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E-MORRIS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
About E-MORRIS
Access and User Profile
Networx Inventory Management (NIM)
Billing Reports
Agency Billing / IPAC Process
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About E-MORRIS
Enhanced Monthly Online Records and Reports of Information-Technology Services (E-MORRIS) is GSA's web portal that provides Government Agency users with inventory and billing reports/data for services ordered under the Networx contracts. E-MORRIS is for Networx only. FTS2001/Crossover data will still be in MORRIS.
2. How is E-MORRIS different from MORRIS?
E-MORRIS is for Networx data. MORRIS is for FTS2001/Crossover data. E-MORRIS billing reports are similar to MORRIS billing reports, but include additional services offered under Networx, and additional functionality such as custom queries. E-MORRIS includes inventory management data that allows you to track your Networx inventory from start to finish. MORRIS Transition Baseline Inventory allows you to view your FTS2001/Crossover inventory, but it wasn’t added until late in those contracts. The E-MORRIS user interface has been improved for ease-of-use and navigational flexibility. For example, in E-MORRIS you can access reports from links at the top or side of the page, and query those reports across Networx contracts, vendors and/or services, as applicable. MORRIS requires separate queries for contract, vendor and/or service, depending on the report.
3. Does E-MORRIS provide Direct Billed data?
Yes. E-MORRIS provides the same reports for central and direct billing, except for GSA Adjustments and GSA Disputes (which are applicable to central billing only).
4. Where can I find more information about E-MORRIS?
Training overview slides are available by clicking on the User Guide link from the E-MORRIS home page. You can view these even if you don’t have an account yet. Once you have an account, you’ll find detailed user guides under the User Guide link.
5. Is there a glossary of E-MORRIS terms?
The user guides have file layouts that include field definitions. You can also access a glossary of Networx terms by clicking on the link to the Networx Unit Pricer, from the GSA Info box on the E-MORRIS home page.
6. How can I make the font bigger on the E-MORRIS screens?
In either Internet Explorer (IE) or Mozilla Firefox, you may be able to place your cursor in a web screen and click the CRTL and plus (+) keys (simultaneously) on your keyboard to make the font bigger. The CTRL and minus (-) keys make the font smaller.
If that doesn’t work, in IE, select Tools/Internet Options from the menu bar. In the General tab, click the Accessibility button. Check the box to “Ignore font styles specified on web pages” and click OK. After that, you can select View/Text Size from the menu bar to change the size further if you need to.
Or, in Firefox, select View/Zoom from the menu bar.
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Access and User Profile
7. Who can get access to E-MORRIS?
Access is determined by your Agency DAR Administrator and restricted by Agency Hierarchy Code (AHC). In order to ensure that only authorized access is granted, no accounts will be created for your agency until GSA has a copy of the DAR Administrator letter. (For more information on the DAR Administrator letter, please click on the GSA Networx link to get to the GSA Networx website. From there, click on the Networx Document Library link, and then the DAR Guidelines link.)
8. I have a MORRIS account. Do I still need to request an E-MORRIS account?
Yes, you will need to request an E-MORRIS account. Access to MORRIS and other GSA systems is separate.
9. How do I sign up for an E-MORRIS account?
Click on the "Register Now" button on the E-MORRIS home page and complete the form as requested. If you are an Agency DAR Administrator, GSA will create the account. If you are not an Agency DAR Administrator, your request will go to your DAR Administrator for approval before your account is created.
10. What is an Agency Hierarchy Code (AHC)? How does it relate to the Agency Bureau (AB) Code?
The Agency Hierarchy Code designates the agency to which services are to be invoiced and the level within the agency where the costs are grouped. The first four characters are the Agency Bureau (AB) Code. Of those characters, the first two are the Agency Code assigned by the Department of Treasury to identify a department or agency. The next two are the Bureau Code assigned by GSA to identify a bureau or other subdivision within a department or agency. The remaining 24 characters are defined by the agency. E-MORRIS access is restricted by at least 2 characters (the Agency level), but may be restricted by up to 28 characters, depending on your Agency DAR Administrator.
11. Do I need to enter all 28 characters of the AHC when I request an account?
No! Please enter the highest level for which you need access. You don’t need to use wild cards when requesting AHC access. For example, if you need access to all AHCs that start with TE01, please enter TE01. If you need access to all AHCs that start with TE01ABCD, please enter TE01ABCD. If you request TE01000000000000000000000000, you’re actually requesting that single AHC only. (You have that option, of course, but if you want everything that starts with TE01, please enter just TE01.)
12. Can I request multiple AHCs?
Yes. When entering multiple AHCs, please enter them on a separate line, or separate them by a semicolon (e.g., TE01;TE03). If you enter a high level AHC (see question #11), you don’t need to enter multiple levels below it. For example, if you enter TE01, you don’t need to enter TE01ABCD or TE01EFGH. However, if you want to request specific lower-level AHCs instead of everything at a higher level, you can do that.
13. What is an Agency DAR Administrator?
A Designated Agency Representative (DAR) is an employee of a Government Agency who has been authorized by the agency to initiate and track Networx orders. An Agency DAR Administrator is an employee of an agency who compiles, tracks and maintains a listing of all DARs specific to that agency, including the AHCs against which they can order.
14. Do I have to be a DAR or DAR Administrator to get access to E-MORRIS?
No. The Agency DAR Administrator can approve access for anyone in the agency, for the Agency Hierarchy Codes specified in the DAR Administrator letter. E-MORRIS allows agency users to view, print and/or download inventory or billing records related to Networx orders, not to place orders or make any changes to the data.
15. Can I request accounts for multiple users?
Yes, if you are an Agency DAR Administrator. Click on the "Contact Us" link under "E-MORRIS Info" to the left of the home page. From there, you can download a "Register Multiple Users" form. Complete the form and email it to fasbilling.help@gsa.gov (per the instructions on the form). GSA will create the requested accounts.
16. Can I create accounts for other users in my agency without going through GSA?
If you are an Agency DAR Administrator and GSA has created your E-MORRIS account, you will have access to web screens that allow you to create and edit accounts for other users in your agency, within the restrictions of your own account. For example, if you have access to AHC “TE01” you can provide access to “TE01” or “TE01abcd” (as low as 28 characters), but you can't provide access to “TE02”. You can also restrict access by Networx vendor, contract (Universal or Enterprise), and/or module (Billing or Inventory).
17. As an Agency DAR Administrator, do I need to have an E-MORRIS account in order to approve access for other users in my agency?
No. If you don't want an E-MORRIS account, you can approve access via email. A GSA account manager will forward the request information to you, and you can approve or deny the account as stated in your response to that email.
You can also use the multi-user registration form (see question #15).
18. As an Agency DAR Administrator, can I assign someone to manage accounts for me?
Yes. Once your "assistant account manager" has an E-MORRIS account, per your request, we can upgrade that account to include Manage Users functionality. To upgrade an account, please send an email to fasbilling.help@gsa.gov with the following information:
"As Agency DAR Administrator for <Department or Agency>, I authorize the following person(s) to have account manager access in E-MORRIS. This will allow them to manage view-only E-MORRIS accounts for other users within the agency or sub-agency, as specified by the AHC(s) listed.
Name:
Email:
Phone:
Agency:
Authorized AHC(s):
<list additional account managers as approved>
This authorization is for E-MORRIS access only, and does not imply the ability to place Networx orders."
19. What can I do if I forget my E-MORRIS password?
Click on the "Reset Password" button on the E-MORRIS home page and enter your email address as requested. You will get a system email from fasbilling.help@gsa.gov with a new one-time-use password. You will be required to change this password upon your next log-in to E-MORRIS.
20. I've requested and received a new temporary password. Why am I still getting "invalid log in credentials"?
If you get an "invalid log in credentials" message, please make sure you're using the correct User ID. For E-MORRIS, it is your internet email address.
If that doesn't work, you can try clearing your temporary internet files.
In Internet Explorer, select Tools/Internet Options from the menu bar. Then select the General tab. Depending on your browser version, you should see an option to delete temporary files, history, cookies, saved passwords and/or web form information. Select at least temporary files and cookies, and click the Delete button.
Or, in Mozilla Firefox, select Tools/Clear Private Data from the menu bar. Select at least cache and cookies, and click the Clear Private Data Now button.
Close and reopen your web browser.
If you still can't log in after that, please contact the FAS Billing Help Desk (fasbilling.help@gsa.gov or 1-877-944-8677) for assistance.
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Networx Inventory Management (NIM)
21. How often is Networx Inventory Management (NIM) updated?
NIM is based on the vendor Service Order Completion Notices (SOCNs). SOCNs are due to GSA and the agency within a day of when the ordered service is installed. NIM is updated as vendor SOCN files are received by GSA (could be daily on business days).
22. Can I view archived inventory?
Yes. Click on the Browse Inventory History link to view your archived inventory. Records are moved to history as a result of change order or disconnect SOCNs. For change order SOCNs, the old record moves to history when a change order SOCN is received to replace it. For disconnects, the record remains in active inventory for 90 days for billing verification purposes, and then moves to history.
23. Can I customize NIM queries?
Yes. Each NIM report has a custom icon (next to the print and download icons). This functionality allows you to hide or display fields, set data filters, set sort order, break data into subheaders or columns, highlight cells or rows for specified conditions and save your changes in a new report. You can also download the data. In order to prevent your AHCs and possibly other data from converting to scientific notation in Excel, you will need to select the .CSV format, and change the file extension to .TXT when saving the file. We will expand the custom reporting capabilities in future web releases.
24. Can I update my inventory via E-MORRIS?
No. The data is view only. The only way to update Networx inventory is via vendor SOCN.
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Billing Reports
25. Where can I find transition credits on my E-MORRIS billing reports?
For centralized billing, the transition credits will be on the GSA Adjustment report. Transition Credit records will have “TCR” at the beginning of the adjustment reason. The transition credits will be summarized with the other GSA Adjustments on the MSOA and Service Summary.
For direct billing, the transition credits do not appear on E-MORRIS reports. They can be found in reports on the Transition Information Portal (TIP) website. The TIP website also has additional reports for central-billed transition credits.
26. Why don’t I see all my AHCs in the AHC drop-down list (for billing reports)?
There could be 4 possible reasons for this.
- The AHC hasn’t billed yet. An AHC will not appear in the AHC selector list until it has associated billing.
- You’ve limited your other query selections. AHCs appear in the drop-down list depending on your other query selections. For example, if you choose Jun08 as the Bill Period, only the AHCs that have billing for that month will appear in the AHC list.
- You have more than 500 AHCs. If you have more than 500 AHCs, you need to change your AHC selector (or use the “Begins With” option in the standard drop down list). There are 3 selectors to choose from:
a) Standard drop-down – system default, good for up to 500 AHCs
b) Pop-up list – good for up to 2,000 AHCs
c) Pop-up list drill-down – good for any number of AHCs
To change your AHC selector, please follow these steps:
a) Click on the My Account link at the top of any billing report page.
b) Click on the Change My Preferences link in the Tasks box.
c) Click on the down arrow next to the AHC Selector Type box and select an option.
d) Click the Save button.
e) When you return to the billing reports, you will see your new selector type.
Please see the Training Overview document or the Agency Billing Report User Guide for more information.
- Your access permissions aren’t set at the level you’re expecting. In E-MORRIS, AHC access can be assigned from 2 to 28 characters, depending on your Agency and what your DAR Administrator approves for you. The more characters you requested (and had approved), the more restricted your access. Say for example that your Agency has these AHCs: TE01ABCD12340000000000000000, TE01ABCD56780000000000000000 and TE01EFGH12340000000000000000. If your access was set for TE01000000000000000000000000, you wouldn’t see any of those AHCs. You would need to have your access changed to TE01 in order to see all AHCs that start with TE01. If you suspect your account access needs to be changed, please contact the FAS Billing Help Desk at fasbilling.help@gsa.gov. We will need to request approval from your DAR Administrator for any AHC change.
27. Does E-MORRIS summarize AHCs for billing reports?
Yes. In E-MORRIS standard billing reports, you can query at a detail level, bill level or summary level AHC. A detail level is the lowest level AHC. It represents the AHC that appeared on the vendor’s detail file and could be central or direct. A bill level represents the AHC for which you’ve established a BOAC for GSA central billing. A summary level is generated by E-MORRIS for reporting purposes. Depending on your AHC structure and level of access, you will see summary level AHCs at the following positions: 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24. In order to have a summary level, there must be at least two applicable detail AHCs. For example, TE01ABCD00000000000000000000 and TE01EFGH00000000000000000000 would summarize to TE01000000000000000000000000, but TE03ABCD00000000000000000000 alone would not summarize to TE0300000000000000000000000. You can also query for “All” AHCs to which you have access.
28. Does E-MORRIS have Year to Date reports?
Yes. In the Bill Period selector, you can choose a YTD year (e.g., YTD 2010) or a specific month (e.g., May 2010). The YTD options are by Fiscal Year (e.g., Oct 1, 2009 – Sep 30, 2010) to the latest month available for that FY.
29. Does E-MORRIS provide summary and individual vendor statements, like MORRIS?
Yes, and E-MORRIS expands the concept. For the MSOA and Service Summary reports, you will see “Break On” options in the Select Report Criteria box. The possible Break On values are Bill Month, Contract, Vendor and Central/Direct. Provided you have applicable data, and query for multiple values, the Break on option breaks the report into multiple tabs, including a summary tab. For example, if you select a YTD option for Bill Period, and Break on Bill Month, you will see a summary tab, and a tab for each month that has data in the selected fiscal year. You can then navigate through the tabs to see your billing for specific months. The print-friendly option prints all the tabs. The other Break On options work the same way, with tabs for each vendor, each contract (Universal and Enterprise) or each bill type (central and direct).
30. Is there a quick way I can see charges for all my AHCs, instead of running multiple MSOAs?
Yes. You can run the Charges by Service Report at the summary or bill level of your choice. The Charges by Service report shows charges for each service, for all the detail level AHCs under the bill or summary level that you select.
31. Can I customize billing queries?
Yes. Each billing report has a custom icon (next to the print and download icons). This functionality allows you to hide or display fields, set data filters, set sort order, break data into subheaders or columns, highlight cells or rows for specified conditions, perform calculations and save your changes in a new report. You can also download the data. In order to prevent your AHCs and possibly other data from converting to scientific notation in Excel, you will need to select the .CSV format, and change the file extension to .TXT when saving the file. We will expand the custom reporting capabilities in future web releases.
32. What does the Bill Period represent?
The bill period represents the usage month. For Networx, this is defined as the first through the last day of the month for the service.
33. When is the data for a specific bill period available on E-MORRIS?
The E-MORRIS billing cycle is the same as that for MORRIS. Per the contract, the vendor has until the 15th business day of the month following the bill period (the invoice month) to send the data to GSA – usually about the 21st or 22nd. GSA then processes the data from all vendors and posts it to the web no later than the 15th day of the next month. So, for example, the Jun08 usage/bill period would make up the July invoice, which would be sent to us by July 21st or 22nd. That data would be processed and posted to E-MORRIS between August 10th and 15th. Your IPAC billing would be between August 22nd and 28th.
34. Where can I find Circuit IDs?
The Circuit ID field is included in the download option for the CLIN Detail report. The CLIN Detail download includes all the Government-required fields in the Detail Billing File (contract reference J.12.4.2). You can also see Circuit ID in the custom option for the CLIN Detail report.
35. Does E-MORRIS include call detail?
No. Like MORRIS, E-MORRIS doesn’t provide call detail. However, the E-MORRIS Call Detail Summary report summarizes call detail by phone or card number.
36. What is the rate for Universal Service Fund (USF) charges?
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Agency Billing / IPAC Process
37. How can I switch from direct to central billing, or vice versa?
To switch from central to direct billing, please notify your Networx vendor. To switch from direct to central billing, please notify your Networx vendor and GSA.
For central billing, you need to designate one or more Agency Hierarchy Codes (AHC) for GSA to use as billing level AHCs. Each billing level AHC needs to have an associated Billed Office Address Code (BOAC). For IPAC Billing (automatic transfer of funds from agency to GSA, via Treasury system), each billing level AHC needs to also have an Agency Location Code (ALC).
To establish a BOAC (Billed Office Address Code), please send an email to fasbilling.help@gsa.gov with the following information:
· Point of Contact (Name, Phone, Email)
· Name of Agency
· Agency Hierarchy Code (AHC)
· Billing Address
· Agency Location Code (if you want IPAC billing)
38. How can I change my LOAs (for central billing)?
E-MORRIS has a Line of Accounting (LOA) page. You can get to this page by clicking on the Update LOA link under the Billing Reports tab. The LOA is an optional Agency-defined field that appears on E-MORRIS reports and IPAC / non- IPAC statements for central billing, and may be helpful for tracking and monitoring against your Agency's approved budgetary resources. The Update LOA page allows you to view and/or download LOA information. All Agency billing report users have view access.
Some users, as approved by the Agency DAR Administrator, will have access to edit LOAs. If you need edit access to the LOA Update page, please send an email to fasbilling.help@gsa.gov requesting Edit LOA access. Include your Name, Email and Phone Number. If you are not an Agency DAR Administrator, we will forward it to your Agency DAR Administrator for approval before updating your account.
Changes to LOAs take effect with the next billing cycle after your edits are entered.
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