At the heart of ECS is its ability to route and process data. This core function happens at the server level, where ECS runs quietly in the background without user intervention.

At the client level, you have access to ECS' various utilities. These utilities are available locally from your desktop or from WebECS, an optional Web component that lets you manage ECS from a browser. Regardless of how you access these utilities, you'll use them to configure how data moves through ECS, to view and track the data that passes through, and to summarize the data.

ECS supports today's prevalent Internet communications protocols, moving data into, out of, and across your enterprise in real time. You can use ECS to connect directly with your trading partners or you can use Softshare’s network in conjunction with ECS.

ECS' advanced event rule system ensures that data is processed and routed according to its unique properties. If you'd like to integrate data routed through Softshare ECS with other internal business applications such as an ERP or accounting package, you can run Softshare Delta, Softshare's data translator, in conjunction with ECS.

Protocols and standards supported by ECS include:

Protocols

SMTP - client/server
HTTP(S) - client/server
POP3 - client (server in Enterprise edition) only
FTP & FTP/S - client (server in Enterprise edition only)
MSMQ - client/server
File system - read/write

Standards

IETF EDIINT AS1, AS2 and AS3
SOAP, SwA (with Web Services Toolkit)
S/MIME