WebDelivery
Frequently Asked Questions
What is
WebDelivery?
What are the
advantages of using WebDelivery?
We use email to
deliver documents. Why would we use WebDelivery?
What do we need in
order to use WebDelivery?
How do our
documents get into WebDelivery so recipients can view them?
What type of
documents can we send via WebDelivery?
What is a
co-branded site?
What is a
WebDelivery recipient account?
How are recipient
accounts created?
How may recipient
accounts can we have?
How many members
can be in a recipient account?
Who maintains
recipient accounts and members?
What can
recipients do with documents?
How do our
documents get to the recipients?
What if our
recipients don't view their documents or can't use the Web interface?
How do we know
what is happening with our sent documents?
How long do our
documents stay in WebDelivery?
How much does
WebDelivery cost?
How do we pay for
WebDelivery?
How do we get
started using WebDelivery?
What is WebDelivery?
WebDelivery is a hosted subscription service providing Web-based document access, delivery, and management services to any
document recipient having access to email and a Web browser. WebDelivery
is used by
companies to deliver unstructured (PDF, Word, PCL, PostScript, etc.)
documents and structured (EDI/XML) documents such as purchase orders,
invoices, statements, and reports to suppliers, customers, and
employees. Documents can originate from back-end systems such as
ERP and CRM in high volumes and from desktop applications by individual
users using secure Web forms, email, or Outlook. WebDelivery also provides a Web-based means by which
confirmations and document acknowledgements can be gathered from
document recipients thereby closing the document delivery loop. As a
hosted service, WebDelivery requires no hardware, software investment, or
maintenance.
What are the advantages of
using WebDelivery?
WebDelivery provides seamless, secure, and immediate
delivery and access to documents from any Web browser. This
reduces or eliminates business process delays, manual receipt
confirmations, and help desk calls due to lost or undelivered documents.
It is less expensive than mail or faxing documents and
more secure and reliable than email attached documents. Both
document senders and recipients have a transaction record, document management,
and visibility
into document activity.
We use email to deliver
documents. Why would we use WebDelivery?
The problems that can arise using email attachments to deliver documents
are that they:
have file size constraints
open security issues
are unmanageable for sender and recipient
get lost because of SPAM filter programs
fill up email servers
do not provide reliable receipt confirmation or structured acknowledgements
WebDelivery solves all of these email related problems and offers
many features that greatly enhance document exchange related business
processes.
What do we need in order to
use WebDelivery?
A Web browser, email, and local document viewing program (Adobe Reader,
Word, etc.) are all that is required for senders and document
recipients. The WebDelivery Web interface requires no proprietary
downloads or plug-ins, and is very efficient and easy-to-use.
How do our documents get
into WebDelivery so recipients can view them?
WebDelivery has several methods for transferring documents from your
location to the
WebDelivery submission service and for getting document activity status
back to your users and applications. How this is done depends on
individual company security requirements and capabilities. The document experts at Merkur Group
can assist with any integration requirements.
Desktop
users can submit documents via secure (SSL) Web form, Outlook form, and
email. Recipient document activity can be monitored by email
alerts or viewed and managed via the WebDelivery Web
interface.
Programmatic document submission methods include:
WebDelivery Connector - Merkur provided utility that captures
documents and securely (SSH) transfers to the WebDelivery service.
Recipient activity status is provided back as XML or other
structured
data type.
SSH - Secure Copy or FTP.
Email - Documents are submitted to WebDelivery via email
attachment by being addressed to the recipient account id (i.e.
account_id@webdelivery.net). WebDelivery receives the email
with attachment(s), converts to PDF if required, and submits the
documents to the appropriate recipient account.
FTP - A simple FTP can also be used to put files on the
WebDelivery submission server and to retrieve document activity
status.
What type of documents can
we send via WebDelivery?
Any type or size of documents can be submitted to a WebDelivery
recipient account depending on recipient viewing capability.
WebDelivery can also convert many document types (text, PCL, PostScript,
Word, Excel, etc.) to PDF for convenient,
consistent viewing using the free Adobe Reader. WebDelivery can also
transform raw data types such as EDI or XML into into more
human-readable form for recipient delivery and acknowledgements.
What is a co-branded site?
The specific WebDelivery Web site where document recipients go to get
documents can be customized to present your company's image and needs. This
includes logos, color schemes, and help files. This customization
is included with your subscription.
What is a WebDelivery
recipient account?
A recipient account is where documents are submitted within WebDelivery. A recipient
account has a unique identifier chosen by the host subscriber.
This unique identifier can be a supplier or customer number, a fax
number, an email address (for one-to-one deliveries), or any
designator. A recipient account can have one or many recipient
account members each of whom have a unique login id (email address) and
password. One or several recipient account members can be recipient
account administrators if recipient maintained accounts are desired.
How are recipient accounts
created?
Recipient accounts can be created en masse during implementation,
manually, or created dynamically as documents are submitted.
How many recipient accounts
can we have?
There is no practical limit to the number of recipient accounts a host subscriber
can have. Some companies may have ten or twenty recipient accounts
and others will have thousands.
How many members can be in
a recipient account?
There is no practical limit to the number of members in a recipient
account. Some recipient accounts will have only one member and
others will have more. It depends on how many individuals you need
to be responsible for receiving documents.
Who maintains recipient
accounts and members?
Recipient accounts can be dynamically created during document
submission. They can also be purged automatically based on
inactivity or other criteria. Recipient account members can be
managed (added, removed, passwords reset, etc.) by subscriber members
with appropriate security permissions or the recipient account
administrator(s) (a recipient account member designated as administrator
for that recipient account).
What can recipients do with
documents?
After logging into WebDelivery, document recipients are presented with a
familiar, email-like interface with new (unviewed or confirmed
documents) documents listed. Recipients can view or download documents,
comment back to the sender, confirm a document with web form (if
supplied), reject a document, search documents, and more. All
comments and document activity are stored along with the document in
WebDelivery.
How do our documents get to
the recipients?
Recipients can securely log into WebDelivery to retrieve documents or
documents can automatically be sent to them via other secure and direct
channels. There are five basic methods for recipients to retrieve documents.
The options available to the recipient account are controlled by the
host (sending subscriber) or are determined by document submission
parameters. Regardless of how the document is retrieved or delivered, recipients
can always log into WebDelivery when required to manage documents.
WebDelivery Portal - Document recipient(s) receive an email
notification with link to WebDelivery site alerting them of a new
document's availability. They securely log into their specific recipient account using the
WebDelivery Web interface to view and manage documents.
Secure Email Link - An email with hyperlink prompts a
recipient to
view the document. The recipient supplies WebDelivery account id and
password and the document is downloaded/displayed.
Direct Email Link - Same as Secure Email Link but no id and
password are required to view document.
Email Attachment - An email with document attachment is sent
to the recipient.
What if our recipients
don't view their documents or can't use the Web interface?
WebDelivery has customizable alerts called action lists. These are
easily configured by the sending subscriber's WebDelivery administrator to report on document activity
including whether or not documents are being viewed or confirmed.
Action lists can alert senders and recipients of a delinquent document or
simply send the document by alternative means such as fax or email
attachment.
How do we know what is
happening with our sent documents?
Document senders log into the same site as recipient members. The
difference is that they see document activity from a sender's
perspective. Document senders have permissions set by an administrator which controls which documents and recipient accounts they
can see and control. WebDelivery action lists also send email
reports to senders so they can quickly identify document receipt
delays or problems.
How long do our documents
stay in WebDelivery?
There is no practical limit to how long documents can remain available
in WebDelivery. Each subscription level comes with a specific
amount of storage space. Additional storage space is billed
automatically at a specified rate. WebDelivery can also be
configured to automatically purge documents after a specified time
period or other criteria.
How much does WebDelivery
cost?
WebDelivery has scaleable monthly subscription fee plans based on the
number of document submissions (documents made available to recipient
accounts per month). Plan levels accommodate entry level use with only a few
documents per month up to tens of thousands of documents per
month. Fax transmissions are an additional per minute charge
based on the location of the receiving fax machine. Please contact
Merkur Group with any subscription or billing questions.
How do we pay for
WebDelivery?
Monthly automatic credit card billing or 30 day term invoice. Subscriber
administrators can view real-time
document volume activity.
How do we get started using
WebDelivery?
Your company can be using WebDelivery in a matter of days. Merkur Group offers no-charge proof of concepts
and limited recipient
pilots of WebDelivery. Simply contact
Merkur Group with any questions you may have and get started
with Web-based document delivery today.
|
