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Real-Time Information Delivery System Streamlines Check Collection Process

To keep pace with client demands as well as fuel further expansion, Security Check, a national provider of check collection and verification services – recently named one of the fastest-growing private companies by Inc. Magazine – turned to Information Builders for help in constructing a Web-based, real-time business intelligence system. The resulting Security Check Online Reporting Environment (SCORE) with WebFOCUS assists merchants with check collection activities and offers up-to-the-minute information to protect them from accepting non-sufficient funds (NSF) checks. Information Builders also helped Security Check build a comprehensive security architecture that prohibits merchants from viewing each other's data.

"With Information Builders’ help, SCORE has boosted revenue by giving Security Check an edge that its competitors don’t have,” said Dewitt Lovelace, chief financial officer at Security Check. “We can show prospective clients how they will be able to run their reports on a daily basis and specify date ranges to track down particular trends or problems.We estimate this system will pay for itself within six months. Several new clients have told us that it was our Web site that won their business and separated us from competing service providers in our market. WebFOCUS gives us a faster system, more flexibility and a graphical interface that is easy to use. Our users tell us that our Web site is the best of its kind."

Check out www.security-check.net for more information.

Information Builders Comps SEVIS Compliance Analysis, Helps Colleges Meet INS Deadline

With the government deadline of August 1, 2003 rapidly approaching, colleges are scrambling to meet new reporting regulations of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) relating to foreign students. Penalties for noncompliance could be severe, causing universities to lose some of their best students.

Information Builders came to the rescue with its expert Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). This one- to two-day, on-site analysis of information systems and database integration needs by Information Builders is offered at no charge. Upon completion of the SEVIS Compliance Analysis, Information Builders can provide the following to institutions looking for a timely and comprehensive solution:

Integration technology that quickly, easily, and cost-effectively accesses, integrates and transforms any data anywhere on campus, packaging it in the XML format specified by the INS.

Reporting technology that satisfies all institutional needs to track SEVIS compliance progress, handle exceptions and distribute SEVIS information – over the Web, via e-mail or in Excel spreadsheets.

A consulting organization with the expertise to help institutions get the job done quickly and with a minimum of disruption

"Information Builders has a strong history of working with higher education institutions – over 400 worldwide," says Information Builders President and CEO Gerald D. Cohen. "We are committed to assisting those that have yet to meet the INS compliance regulations. Utilizing the combination of our integration, reporting and consulting services, Information Builders is confident that we will be able to help higher education institutions efficiently exchange data with the INS while admitting international students."

PeopleSoft Certifies WebFOCUS Open Portal Services Integration

WebFOCUS Open Portal Services, Information Builders' robust offering that extends real-time analysis capabilities to end users within an existing EIP framework, has received PeopleSoft AppConnect certification for its integration with the PeopleSoft Enterprise Portal. With this solution, customers can leverage existing portal infrastructure to deliver powerful enterprise business intelligence.

"Through our long-standing relationship with Information Builders, WebFOCUS solutions have been integrated with PeopleSoft applications," said Paola Lubet, vice president of Technology Marketing at PeopleSoft. 'The certification of the Open Portal Services integration gives PeopleSoft customers the opportunity to access other packaged applications and fully utilize their enterprise data for timelier, more informed decisionmaking, while leveraging their PeopleSoft investment."

PeopleSoft’s Enterprise Portal platform provides the infrastructure for creating and maintaining an enterprise portal, allowing organizations to deploy Internet-based applications, knowledge management suites, collaborative services and marketplace sites wide-scale through a Web browser. Open Portal Services incorporates the powerful reporting and analysis functionality of WebFOCUS within the PeopleSoft Enterprise Portal, providing customers with immediate access to critical, real-time enterprise-wide data – from PeopleSoft as well as over 85 other sources, including SAP and J.D. Edwards – via a personalized portal page. "Using the Enterprise Portal with Open Portal Services, relevant and reliable analytical information can be delivered to a large number of users within the framework of an existing PeopleSoft portal," said Gary Goldberg, general manager of Information Builders' WebFOCUS Applications Division.

"PeopleSoft users can determine what business intelligence content they see, personalize the way they access, view and store it, and employ powerful analytic tools to address all their real-time information requirements."

A New Way to iWay

Information Builders' Corporate Education department has announced the availability of a new course covering the basics of the iWay XML Transformation Engine (iXTE). Course attendees will learn how to install and configure iXTE, and how to work with the iWay Transformation Web Console and Workbench to build and register business transformations.They will also use an iWay Data Adapter to enrich transformations by issuing requests to an Intelligent Adapter.

The iWay XML Transformation Engine (iXTE) makes it possible to seamlessly integrate applications with existing enterprise transactions, procedures and application packages. Through the use of Intelligent Adapters, these applications have access to e-business formats, packaged applications, legacy systems and data.

The iWay XML Transformation Workbench, a GUI tool, provides a visual environment that allows non-XML formats such as EDI, HIPAA and SWIFT to be integrated into the work of an enterprise without writing custom code. iXTE also highly extensible, so custom-written Java modules can be plugged in to meet any business integration need.

Documentation Services Introduces New Information Products

With Documentation Services' products in hand, customers can make the most of Information Builders’ software and perform their business tasks quickly, easily and successfully.

The Technical Documentation Library, currently available from the Information Builders Tech Support site, provides users with immediate access to technical documentation via the Internet. Anyone who visits the Information Builders site, www.informationbuilders.com, can search the Library and view topics, or "pages," from the technical documentation repository, order a print manual or a documentation CD, and view manuals in PDF or HTML format. InfoResponse customers can even download manuals in PDF format.

The WebFOCUS Installation Assistant, a self-contained program designed to facilitate installation of WebFOCUS and Report Caster on Windows NT/2000, prompts users for the information required for a successful installation while explaining the installation process. The Installation Assistant is available on the Tech Support Download Facility.

A Using Functions manual coincides with Release 5.2 of WebFOCUS and iWay software.The redesigned manual includes comprehensive information about all Information Builders userwritten subroutines.

An online command reference application will provide users with online access to Information Builders product commands, and Quick Reference Cards will be making a comeback in an online interactive form.

To learn more about these products, send feedback, or participate in Documentation Services' development studies, contact Deborah_Greenberg@ibi.com.

Information Builders Customers Reap Rewards

At Summit 2002 in Baltimore three customers were honored as winners of the 2002 Information Builders Awards: Moneris Solutions, Royal Bank Financial Group, and Management Information Solutions/MSD Wayne Township won awards for Most Scalable, Highest ROI, and Most Innovative Use of Technology, respectively.

Moneris and Royal Bank are both profiled in this issue. Management Information Solutions and MSD Wayne Township, one of Indiana's 10 largest public school districts, developed a WebFOCUS application called k12datamine to integrate all of the district's systems so that student achievement and district accountability could be effectively measured.

Winners were selected by a committee headed by Gerald D. Cohen. The committee judged applicants on the design of the project, how it changes and improves peoples’ lives, its prospects for the future, and how successful they were in achieving their goals. Winners received all-expenses-paid trips to Summit 2002.

Press Here for Support

Contacting Information Builders’ Technical Support Group just got even better. The dispatch center has been replaced with an automated phone menu that will route you to one of our support experts much faster. The changes reduce phone tag between customers and our consultants, minimizing the number of people with whom customers need to speak when they call with a support problem or question.

The changes, resulting from a couple of years of planning and discussion, are expected to improve customer service by increasing the speed with which callers get solutions to their technical problems, said Stu Madison, vice president of Corporate Technical Support Services. Same-day solutions to technical problems should increase to 60 percent from the current 36 percent, he said.

Customers who dial our support number will have the following options for routing their calls:

	Press 1 for WebFOCUS support, including ReportCaster and WebFOCUS Managed Reporting
	Press 2 for Desktop Developer Studio, including Managed Reporting and WebFOCUS Maintain
	Press 3 for core FOCUS on all platforms
	Press 4 for iWay and EDA support including WebFOCUS Reporting Server, ETL, and Copy Manager
	Press 5 for Resource Analyzer and Resource Governor

We also will have representatives to help you if you are unsure where your call needs to be directed.

“What we’ll be eliminating, is a lot of phone tag,” CSS Director Doug Tina said. “We also hope to reduce the amount of time that it actually takes to resolve an issue.”