Original publication date: June, 2007
The standard and enterprise versions of Softshare ECS 5.0 ship with an optional Web management component called WebECS. WebECS provides Web-based real-time access to ECS not only from traditional Web browsers, but also from wireless devices such as cell phones and PDAs via the wireless access protocol (WAP).
To access WebECS via a wireless device, simply navigate to your unique WebECS wireless-access URL and log in with your user ECS user account and password, as shown in Illustration 1 below. Upon logging in, you are presented with the following three menu options (shown in Illustration 2):
Status. Displays a status report with information related to the ECS Windows service.
Reports. Provides access to the ECS service status report, event log summary, and data summary containing ECS batch information and restaging options.
Partner Directory. Lists trading partner contact information (contact names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses) from your ECS database.
The “Status” and “Partner Directory” menu options are nice to have, but it’s the “Reports” menu that your significant other will appreciate. That’s because, from this menu, you can query ECS, using time range and delivery status criteria (shown in Illustration 3), for failed batches. When a batch is returned, you can view its summary information (shown in Illustration 4), sending and receiving trading partner contact data, tracking details, and associated log entries. And this is where your significant other comes in: you can even restage the failed batch. Just imagine…
|
…The two of you are enjoying a romantic dinner. As the soup is being served, an e-mail arrives from ECS, alerting you to a failed EDI batch delivery. Figures. It’s an important delivery that must be dealt with. What to do? You could (1) ask for a to-go container and run to the office (not recommended) or (2) use your cell phone to access ECS and restage the delivery. The choice is clear. You get an eye roll as you’re hunched over your cell phone taking care of business, but at least you won’t be sleeping on the couch… |
For more information on ECS’ WAP-enabled features and how they can save your relationship, visit the following three Softshare Knowledge Base articles:
Accessing WebECS Features from a Mobile Phone or Wireless Device
Enabling SSL for WebECS
Accessing an SSL-Secured WebECS Server from a Mobile Phone/Wireless Device