Google form as you currently use for your company email account, but it may be different if you prefer.  Either way, MSC WILL NOT HAVE ACCESS TO ANY OF THIS GOOGLE ACCOUNT REGISTRATION INFORMATION.

    • Click "Next".

• (Screen Shot 3)  Google will send a verification code to your email address which you will need to provide on this next screen.  Enter the code and click "Verify".

• (Screen Shot 4)  Google will then ask for your phone, birthday, and gender.  Providing a phone number is optional, but you must enter a response for birthday and gender.  (Note: this is not used or verified in any way, so it does not necessarily need to be accurate.)  When complete, click "Next".

• (Screen Shot 5)  When you are presented with the Google "Privacy and Terms", scroll to the bottom and click "I agree".

• This completes the registration process.  You may now notify your MSC colleague that your company email address is registered with Google, and they can begin sharing MSC online resources with you.