Frequently asked questions
If I file the electronic manifest and the broker doesn't file the release or entry what will happen?
If I have to change a shipment or a trip after it's been accepted, what is the process?
What is a "shipment"?
What is a "trip"?
Will PAPS numbers and stickers still be used?
What is a Shipment Control Number or SCN?
Is SmartBorder a modular system?
Does SmartBorder develop Freight Software?
Does SmartBorder support EDI?
Will you travel to our offices or will this be a remote demo?
What are the hardware requirements to run your application?
Will I have to purchase and maintain special equipment to run SmartBorder?
Is there software to install? And if so, who will do the install?
What are the start-up costs?
Is there a monthly maintenance fee for users?
What methods of training are used?
What are my costs for training?
How does your customer support system work?
How often do updates come out and what are the costs associated with the updates?
What does "customization" mean?
Why would I need to customize?
Is SmartBorder more focused on northern border transactions vs. air/sea clearances?
What size of brokers use SmartBorder?
What happens if there's a disruption in service such as an equipment or internet failure? Will I lose data?
Can I have daily backups of my files sent to my office?
Who will have access to my data?
Will I outgrow SmartBorder's capabilities?
Q: If I file the electronic manifest and the
broker doesn't file the release or entry what will
happen?
A: In this case you will go to secondary until
the broker has filed the correct information.
Q: If I have
to change a shipment or a trip after it's been accepted, what is the
process?
A: SmartBorder will handle the change behind the
scenes. You would make the changes and re-transmit the shipment or
trip to CBP. However, once the shipment or trip has been
accepted the one hour clock is reset, and you must not arrive at the
border until one hour has passed.
Q: What is a
"shipment"?
A: A shipment is a bill of lading. Goods to a
single shipper to a single consignee. The bill of lading is printed
from this information.
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Q: What is a "trip"?
A: This
is the actual movement of a shipment or multiple shipments. The
inward cargo manifest document is printed from this
information.
Q: Will PAPS numbers and stickers still be
used?
A: PAPS numbers can still be used as the shipment
control number, but the stickers cannot be used on the inward cargo
manifest.
Q: What is a Shipment Control Number or
SCN?
A: The shipment control number is a unique number
identifying a shipment. This number can be your PRO number, PAPS
number or some other form of a master bill number.
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Q: Is
SmartBorder a modular system?
A: No. The base SmartBorder
package includes all of the components that you need to be
competitive. There is no additional cost for items like RLF, web
tracking, billing and email notifications.
Q: Does
SmartBorder develop freight software?
A: No. SmartBorder
specializes in ACE and compliance software, and focuses all of its
efforts on providing a true, "best-of-breed" application. Our
customers choose an application like SmartBorder because they
realize it will have the most significant impact on employee
productivity and customer service, while being fully able to
integrate with their existing accounting and logistics
applications.
Q: Does SmartBorder support EDI?
A:
Yes. There are several tools within SmartBorder that facilitate EDI,
as well as the option for us to create unique links from your
freight, inventory and ERP systems to CBP.
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Q: Will you
travel to our offices or will this be a remote demo?
A: To
keep our software moderately priced, we perform our initial software
demonstration over the internet. We have had great success with
GoToMeeting for our remote
demonstrations. It also gives us the ability to perform our
demonstrations to multiple locations at the same time.
Q:
What are the hardware requirements to run your
application?
A: Generally speaking, if you have Windows 2003,
XP or Vista running, you will have at least met our minimum
requirements. For more specific requirements, please visit our
system requirements page.
Q: Will I have to purchase and maintain special
equipment to run SmartBorder?
A: No. SmartBorder runs on our
servers. All you are required to have is a PC with an internet
connection.
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Q: Is there software to install? And if so,
who will do the install?
A: When logging into SmartBorder the
first time, the system automatically installs all required software.
Future upgrades are installed automatically whenever you log in.
Your version is always the most up-to-date.
Q: What are
the start-up costs?
A: The start-up costs for the SmartBorder
application include a small, one-time licensing fee that covers the
technical set up from our end, getting you registered with Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) and initial support and training.
Q: Is there a monthly
maintenance fee for users?
A: SmartBorder's billing model is
a pay-per-use system. Your fees are based on the number of
transactions you make.
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Q: What methods of training are
used?
A: Our expert training staff offer both personalized
on-site and on-line training to ensure you are comfortable and ready
to use the system. We also offer an archive of on-line tutorials that
you can view any time to learn about a new procedure or refresh your
SmartBorder skills.
Q: What are my costs for
training?
A: An initial training package is included as part
of your start-up and there always archived video tutorials, Q&A
sessions and instructional documentation available online at no
cost. If necessary, additional personalized training is available at
an hourly rate. These supplementary packages can be done either
on-line or on-site. There are travel expenses for additional on-site
training.
Q: How does your customer support system
work?
A: Support for all customers is initiated through an
electronic ticket generated by the customer on our site. Our support
staff is on call 24/7 and responds via e-mail or phone.
We recognize that Customs issues can be extremely time sensitive and are committed to providing the most timely support for
our customers. SmartBorder recently invested in a state-of-the-art
customer relationship system (CRM) that manages all of our support
resources and tracks your support tickets. Beyond that, our online
support center contains a comprehensive archive of content,
including FAQs, knowledge base articles and
how-to-videos.
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Q: How often do updates come out and what
are the costs associated with the updates?
A: Our software
resembles a living entity, consistently evolving to address
marketplace demands, technical innovations and new U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) requirements. SmartBorder keeps current with all CBP updates on
a daily basis and updates the application accordingly. Most updates
are applied while you are on-line and require no down time. All
system upgrades, major and minor, are included at no extra
cost.
Q: What does "customization" mean?
A: Any
feature or functionality you request that is not a part of our base
package is considered customization. What sets us apart from our
competition is our willingness and ability to quickly adapt
SmartBorder to meet our customers' individual needs. When requested,
each customization project is thoroughly analyzed to ensure that
modified functions and processes conform to the business practices
you already have in place.
Q: Why would I need to
customize?
A: Our experience has shown that there is almost
always a certain level of customization necessary to fully integrate
into a customer's existing business infrastructure. Most of our
customers have had customization done to allow SmartBorder to
communicate seamlessly with their accounting or freight systems.
The goal is to have SmartBorder fit into your business model rather
than you being forced to compromise efficiency or adapt your
business practices. Customization programming is done on an hourly
rate and a full project estimate is always agreed upon before any
work is done.
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Q: Is SmartBorder more focused on northern
border transactions vs. air/sea clearances?
A: Our ABI
application was designed to support all points of entry and methods
of transportation. In fact, about 90% of the brokers currently using
SmartBorder are air/sea brokers.
Q: What size of brokers
use SmartBorder?
A: All sizes. SmartBorder is extremely
popular with smaller, new brokers but it is also used by some of the
country's largest brokers - processing over 25,000 entries per
month.
Q: What happens if there's a disruption in service
such as an equipment or internet failure? Will I lose
data?
A: SmartBorder maintains a multi-million dollar
infrastructure that includes best practices in redundancy and
security. We back up all data every 15 minutes and have spare machines in place and ready to replace any hardware that fails.
We also have an entire "copy" of the SmartBorder application on servers
at another location in case of a disaster. Because of the
"cooperative' or "shared" nature of our platform, we are able to
leverage the buying power of all of our clients to build a very
stable infrastructure that any individual broker or carrier could
never afford. Some of the other companies using the same
infrastructure include Google, Yahoo, General Electric, Merrill
Lynch and AOL. We're proud to say we've achieved 99.999% uptime over
the past five years. Review our technology page to read more about SmartBorder's redundancy and
security measures.
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Q: Can I have daily backups of my files
sent to my office?
A: Yes. There are several options but the
most common is through an FTP account. Our standard format is XML,
but other formats can be accommodated. You are also free to PDF all
your documents and save them to disk if you wish.
Q: Who
will have access to my data?
A: In your company, only
employees with your log-in password can access your files and data.
SmartBorder's technical staff can access your data but would only do
so for custom programming or technical support. South Ranch's parent
company and business partners are legally and ethically forbidden
from viewing any data relating to your business in any
form.
Q: Will I outgrow SmartBorder's
capabilities?
A: Right now, we have some of the nation's
largest carriers streaming thousands of transactions a day through
our system - and our existing infrastructure has the capacity to
handle many times that. Beyond that, we can scale our systems
outward to handle an almost limitless supply of transactions. Here's
hoping you grow large enough to challenge our
capacity!
Still have a question? Ask us how SmartBorder
can specifically help your business and request a live demo by
calling 1-800-572-2734 or e-mail us.