B3 Business Message Service: |
1. When a request for consumption is needed, the B3 button on the service form (or the existing current external contract) is pressed to make it happen. |
2. The B3 button is only available for an existing current external contract for a named supplier. |
3. A public envelope email message is sent to the applicable supplier email address with a suitable subject line. |
4. The supplier has a choice to (1) opt-in, (2) opt-out or to (3) ignore the public email message. |
5. When the supplier clicks to opt-in, they are shown the Request Consumption letter with the Letter of Authority and an optional form for the actual consumption (for each dial) to be entered. |
6. When the supplier enters the actual consumption, the data is automatically stored in the applicable current contract. The supplier has another option to return a spreadsheet containing the actual consumptions that are then transcribed into the current contract. |
7. When the supplier clicks opt-out that are not shown the request consumption letter and the broker must use alternative methods to discover the actual consumption. |
8. When the supplier ignores the email for four days, the email expires and an alarm message shown to the broker to take alternative action - the email address may be no longer valid. |
9. This procedure is safe and secure, and does not leak confidential business data to email service providers in all parts of the world. |
B3 Manual: |
1. Where the cost of business does not ned to be minimised and where the cost of errors is not a concern, then manual methods will be used. |
2. Public email may be used to message a supplier to request consumption for transcribed service details where the privacy of the customers data is not important. |
3. The email reply has to be manually transcribed as the second point of potential error and the second point of a data leak. |
4. The supply address may be part of the two way communication that is not using encryption for data protection. |
5. Some customers may be content with the lack of data protection methods and others will not be content. |
6. From a strategic point of view, such manual methods of working do not deserve to survive. Suppliers may have a duty to stop such data leaks and are expected to provide online encrypted services to replace spreadsheets. |