Emerald

Remote Customer Access

Version 4.0

Emerald Management Suite

IEA Software, Inc.

Introduction

The Emerald Management Suite provides direct on-line web access to information regarding your established Internet or Network Service Account(s). By logging into your account, you are able to:

• View up-to-date account balance and account aging information,
• View account history, listing of all billing transactions that have occurred on the account,
• View detailed account status, including the current record of service usage on-line activity,
• Change your account passwords,
• Change the way that your bills are generated and distributed,
• Make an immediate credit card payment against the account balance.

You can access the Account Center from any standard web browser connected to the Internet. Your Network/Internet Service Provider will supply the URL web address to access the Account Center from your browser window. The Account Center specifically supports the Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0+ and Netscape Navigator 4.7+ web browsers.

Launching and Logging on to the Account Center

To launch the Account Center application, do the following:

1. Establish your network/Internet connection.

2. Start the chosen web browser from the Windows Start Menu, or from the operating system (UNIX, LINUX, or Windows systems) command line.

3. Enter the Network/Internet Provider Account Center site location address within the browser entry window, such as “http://emerweb.iea-software.com”.

4. Enter your Service Account Username and Password and click on the Login button, or just press the Enter key. Note: You may have several services with different Usernames and Passwords set up on your account with your Network/Internet Service Provider. The Service account Username and Password entered here determines which Service Account information will be presented during the current Account Center session.

5. If you have any problems logging into the system, please contact your Network/Internet Service Provider site for more information, or trouble-shooting information.

The Account Center

Once you have logged in, you will be presented with the Account Center Welcome Page. This screen verifies your account identity and presents a brief overview of your current account status. The Quick Links section under the account status display, presents you with web links that your Network/Internet Service Provider has provided in order to provide you with further information regarding your account, or the Service Provider’s site and services. Clicking on the provided link will route you to the provided file or site specified.

The Account Center main menu options are displayed at the top of the page. Choose an option by clicking on the option link. Each menu option is described in detail within the sections below. The Account Status option is shown by default on the Account Center Welcome Page. Note: The Time Left field will only be displayed if your service has a usage time limit for each billing period.

Online Usage

The Online Usage option allows you to view the details of your service usage over the current billing period. Each time you access the system, either through your dial-up account or other network connection (such as DSL, leased line, etc.), the access is recorded by the system. Depending on your service set up, you may see two types of usage displayed: call data and possibly network traffic data.

The Time Online section displays the time online tracked for usage of dial-up accounts. This section will display what date and time the call was initiated, how many minutes the session lasted, how many bytes of data were transferred to and from your computer (Input and Output columns, respectively), the call location, the Username that accessed the system, and why the call was terminated (typically this will be blank, or display ‘User Requested’). Note: A summary of the total Time Left remaining on your account is displayed on the main Account Summary screen.

The Network Traffic Summary section displays session information regarding the time and network traffic flows recorded for non dial-up accounts setup for network usage billing. This section will display the date the usage totals were accumulated and total transferred data (in MB).

Depending on how your service account billing has been set up, this data may or may not be being used by your Service Provider for billing purposes. Some accounts are set up with unlimited access that allows you to use your service with no usage restrictions or extra charges. Some accounts, however, may be set up with usage limitations that assess an extra charge for usage during certain time periods, or for usage over a specific time or data allowance. The usage information displayed is only for the current billing period. If you have questions as to whether this data is relevant to your current bill, please contact your Network/Service provider site.

View Billing Information

The View Billing Information option allows you to view the current billing transactions that have been applied to your account. The transactions listed within the Billing History section include all invoiced charges, applied payments and any credit or debit adjustments to the account. Each item includes a brief description, the type and date of the transaction, and the amount. The Aging section at the bottom of the page provides aging detail on all recent invoices that have been generated against the account. The aging information provided includes the Invoice ID, when it was created, the date it began aging, the number of days passed since it was billed, the service login (identification), and the invoice description.

Modify Account

The Modify Account option allows you to manage aspects of your account. Although most account changes must still be performed by directly contacting your Service Provider, the Account Center allows you to change your account password and update your billing preference (as allowed by your Service Provider) on your account.

Change Password

Select the Change password option in order to change your service account password. The service for which you are changing the password is identified by the username identified within the option link (‘ajones’ in the above example). When you select this option, you are presented with the Password Change screen in which you are prompted to verify your existing password in the Current Password field, enter a new password value in the New Password Field and confirm the new password value in the Confirm field. The New Password and Confirm field values must match in order for the password to be accepted. Enter the reason for the password change in the Change Reason field. Press the Update button to save your new password entry. This password will be effective the next time you login to either your service account, or the Account Center.

Note: Your Service Provider may have certain restrictions regarding the minimum length required of password entries. If you enter a value under this password length, you will be prompted to enter a new password value of greater length. Additionally, it is generally recommended that you create password values that are unique and contain both letters and numbers (such as “cat12”), in order to be harder for those of malicious intent to discover.

Update Billing

Select the Update Billing option in order to change the way that you are billed for your services. The selection you make here will become effective from the next billing period on. Make a selection from the provided option list for the Select a Payment Method field. The options are:

• Invoice: Indicates the preference for your Service Provider to generate and distribute an invoice each billing cycle, to be paid upon receipt, using cash, check or credit card.

• Credit Card: This option authorizes your Service Provider to do an automatic payment transaction from a specified credit card account for each billing cycle. Once this option is selected and the credit card information has been entered and verified, a credit card invoice will be distributed each month detailing both your billing cycle charges and the automatic payment transactions that have taken place on your account.

Press the Update button to save your billing method changes. A one-time credit card payment can be made from the Credit Card option screen by clicking on the click here link at the bottom of the screen. Choosing the one-time payment option instead of the pressing the Update button will make no permanent change to the billing method on your account.

Make Payment

The Make Payment option allows you to make a payment towards your account balance. Payments can only be made through credit card payments. The credit card entry will not be processed immediately, but it will appear as a pending credit against your account until your Service Provider runs the card for authorization and approval, which will typically occur within one business day of the payment entry.

To make a credit card entry, enter the amount of the payment in currency form (for example ’30.00’) in the Amount field. Do not include the currency symbol (‘$’). Enter your credit card number in numerical form with no formatting, such as dashes (‘-‘) in the CC Number field. Enter the expiration date in numeric form (mm/yy) in the Exp field. In the Auth Name field, enter the credit card holder’s name exactly as it appears on the credit card. Enter the credit card billing address in the Bill Address field. And enter the credit card billing address zip code in the Bill Zip field. Press the Create Payment button to save the payment entry.