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Reference No 463
Pathway Response
1. Service Principles
Pathway will supply all the Office Platform Service equipment
which is required for testing, acceptance and training for
those POCL Services which are provided by Pathway under this
Contract. The charges for such equipment are included in the
Service prices. If additional Office Platform Service equipment
is required by POCL for other purposes, including for example
the testing of Services or systems that are not supplied by
Pathway, then Pathway shall supply such equipment under the
normal commercial terms and prices which are prevailing at the
time.
It should be noted that title to all equipment which is
provided as a part of the contracted POCL Services remains with
Pathway and the equipment will be reassigned to operational use
by Pathway when it is no longer needed for testing.
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The following paragraphs provide further details of this
“service principle” as it applies to the examples raised by
POCL.
20 Acceptance Testing:
Pathway will supply the Office Platform Service equipment that
is reasonably required to test and accept new Office Platform
Services provided that it is:
a) required in support of the POCL Services provided
exclusively by Pathway and
b) required to satisfy the Acceptance Criteria
3. Destructive Testing:
Upon request by POCL, Pathway will supply sample units of the
Office Platform Service Equipment for destructive testing. The
first sample of each generic type of unit will be provided at
no charge to POCL and any subsequent units will be supplied at
normal commercial prices.
4, Other Testing by POCL:
POCL may require additional Office Platform Service equipment
to support in-house testing or for testing third party
applications, systems or services. Pathway will provide such
Equipment under normal commercial terms and prices.
5. Training:
ICL Pathway will carry out classroom training only. ICL Pathway
will provide the equipment for class room training as part of
national Rollout.
If additional equipment is required by POCL or third parties to
support training which is not undertaken by ICL Pathway then
such equipment will be supplied on normal commercial terms and
prices.
6. Demonstration & Marketing:
Pathway will provide Office Platform Service equipment which is
required to demonstrate and market new Office Platform
Services to clients and prospective clients. The equipment that
is required will be set out in marketing plans which are agreed
jointly between POCL and Pathway.
Pathway Comment
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Nil
Reference No 464
Pathway Response
It is agreed that Services which utilise the OPS and TMS may
only be provided subject to the express agreement of POCL.
Pathway Comment
Nil
Reference No 465
Pathway Response
ds Equipment Livery
Pathway will agree with POCL the standards for equipment livery
to be used within OPS. These standards will reflect the POCL
Style Guide for Post Offices and will be used as the basis for
all equipment installed in all outlets which provide the OPS.
2. Equipment Appearance
The effort required to maintain the OPS equipment will be
minimal and capable of being undertaken by the local post
office staff. It will be comparable to the cleaning required of
any desk-based office computer system and will typically
consist of occasional dusting and screen cleaning. ~
3. Cleaning Materials
Pathway proposes that any cleaning materials that are required
shall be supplied in the same way as for other Consumables.
Pathway Comment
In order to take account of the costs of the livery within the
Tender we shall need early access to the POCL Style Guide for
Post Offices. Pathway anticipates that one aspect of the
standards for equipment livery will be the colour of equipment
casings. Whilst this presents no problems in principle the
earliest definition of the preferred choice will be important
in order that equipment lead times are not affected. Pathway
would wish to supply standard colour equipment into the
Operational Trial phase should post office livery equipment not
be available at that time.
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Reference No 466
Pathway Response
Pathway’s solution is as set in Schedule B04.
Pathway Comment
Nil
Reference No 467
Pathway Response
1. Connection of OPS to TMS
The Pathway solution for OPS is based on a PC configuration at
every counter. Each counter configuration is linked to a
Local Area Network within the post office. Each post office
configuration is linked to TMS over an ISDN Wide Area Network.
This connection supports the transfer of authorised data files
and messages in both directions.
2. Data Transfer
The Pathway solution for TMS uses data replication and
synchronisation techniques to ensure that data transfer between
post office counter positions within OPS and between instances
of OPS and the TMS are secure, complete, accurate and robust. ~
In addition techniques including Cyclic Redundancy Checks,
Digital Signatures and Encryption are used to ensure data
integrity.
2.1 Secure Data Transfer
Once a transaction has been settled at a counter position the
full transaction details are committed to that users journal.
These details are automatically replicated to all other PC’s in
the post office to ensure that the data has been securely
captured. In addition these transaction details are
automatically replicated to a remote server within TMS. Data
and message transfer may originate from an individual counter
PC (e.g. a bill payment) and be replicated to TMS or from a
POCL Client system (e.g. APS Host) which then uses TMS to
distribute data to OPS.
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The OPS PCs and TMS servers are known as nodes which are
logically grouped into a number of work groups.
All messages from a single node are generated in a strict
numbered sequence and with a unique node identification. Any
attempt to introduce a fraudulent message will be detected and
rejected.
This approach is resilient to either network or node failure
since a TMS node and an OPS node will be always aware of each
others state. When the failure condition is resolved the nodes
will automatically synchronise and complete any data or message
transfers that are required to ensure both nodes are in a
consistent state.
2.2 Data Integrity
Three techniques are used to ensure data integrity within the
OPS and as part of data/message transfer between OPS and TMS.
These are CRCs used for all node journal messages, DSA based
Digital Signatures used for all data where assurance of content
and source are required and Data Encryption used selectively on
certain data fields.
All messages have a CRC applied when they are initially
committed to the journal and this is checked every time the
message is accessed. This protects against accidental
corruption and casual tampering. Any failure of a CRC check
will cause the message to be rejected and retrieved from an
alternate node.
When authentication of the origin of data is important, a
digital signature is applied to the data prior to transmission
and then checked upon receipt. A CRC is generated for the data
contents, then one-way encrypted and the result encrypted using
a DSA private key. Upon receipt the CRC is recovered using the
public DSA key and compared with the newly encrypted checksum
from the received data. If the results match then the data
content and its origin are assured.
Data encryption may be used selectively to protect the values
of certain data items.
Thus any attempt to alter the data will be automatically
detected and logged for subsequent investigation.
3. Status of TMS data collection
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The Pathway solution for TMS and OPS automatically replicates
in the TMS all of the transaction data which is created using
the OPS. The data is then available for processing by the
relevant client system which may include Pathway, POCL or POCL
client systems.
The replication period between OPS and TMS is configurable and
will be defined according to the urgency of the transaction
data. Data replication will also take advantage of connections
that are established between TMS and OPS for other purposes.
E.g. An OBCS transaction etc.
This process runs automatically throughout the day and is
optimised to take advantage of any connections that TMS might
make to OPS. The exact status of transactions from one moment
to the next may be different. Consequently a report
identifying the status of transaction data is felt to have
little business value.
Pathway believes that the key requirement is to ensure that
end-of-day procedures provide TMS with data in a known state
at each post office and enable Client processing to proceed on
a consistent dataset.
The Pathway solution for EPOS will initiate a connection to
replicate the final end-of-day balances and this process will
also enable the replication of any outstanding transactions
that have not previously been sent to TMS.
Pathway Comment
Nil
Reference No 468
Pathway Response
Pathway'’s solution draws upon the experience gained by
delivering field services to Camelot’s National Lottery
terminals which are often sited in locations where space is
very limited.
The hardware platform and associated peripherals have been
chosen with minimum maintenance in mind. All faults will be
diagnosed with the aid of expert systems by the Horizon System
Helpdesk and it is anticipated that fewer than 25% of calls
will require a visit by a field engineer to replace an
unserviceable component. It is our experience that the majority
of visits will be completed within 20 minutes of arrival. If
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the maintenance or repair operation is predicted to take longer
than 20 minutes then Pathway will replace a whole unit or
module to minimise disruption at the counter.
Optionally, a postmaster may elect to defer a visit to a time
which he believes is more convenient for himself and his
customers. For example, in a larger crown office, if a fault
occurred at the busiest time of day and the postmaster
preferred that the engineer arrived later, or even on a
different day, then he could request a deferred visit. In these
circumstances, the request for service would be diagnosed fully
but then suspended until the preferred appointment time.
Clearly the time in suspension will not count towards down-time
for the purposes of service measurement and performance
targets.
Pathway Comment
Nil
Reference No 469
Pathway Response
1. General
The OPS is provided by a suite of software procedures which are
invoked by an Application Programming Interface, and a set of
counter applications which perform specific business functions.
These are all run on a hardware infrastructure provided at each
post office counter.
Pathway will provide the following OPS technical documentation.
2. The OPS Architecture Document
A document which describes the overall systems architecture of
Pathway’s solution and the functionality of the various sub-
systems which comprise the suite of software. This includes a
description of the Counter Applications Architecture which
describes how counter applications utilise the OPS.
3. The OPS API Document
A document which describes the full set of API’s provided by
the OPS. Some of these are used by the counter applications.
4. The Counter Hardware Specification Document
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AR document which provides a technical specification of the
equipment provided in a post office as part of the OPS.
5. Change Control
It is important that the Contractor exercises his own
management control over the technical design of the PpocL
Services so that the operational effectiveness and efficiency
of the POCL Services can be maintained and improved through
time. All changes to the documentation will be passed to POCL
for their agreement however Pathway believes that the final
design authority for technical documentation and changes to
them must reside with the Contractor. Pathway is prepared to
discuss particular essential properties of the technical design
which POCL believe must be preserved through changes to the
documentation if this is considered helpful.
Pathway Comment
The requirement only identifies the need for technical
documentation, it does not directly address the related
implications of developing and using third party applications
or hardware on the Contractor's service platform. The
Contractor must ensure that the technical and operational
integrity of the OPS is not compromised by third party
applications or hardware. It will therefore be necessary for
any third party applications or hardware to be verified and
approved by Pathway before installation or connection to the
OPS. In addition to the provision of the technical
documentation, Pathway will support the procurement of third
party Applications or Hardware by offering a design,
Integration, Test and Approval Service. The operational
implications of third party applications and hardware must also
be considered since they will utilise resource capacity of the
OPS and perhaps other related POCL Services. Implementation
and ongoing service management for third party hardware and
applications may be required from the Contractor in many cases.
Pathway is prepared to offer commercially attractive services
to meet all of these requirements.
Reference No 470
Pathway Response
es Technical Documentation
The TMS is provided by a suite of software procedures which
enable counter applications and Client systems to securely
communicate and exchange data in support of a specific set of
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business functions. Counter applications invoke the TMS through
the TMS applications Programming Interface. Client systems
invoke the TMS functionalizy through Agent software.
Pathway will provide the following TMS technical documentation.
2. The TMS Architecture Document
A document which describes the overall systems architecture of
TMS and the functionality of its various software sub-systems
This includes a description of the Agents which describes how
Client systems utilise the TMS.
3. The TMS API Document
A document which describes the full set of API’s provided by
TMS. Some of these are used by the Client Agents in support of
Client systems.
4. The TMS Hardware Specification
A document which provides a technical specification of the
equipment provided in data centres in support of TMS.
5. Change Control
It is important that the Contractor exercises his own
management control over the technical design of the POCL
Services so that the operational effectiveness and efficiency
of the POCL Services can be maintained and improved through
time. All changes to the documentation will be passed to POCL
for their agreement however Pathway believes that the final
design authority for technical documentation and changes to
them must reside with the Contractor. Pathway is prepared to
discuss particular essential properties of the technical design
which POCL believe must be preserved through changes to the
documentation if this is considered helpful.
Pathway Comment
The requirement only identifies the need for technical
documentation, it does not directly address the related
implications of developing and using third party applications
which utilise the TMS. The Contractor must ensure that the
technical and operational integrity of the POCL Service is not
compromised by third party applications. It will therefore be
necessary for any third party applications to be verified and
approved by Pathway before connection to the TMS. In addition
to the provision of documentation, Pathway will support such
connections by offering a Design, Integration, Test and
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Approval Service. The operational implications of third party
applications must also be considered since they will utilise
resource capacity of the TMS and perhaps other related POCL
Services. Implementation and ongoing service management for
third party applications may be required from the Contractor in
many cases. Pathway is prepared to offer commercially
attractive services to meet all of these requirements.
Reference No 471
Pathway Response
1. Broadcast facilities
Pathway will provide a Broadcast facility which will enable
short messages to be sent to all or a subset of outlets from a
central location. The message will be input into an
application running on the central TMS servers and will be
replicated to post offices as required. At the local post
office each counter position can access these messages and
selectively open and view the message. Once a User has read a
message this fact is recorded in the journal.
The user will be prompted that a message is outstanding by an
indicator on the top of their screen. On selecting the Office
Message icon the user will be presented with a list of messages
with an indicator showing their status (read or unread). The
message can be printed as required.
Pathway will need to agree with POCL the precise mechanisms for
enabling messages to be input into the TMS application and on
the method of grouping PO outlets in order to optimise outlet
selection.
2. Access to electronic information
Subject to the comment below, Pathway is able to provide an
electronic information facility so that counter staff using the
OPS are able to gain access to information in support of
counter transactions and for general education and information.
Such information may comprise or be derived from sources
including Counter News, Regional Bulletins or Operations
Manuals.
Pathway will provide a facility which will enable these and
other documents to be distributed to outlets and viewed
locally. The documents would need to be supplied to Pathway in
an agreed format (e.g. HTML). These would be distributed
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together with an updated index using Riposte. Access to these
documents would be via an appropriate HTML viewer operating
within the users Riposte desktop.
Pathway will agree with POCL or other Clients the retention
periods for these documents.
Pathway will agree a charging structure for this service which
is expected to be based on file size and incidence of
distribution.
Pathway Comment
Pathway believes that the second part of the requirement
(paragraph 2 above) is complex both for the Contractor and for
POCL who would need to originate the information of electronic
access. It is pointed out that for contingency & fallback
purposes the service documentation must be provided in paper
format anyway and thus two sets of information need to be
maintained incurring additional costs. Pathway would like
further discussions with POCL regarding the business needs. At
present Pathway does not believe the facility is cost
effective.
Reference No 472
Pathway Response
1. Introduction
Pathway’s solution for the OPS is based on a set of counter
applications running on processors at every counter position.
The counter applications all operate under Riposte, a suite of
software which provides mechanisms for ensuring data security
and integrity within the OPS and across the network to TMS. In
addition Riposte ensures this distributed architecture is fully
resilient by replication of data across the OPS and TMS
together with effective algorithms for synchronisation whenever
the replicates are out of step.
2. Accurate and Robust Data Capture
The design of the counter applications and the menu structures
have been designed to minimise data input and to ensure that
only valid and accurate data is captured at the relevant point
within a counter transaction.
The counter applications will be invoked by an event driven
process wherever possible. This will typically be a card
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swipe, a bar code read or optionally a single touch on touch
screen panel. The data associated with these actions will be
captured automatically. Some transactions will require no
further data input and the transaction will be completed by
invoking a Receipt (where required) and the Settle function.
Supporting data may be required for some transactions
including quantity, value or transaction specific details such
as account number. Check-digits will be used where this used
by a particular client transaction.
A running total showing quantity and value of each transaction
is visible on the screen, and any errors can be reversed where
the transaction type allows.
3. Integrity and Security of Data
Once a transaction has been settled the full transaction
details are committed to that users journal and Riposte then
replicates these details to all other PC’s in the post office.
In addition the transaction details are replicated to a remote
server within TMS. These PC’s and servers are known as nodes
which form a Riposte workgroup.
All messages from a single Riposte node are generated in strict
sequence and with a unique node identification. The
introduction of an additional stream of messages will be
detected by Riposte and rejected.
Three techniques are used by Riposte to ensure data integrity.
These are CRCs (Character Redundancy Checks) used for all
Riposte journa] messages, DSA based Digital Signatures used
for all data where assurance of content and source are required
(i.e. AP records) and Data Encryption used selectively on
certain data fields.
All messages in Riposte have a CRC applied when they are
initially committed to the journal and this is checked every
time the message is accessed. This protects against accidental
corruption and casual tampering. Any failure of a CRC check
will cause the message to be rejected and retrieved from an
alternate node.
When authentication of the origin of data is important (i.e.
for AP records), a digital signature is applied to the data
prior to transmission and then checked upon receipt. A CRC is
generated for the data contents, then one-way encrypted and the
result encrypted using an DSA private key. Upon receipt the
checksum is recovered using the public DSA key and compared
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with the newly encrypted checksum from the received data. If
the results match then the data content and its origin are
assured.
Data encryption mechanisms are available and will be used
selectively to protect the values of certain data.
Reference is also made to Pathway’s responses to Risk 65 and
supplementary questions (PWAY065 to PWAYO65c inclusive) which
concern security of data from OPS to TMS, and the Security
Functional Specification.
4, Audit trail
All data captured at a post office counter either as part of a
counter transaction or as an administration function (user
log-on, teller balance) will form part of a unique transaction
which is given a unique reference number by Riposte. The format
of this journal entry will vary according to the transaction
type but will typically contain :-
Post Office ID
Counter Position ID
Unique Transaction ID
Date
Time
User ID
Application
Transaction Details
Each counter PC contains a journal and all journal entries are
automatically replicated to all other members of the workgroup.
This will include all the counter PC’s in the post office and
one of the remote Servers (known as Correspondence Servers)
that form part of the TMS. This Correspondence Server will in
turn replicate all its transactions to two other Correspondence
Servers located on different sites.
Once data is stored in the journal it is never altered. New
transactions are always appended to the journal. Retrieval of
data using a particular key field will retrieve all entries
containing that field and logically determine the overall state
of the transaction data.
A complete audit trail of all transactions and _ other
significant events is maintained within the post office systems
and is automatically available for analysis by both audit
access facilities and value added services which are linked to
TMS.
5. Data Security and Integrity following failure
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The Pathway solution for OPS ensures that data security and
integrity is maintained in the event of failures of the OPS.
Riposte provides synchronisation facilities which will
automatically check the status of the journal for a node when
it is re-established following failure. Should the journal be
out of step (e.g. through failure of the counter PC) Riposte
will automatically synchronise the journal and any data files
to the same state as all other journals in that workgroup.
Synchronisation may occur from another counter PC {in a multi-~-
counter office) or from one of the Correspondence Servers (ina
single counter post office).
The data security features described above are not affected by
this process and no user intervention is required to effect
synchronisation.
Pathway Comment
Nil
Reference No 473
Pathway Response
1. Remote Access to OPS
Users may only log-on to the OPS in their local post office.
Any access to data or services outside of the local post office
is controlled exclusively by the relevant counter application.
2. User Access to OPS
Authentication of all users logging on to the OPS in the post
office is undertaken by the OPS operating system. Full access
control and password management facilities are provided. The
OPS uses this information to ensure that only authorised staff
are allowed access to applications, and then only to those
applications for which they have permission. Each user is
identified by a unique password. The procedure for logging-on
to the OPS is described in the Counter Operations Procedures
manual.
In order that a specific role for POCL Auditors can be created
Pathway will need to understand the specific functions that are
required to be associated with this role and where these are
different from the Post master. The normal user hierarchy
would place the Postmaster as the most privileged user with a
series of roles and lesser permission levels subservient to
this.
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If specific functions are required for Audit that are not
available to the Post master, then the Audit user would require
an inaependent method of setting the password. In this
situation the approach outlined below for lost password and
linked to the Audit user would be used.
Bi Restricted Functionality
Agreement will be required on the POCL Services (e.g. AP etc.)
that are to be provided at an outlet. Where it is known that a
POCL Service will never be required in an outlet, then the
counter applications reference data will not include that POCL
Service. Where an existing POCL Service might be required in
particular outlets in the future, access to the applications
will be disabled from the user desktop by means of reference
data.
In addition it will be possible to restrict certain transaction
types in an outlet (e.g. no MVL sales). This will be achieved
by disabling the appropriate entry within the desktop through
reference data.
Pathway understand that service or functionality provision /
non-provision is determined at the outlet level, and is not
directly related to User Access.
4. Lost Password
The OPS will provide facilities to enable the Postmaster to
establish new users and set an initial password for all users
in his/her post office. Should a user forget their password
the Postmaster can reset the password. The same procedure
applies at single counter position post offices and multiple
counter position post offices.
For situations where the sole user (e.g. Postmaster in a
single counter office) has lost his password, the OPS will
provide the facility to generate a unique key as part of the
log on to a specific username (e.g. user SETUP). This will be
phoned to the Horizon System Helpdesk who will provide the
corresponding key which when input to OPS will allow access to
the administration facilities. The user may then reset his
user password.
5. Suspend and Resume
A facility which enables users to securely suspend their
current session and then to resume the session is provided as
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part of the overall OPS functionality. The suspend function is
invoked by the user using a specific keystroke (e.g. Control +
Key) and may be performed at any time providing that there is
mo counter transaction in progress, or where the transaction
integrity may be compromised by allowing a suspension (e.g.
part way through a smart card transaction). The suspended
session may be resumed by the user entering his password.
Further details on secure timeout are now covered in response
to requirement 921.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 474
Pathway Response
Ls Health, Safety and Legal on OPS equipment.
1. All OPS Equipment will be continuously rated and capable of
functioning safely and reliably, attended or unattended, for an
indefinite period in outlets.
2. Each installation of OPS will be physically and electrically
safe and in compliance with relevant legislation and recognised
best practice. It will not cause interference with other
devices. It is noted that the equipment may be installed in
premises that would be classified as residential.
2.1 This includes all relevant UK Regulations and Council
Directives (that is, Directives of the Council of the European
Communities) which are implemented by HMG. The equipment will
be maintained as demanded by subsequent legislation.
2.2 This includes mandatory standards, including all relevant
UK Regulations and Council Directives (that is, Directives of
the Council of the European Communities) which are implemented
by HMG. The equipment will be maintained as demanded by
subsequent legislation including mandatory standards.
2.3 OPS equipment will comply with BS EN60950 : 1992 (BS7002
:1992) and any subsequent amendments will be applied there
after to any new OPS equipment deliveries or any repaired and
subsequently re-introduced OPS equipment.
2.4 All OPS equipment comprising AC power adapters will comply
with BS EN60065 : 1993 (BS7002 :1992).
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2.5 The workstation aspects of all OPS equipment will comply
with the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment)
Regulations 1992, which implement Council Directive 90/270/EEC
on working with display screen equipment.
2.6 Any OPS equipment containing laser emitters will comply
with BS EN 60825:1992. (Examples laser printers and laser
barcode scanners) .
2.7 Any OPS telecommunications equipment will comply with
Council Directive 91/263/EEC (the Telecommunication Terminal
Equipment Directive) and have a current BABT certificate or
equivalent for connection to the public telephone network.
2.8 All OPS equipment defined as Machinery will comply with the
Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 1992, which implement
the Machine Directive 89/392/EEC as amended by 91/368/EEC.
2.9 All OPS equipment will comply with the Electrical Equipment
(Safety) Regulations 1994, which implement the Low Voltage
Directive 93/23/EEC as amended by 93/68/EEC.
2.10 All OPS equipment will meet the requirements of the Non-
automatic Weighing Instruments (EEC Requirements) Regulations
1992 Schedule 3 Applications.
2.11 All OPS visual display terminal equipment will comply with
the relevant requirements of either BS 7179:1990 or ISO
9241:1992 (applies to keyboards) .
2.12 All Equipment which falls within the scope of The
Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Regulations 1992, which
implement Council Directive 89/336/EEC (as amended by
92/31/EEC), will comply with these regulations.
2.13 All OPS Equipment will meet the minimum EMC requirements
of both residential and commercial installations, including
compliance with BS EN 50081 and BS EN 50082 with the following
amended test severity levels and with no degradation of
performance:
IEC 801 part 2 class 3, 6kV contact discharge
IEC 801 part 3 3Vv/m
IEC 801 part 4 +/- 1kV injected onto mains AC supply
IEC 801 part 5 +/- 2kv.
2.14 All OPS equipment covered by EN45501:1992 will comply with
clause A4.5 (voltage variations) and Annex B of that standard.
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2.15 All items of OPS equipment will have an Index of
Protection rating of IP3X as defined in BS EN 60529:1992.
3. The OPS equipment and its installation will not constrain
POCL and its agents from meeting their legal safety
responsibilities as employers.
4. Pathway will prove compliance with legislation or mandatory
standards as and when necessary.
Pathway Comment
1. With respect to those requirements at paragraph 2 above,
which require adherence to “subsequent legislation and
standards”, we have slightly modified the wording to make it
clear that the requirement to modify any existing installed
equipment would apply only in circumstances that the subsequent
legislation demanded such action. We believe that this is the
intended meaning.
2. To support the commitments set out above the Contractor must
be empowered to make changes to the equipment and
specifications in line with changing legislation and standards.
Reference No 475
Pathway Response
a. Style Guide
Pathway will produce the Horizon OPS Style Guide which will set
out the general guidelines for the Human Computer interface,
including screen layouts, systems navigation routes and help
and manual entry facilities.
All counter applications developed for POCL by Pathway will
conform to the Horizon OPS Style Guide.
Any changes to the Horizon OPS Style Guide documentation will
be agreed with POCL.
25 Human Computer Interface
The HCI for the Pathway OPS is designed to be intuitive and
easy to use. The design principles and user interface
functionality are drawn from the successful operational
experience of An Post. Key facilities that underpin all
counter applications are :-
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An efficient and intuitive method of transaction selection
exploiting touch-screen and function-key driven techniques
A menu hierarchy based on “most used” transactions
Transaction selection which can be invoked by peripheral
events e.g. card swipe
A seamless link between transaction selection and counter
application
A common and consistent User Interface for transaction
selection and counter applications
These facilities will greatly assist in achieving the
objectives of minimising errors and optimising transaction
time.
Pathway Comment
none
Reference No 476
Pathway Response
1. Terminology
For control purposes Pathway believe, that the definition of
reference data should be refined to discriminate between
Business Reference Data which is essential to the POCL
businesses and Operational Reference Data which is controlled
by Pathway and is relevant to the management of the Contractors
Services.
2. Control of Releases
2.1 Release Principles
POCL require that the Contractor shall undertake the delivery
of the POCL Services to meet demanding business requirements.
Failure to meet contracted performance targets will incur
performance penalties. In order to deliver POCL Services which
meet the contracted requirements and performance levels at an
economic price it is essential that the Contractor is empowered
to manage the all aspects of POCL Service delivery and this
must include the control of new releases. Pathway recognises
that POCL has a legitimate interest in the business functions
that are provided by the POCL Service and needs to be assured
that the quality of the delivered systems meets the contracted
requirements. The processes, tests and quality reviews which
are required will be open to POCL and Pathway will particularly
seek active participation in tests of business functionality
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and the Human Computer Interface. It is recommended that
Pathway takes complete responsibility for the management of
releases in line with the contractual commitments requested by
POCL
This section continues with further explanation of the above
principle as it applies to the headings provided in the
requirement.
2.2 Release Contents
Pathway recommends that the content of a release should require
the agreement of POCL with respect to the introduction of new
POCL Services or the deletion of existing POCL Services or
changes to existing POCL Services which affect the essential
business functions of POCL. All such changes to POCL Services
should be initiated through contract change control.
For the reasons which are set out above Pathway should retain
clear responsibility for all other changes to release contents.
Such changes may be justified for many reasons but including
for example: contract compliance, quality, technical strategy
and cost control.
+ 2.3. Release Distribution Timing
Pathway believes that there is only one circumstance when POCL
should determine the timing of the distribution of new
releases. That is when a new Client is connected to the POCL
Service for the first time. In all other circumstances the
control of the distribution of releases should be at the
discretion of the Contractor.
2.4 Release Activation Timing
Pathway recommends that the timing of release activation should
require the agreement of POCL with respect to the introduction
of new POCL Services or the deletion of existing POCL Services
or changes to existing POCL Services which affect the essential
business functions of POCL. This includes the release of the
Business Reference Data which is referred to in Section 1
above. All such changes to POCL Services should be initiated
through contract change control and it is anticipated that any
particular favourable or unfavourable times for the activation
of releases will be declared in the change request.
Pathway believes that in all other circumstances’ the
responsibility for the timing of the activation of new releases
should be at the discretion of the Contractor.
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3. Release Testing
Pathway will provide evidence that the each release has been
tested so that it is shown to meet the Service requirements and
service levels. POCL will be invited to participate in those
tests associated with proving business functionality and Human
Computer Interface aspects of new releases. Other evidence will
be provided in the form of written test reports and invitations
to attend quality review meetings. Evidence of testing for
major releases of new software and functionality will be
provided at the levels of:
Unit Tests
System Test
Representative combinations of hardware and software.
The release testing strategy above is too heavy for testing
minor releases of software or for reference data and
appropriate procedures will be defined for different classes of
release.
4. Preparation For Release
Pathway will complete the testing of major new releases in
three steps prior to full distribution of major new releases.
These are:
A Test conducted in a simulated post office and operated by
real and representative POCL users.
A test of implementation and live operation in a limited
number of post offices for a limited period before general
distribution.
A test of reversion to the previous release.
The release testing strategy above is too heavy for testing
minor releases of software or for reference data and
appropriate procedures will be defined by Pathway for different
classes of release.
5. No Disruption to Users and the Working Environment
Releases of software and and/or reference data will be
distributed across the network and therefore will require
minimal user involvement and no significant disruption tc users
or to the working environment.
6. No Corruption to POCL Data
The data within software and/or reference data is protected at
source by a CRC check key which is applied by the Riposte
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system. Following distribution of the release, the CRC is
checked to ensure that no corruption of the data has taken
place. The release of software and/or reference data will not
cause any corruption to data held on behalf of POCL.
7. Record of Releases
A record of the release of software and reference data which
is in use at each post office will be maintained under
configuration control within an asset data base which is
maintained by Pathway.
Pathway Comment
In responding to requirement at paragraph 2, item (b) we have
assumed that “the upgrade path for any release “ means new
releases beyond the next release. It is apparent that other
interpretations of the meaning are possible.
Reference No 477
Pathway Response
Pathway will support the management of the POCL Services using
an OPS asset register which will record all of the physical
system components. The OPS asset register will identify all of
the Equipment which is installed at each site. A list of the
assets at each site will be made available to POCL upon
request .
The OPS asset register will contain essential operational
information that will support the management and control of
both rollout and Operational Services. Including for example:
site address and contact information
site implementation status details
system configuration details
equipment types and serial numbers
software versions
applications versions.
The OPS asset register will be an integral part of a wider
Management Information System that supports help desk functions
and the management of rollout schedules and Operational
Services.
Pathway Comment
None
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Reference No 478
Pathway Response
1. The Pathway solution for TMS will link into each instance
of OPS that is to be used for production work using an ISDN
network,
2. TMS supports links into other computer systems through
client-specific TMS software Agents. These Agents will reside
on the TMS servers and will manage any client specific data
manipulation and communications links. Pathway will provide
those Agents required to support those host systems provided as
part of the overall Pathway solution.
The specification for additional Agents required to provide
links from TMS to other computer systems, including POCL’s own
systems and those of POCL’s clients, will be agreed jointly
between Pathway and POCL.
3. Data file collection and delivery
3,1 TMS supports the distribution and collection of electronic
data to and from the OPS. This is achieved by the automatic
replication of transactions from the OPS in a post office to a
TMS server. Similarly data provided to TMS from a host system
is replicated to a set of OPS systems in post offices.
3.2 These processes may be initiated by :-
Operator action - This will comprise the normal operational
activities in managing the data transfer from Pathway host
systems to TMS, or will comprise the normal actions of the
counter clerk in carrying out transactions on OPS.
Once a datafile has been passed to TMS or a counter transaction
has been committed within OPS the collection/delivery of this
data is automatic.
Time - The time interval between data replication from OPS to
TMS may be set according to the urgency of the transaction.
Pathway’s solution will optimise any network connection made
from TMS to OPS in a post office by replicating any accumulated
transactions to TMS.
External message - The requirement for an attached computer
system to initiate a data file collection or delivery will be
met by the functionality specified within the relevant TMS
Agent.
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TMS initiated - The Pathway solution for TMS automatically
provides data collection / delivery to and from OPS.
3.3 The Pathway solution for TMS automatically replicates data
between TMS and OPS, and between individual PC’s within a post
office OPS. Following a failure of either a TMS node or an OPS
node, TMS will automatically synchronise the restored node to
an up-to date state. This will include any data file or
transaction collection/deliveries that are outstanding.
The recovery facilities available for file transfer between TMS
and an attached computer systems will be dependent on the
precise method of connection and the protocols and file
transfer standards that are used. These will be jointly agreed
between Pathway and POCL as part of the specification for
connecting an attached computer system.
3.4 A TMS node contains a configuration file which
specifically defines the OPS nodes with which it can exchange
data. File transfers to/from attached computer systems will be
controlled by Pathway operational procedures and by the
facilities provided in the jointly specified file transfer
method.
4. Messaging capability
4.1 Messaging Switching
TMS will generally provide the facility to pass messages from
one attached computer system to another. Such message transfer
will be predefined in that message format, source and
destination, verification and service levels will have been
previously agreed between Pathway and other appropriate
organisations.
Pathway anticipate that this requirement is principally aimed
at enabling communication between OPS and other attached Client
host systems in support of future counter applications (e.g.
links between post offices and DNS to support a savings
product) .
Subject to the comments below, Pathway is able to develop a
facility which enables messages created in one post office to
be sent via TMS to another post office. A counter application
will enable authorised Users to create messages and address
them to another post office using the FAD code / name. A TMS
agent will periodically extract these messages and forward them
to their destination using a centrally managed directory.
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4.2 Message non-delivery
The TMS message Agent would monitor all message-read messages
that are created by post offices and at periodic intervals
{typically at end of day) reconcile messages sent with messages
read. Any non-read messages would result in an advisory
message being sent to the originator.
4.3 File processing
Pathway’s solution for TMS separates the generic functions of
secure and highly resilient transaction management from the
client specific requirements for data file processing.
The former are provided as generic facilities for all
transactions. The latter are provided in the form of TMS
software Agents which are designed to perform specific
functions in support of the links and data processing required
for individual host systems.
To facilitate the development of these Agents Pathway will
supply a set of generic Agents which will form the basis for
different forms of host system interaction.
These will include :-
File Distribution - the acquisition of data from client systems
and the creation of files for distribution
Client Processing - the collection and formatting of
transactions for host systems and the transfer of data to/from
host systems
On-Line - enabling an on-line connection to be made from OPS
via TMS to a host system
The generic facilities provided by the Pathway Agents will be
customised for each specific host system link and will provide
the following facilities :-
- validation of data files
- consolidation of many data files into one data file
- generating many data files from one data file
- reformatting the contents of a data file
- generating control totals through access to the contents of
data files
- reconciliation of control totals
~ produce reports summarising financial transactions
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Ss. All events that occur either in TMS or in OPS are written
to a journal. These journal messages include all the data
required to uniquely identify the user, the location, the
transaction and the date/time of the transaction. Data, once
written to the journal, can never be altered. Information in
the journal is available for analysis as required.
6. The facilities that ensure data transfer in TMS is secure,
complete, accurate and robust are described in Pathway’s
response to requirement 467.
Pathway Comment
Pathway believes that the post office-to-post office messaging
capability (paragraph 5 above) expressed in this requirement is
complex having many characteristics in common with a full E-
mail service, including for example the need for directory
services. The requirement could incur significant costs when
applied to 20,000 offices. We believe that the Message
Broadcast facility which is described at requirement 471 may
meet many of the POCL needs. Pathway would like further
discussion with the POCL regarding the business needs. At
present Pathway does not believe the facility is cost
effective.
Reference No 479
Pathway Response
1. Connection of Computer Systems to TMS
Pathway will not connect any computer system to TMS without the
express authority of POCL.
2. Authorised Connections
2.1 TMS connections to OPS
The Pathway solution for TMS is based on a network of servers
which connect to the Pathway OPS equipment in each post office
using ISDN or frame relay. Configuration files are initially
established on each TMS server which restrict its connection to
a fixed set of other computer systems. These will be the
other TMS servers to which data is replicated and a defined
set of post office gateway PC’s. These form the servers
workgroup. Data replication and message transfer will only
occur within this workgroup.
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The TMS server configuration files may only be accessed by
authorised personnel within Pathway.
Data encryption mechanisms are available and will be used
selectively to protect the values of certain data items.
Reference is also made to Pathway’s response to Risk 65 and
supplementary questions (PWAY065 to PWAYO€S5c inclusive) which
concern security of data from OPS to TMS, and the Security
Functional Specification.
2.2 TMS connections to Host Systems
Systems which are provided as part of the overall Pathway
solution including for example MIS and System Management will
be connected to the TMS using network links. Pathway will
establish these systems in secure areas and no unauthorised
hosts system will be connected to these networks.
The physical network addresses of these host systems will be
contained in the configuration files of the TMS servers to
prevent unauthorised access. It is Pathway’s intention to
exploit Closed User Groups when these become available from the
network supplier.
Bhs Identity Authentication
The authentication of computer systems connecting to TMS is
dependant on the protocol used to support the connection to
each Client system and the security facilities that it
supports.
The Pathway solution for linking TMS to OPS uses ISDN. The TMS
and OPS systems will use Call Line Identification to provide
assurance that the calling system is from a valid number.
Pathway will be pleased to work with POCL to design solutions
for Identity Authentication as new Client systems require
connection to TMS.
4. Reports
Pathway will provide reports to POCL of any rejected attempts
of other computer systems to link to TMS on request.
Pathway Comment
Nil
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Reference No 480
Pathway Response
The TMS is logically discrete from other POCL Services such
that, in extremis, the service could be separately procured.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 481
Pathway Response
Pathway will provide a set of PPDs that define the OPS
operating procedures for use by staff at post offices. The PPDs
will include processes for transactions, accounting, balancing,
stock taking and action to be taken in the event of an
emergency such as a system failure.
Pathway will cooperate with POCL to allow POCL to include
instructions from the PPDs in the POCL operations manuals and
other operational instructions for Users.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 482
Pathway Response
Pathway will agree the PPD format as part of the PPD production
process.
Pathway Comment
1. Pathway urgently requests a copy of the POCL identity and
communications standards documents be provided well before ITT
so that compliance can be assured and correctly priced within
the Tender.
2. Pathway is in discussion with POCL to determine the
appropriate Identity standards for the Pathway services. We
believe that this is important with respect to the Services
provided directly to POCL’s User community.
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Reference No 484
Pathway Response
None.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 485
Pathway Response
The PPDs will be updated when necessary to reflect the new
releases of the software so that the information is always
current.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 486
Pathway Response
None.
Reference No 487
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that it will carry out a survey of outlets to
ascertain what modifications are needed to install the POCL
Service Infrastructure.
Pathway Comment
Nil
Reference No 488
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that the installation and acceptance of the
office platform at outlets will be undertaken in one day.
Pathway Comment
None.
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Reference No 489
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that it will disconnect and remove to an
agreed location existing automated equipment as specified in
the CCD entitled “Installation Strategy”. This service will be
provided at no additional charge to POCL.
Reference No 490
Pathway Response
None.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 491
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that it will carry out internal office
modification work at all outlets necessary to enable the
installation of the office platform.
The work that will be undertaken at each outlet will be
determined during the survey at each outlet and will include as
necessary the: =
installation of electrical wiring back to the outlets power
distribution box
installation of local area network cables and connections
installation of wide area network cables and connections
any carpentry required at counter positions required to
position and connect the OPS equipment.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 492
Pathway Response
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Pathway confirms that it will conform to all legislation while
carrying out modification work to outlets.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 493
Pathway Response
Subject to the limitations defined in Annex 5 of Schedule Ai2,
Pathway will provide these POCL Services in accordance with
Operational Business Change.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 494
Pathway Response
Subject to the limitations defined in Annex 5 of Schedule A12,
Pathway will provide these POCL Services in accordance with
Operational Business Change.
Pathway Comment
It should be recognised that the price of the service charge
will depend upon the response time required as well as the
number of change requests.
Reference No 495
Pathway Response
Pathway confirm that the equipment will be provided in
accordance with the limits set out in Annex 5 to Schedule Al2.
Deployment of such equipment will be as defined by POCL.
Pathway Comment
Reference No 496
Pathway Response
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Pathway believes that it is supplying an OPS POCL Service to
POCL and not just equipment. Pathway will supply the equipment
at all post offices and other outlets designated by POCL as a
part of an OPS POCL Service.
Pathway has proposed to supply equipment for training services
in the response to catalogue requirement 463.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 497
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that it will install the office platform
equipment in post office outlets.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 498
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that the existing systems APT, ECCO+, ALPS and
the agreed manual processes will be migrated from current POCL
platforms. Pathway will work closely with POCL personnel to
plan how best to achieve effective migration. The plans will
aim to minimise the work required by post office staff and any
necessary discontinuity of the service to customers or clients.
In office data migration shall be carried out in accordance
with the Migration Specification.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 499
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that installation will not take place until
the POCL Service Infrastructure and associated support services
are in place.
Pathway Comment
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None
Reference No 500
Pathway Response
Pathway proposes to obtain the agreement of the local
postmaster at each outlet and also the Landlord of the premises
at each outlet. If agreement is unreasonably withheld then the
matter will be referred to the Horizon Implementation Manager
for resolution.
Pathway Comment
1. It has been assumed that the modifications referred to
here are to the post office outlets.
Reference No 501
Pathway Response
Pathway will ensure that there is a process in place to ensure
that all outlets and regional liaison points are aware of and
agree the times and dates of all visits to post offices and
other outlets. Any disagreements will be referred to the
Horizon Implementation Manager for resolution.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 502
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that it will be careful to minimise any impact
upon the post office and retail operations at outlets while
carrying out site survey activities. However because the work
is required to be undertaken within normal working hours and
because many offices are small and congested it would be
unprofessional for a Contractor to offer absolutely no
degradation of service during a survey. A low level of service
degradation must be anticipated on some occasions and
expectations set accordingly. Pathway is confident that it can
obtain the co-operation of local post masters through its
awareness campaign without setting misleading expectations.
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In accordance with the Installation Service Level Agreement,
(Req 945) Pathway agree to achieve an 85% User Satisfaction
level based on an agreed approach and format, to include public
reaction where appropriate.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 503
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that it will be careful to minimise any impact
upon the post office and retail operations at outlets while
carrying out site modification activities. However because the
work is required to be undertaken within normal working hours,
and because many offices are small and congested it would be
unprofessional for a Contractor guarantee no degradation of
service during a survey, particularly in a single counter
position office. A low level of service degradation must be
anticipated on some occasions and expectations should be set
accordingly. Pathway is confident that it can obtain the co-
operation of local post masters through its awareness campaign
without setting misleading expectations.
In accordance with the Installation Service Level Agreement,
(Req 945) Pathway agree to achieve an 85% User Satisfaction
level based on an agreed approach and format, to include public
reaction where appropriate. .
Pathway Comment =
None
Reference No 504
Pathway Response
All existing equipment which matches the specification of the
proposed OPS equipment, or which can economically be made to
match the specification of the proposed OPS equipment will be
utilised by Pathway.
Pathway Comment
None
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Reference No 507
Pathway Response
Pathway wiil meet this requirement in accordance with the CCD
entitled “Implementation Strategy”.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 508
Pathway Response
Pathway notes POCL’s intentions with respect to the suspension
of rollout.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 509
Pathway Response
Pathway will meet this requirement in accordance with the CCD
entitled “Horizon Counter Infrastructure Roll Out Survey
Requirements Specification (IM/REQ/005)”. It is anticipated
that the Horizon Implementation Manager would be the decision
maker in exceptional cases where agreement could not be
obtained from the local outlet manager.
Pathway Comment )
None
Reference No 510
Pathway Response
None.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 511
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Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that it will be careful to minimise any impact
upon the post office and retail operations at outlets while
carrying out OPS equipment installation activities. However
because the work is required to be undertaken within normal
working hours and because many offices are small and congested
it would be unprofessional for a Contractor to offer absolutely
no degradation of service during installation. A low level of
service degradation must be anticipated on some occasions and
expectations should be set accordingly. Pathway is confident
that it can obtain the co-operation of local post masters
through its awareness campaign without setting misleading
expectations.
In accordance with the Installation Service Level Agreement,
(Req 945) Pathway agree to achieve an 85% User Satisfaction
level based on an agreed approach and format, to include public
reaction where appropriate.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 512
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that rollout will be undertaken as quickly as
possible subject to the over-riding requirement to:
(i) maintain service and client continuity
(ii) maintain the quality of service delivery to clients and
customers
(iii) appropriate support systems including training -
being in place
(iv) avoidance of damage to POCL‘s brand, reputation and
integrity
{v) demonstrate the robustness of the approach to rollout in
the context of uncertainty and risks
(vi) treat POCL's staff and agents professionally and with
respect.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 513
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Pathway Response
Pathway would ordinarily expect to agree any future upgrades of
the OPS equipment with POCL. However, it should be recognised
that the Contractor is required to deliver service outputs
against demanding service descriptions, service levels and
liquidated damages. It is possible that at some future time
that the substitution of equipment is required either to meet
the contracted requirements or to achieve cost reductions. It
is not consistent with the proposed form of contract that POCL
should retain a right of veto over the substitution of
equipment by the Contractor and Pathway requests that such
agreement shall not unreasonably be withheld.
Pathway Comment
Pathway’s response is consistent with the assumption that POCL
require a complete managed service contract which is under
written by remedies. If this remains the POCL objective then it
is critical that the Contractor be empowered to manage the
contract so as to deliver the contracted service outputs. If on
the other hand POCL require to participate in the day to day
operational management of the POCL Services then other
contractual arrangements should be considered and discussed
between Pathway and POCL.
Reference No 514
Pathway Response
Pathway proposes that acceptance criteria for the OPS equipment
at post offices shall be defined and agreed. Pathway will
install the equipment in line with the agreed plan, schedule
and acceptance criteria. If subsequently POCL requires to
modify these, then such modifications shall be agreed under the
Change Control Procedure.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 516
Pathway Response
Pathway proposes that it shall produce a rollout plan and
schedule for implementation at post office outlets which will
be agreed by POCL. If subsequently, POCL wishes to change this
plan, then agreement will not unreasonably be withheld by
Pathway. If such changes incur additional costs or delay the
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achievement of revenue then Pathway proposes to make a charge
to POCL to compensate for the loss.
Pathway Comment
Nil
Reference No 517
Pathway Response
The modifications will be completed in one visit to the Outlet.
BT ISDN lines installation may be carried out separately and
with prior notification to the Horizon Implementation Manager
and / or Outlet Manager (approval not required for ISDN
installation provided that it is carried out during the normal
working hours of the relevant office).
It is recognised that modification work in larger offices, i.e.
those with more than six (6) counter positions may need to span
one day. In these, or other exceptional circumstances,
arrangements to complete such work over more than one day will
be subject to mutual agreement between the Contractor, Horizon
Implementation Managers and / or Outlet Managers, but such
agreement shall not be unreasonably withheld.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 518
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that post office modifications surveys will be
completed in one visit to the outlet.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 519
Pathway Response
During Operational Services, Pathway understands that changes
will be required by POCL to the configuration of post offices.
Changes will include the provision and installation of
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equipment both to completely new outlets and to existing
outlets at counter positions that were previously unequipped.
Pathway will undertake these changes in accordance with
Operational Business Change.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 520
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that all agreed support services will be
available from day 1 in line with agreed service levels.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 521
Pathway Response
1. Pathway intends that the Horizon System Helpdesk will be
provided with a single telephone number.
Ze The telephone number will provide multiple line access to
its help desk in accordance with observed and predicted demand
for service.
Da The Horizon System Helpdesk will be served by dedicated
Automatic Call Direction (ACD) equipment which will ensure that
calls are directed to an available help desk operator and
answered in accordance within agreed service performance times.
Pathway Comment
Pathway recommends the lower cost option of providing one
telephone number for the help desk, served by ACD equipment
controlling multiple lines.
Reference No 522
Pathway Response
Pathway will employ an ‘0345’ local call for telephone access
to the Horizon System Helpdesk.
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Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 523
Pathway Response
Ba Pathway’s support services will provide all appropriate
support necessary to ensure the continuous and efficient
operation of the POCL Infrastructure Service at all times from
day 1.
2 Pathway will ensure that its services are capable of
providing agreed levels of support to all users that may
contractually have access to its systems.
3 The support services will cover all aspects of Pathway’s
solution from end to end, including the operational interfaces
from Pathway’s systems to those of POCL and their clients.
4 Pathway will provide agreed levels of support to all other
help desk operators contractually nominated by POCL that may
require assistance to resolve problems associated with
Pathway’s operational services.
Pathway Comment
1 POCL to confirm the identity and contractual requirements
for the operation of systems interfaces between Pathway and
POCL and their clients.
2 POCL to confirm the identity and contractual requirements
for the Horizon System Helpdesk to provide service support to
other help desk facilities.
Reference No 524
Pathway Response
1. The Horizon System Helpdesk service will deal with all
calls relating to the operation, configuration and end-user
support of counter terminal equipment, their operating systems
software, application software and processes.
2. Requests for support will be categorised according to type
such as hardware, software, network, advice & guidance,
configuration, etc.
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3. The Horizon System Helpdesk service will provide problem
and fault diagnosis and will control any necessary hardware or
software maintenance activities.
4. Each call will be logged and progressed to its successful
resolution within agreed service levels.
Pathway Comment
1. A complete list of ‘call types’ will be agreed with POCL
so that accurate and meaningful descriptions of all calls may
be made.
Ze Requests for support services and their resolution will be
analysed regularly so that service problems may be quickly
identified and actions taken to eliminate them. The analysis
will also readily identify the need for any end-user skills or
awareness training.
Reference No 525
Pathway Response
1. From day 1, throughout the roll-out period and beyond, the
Horizon System Helpdesk service will provide access to
additional agreed services as necessary.
2. These services will include access to training facilities,
training materials and operational support documentation.
3. If POCL contracts to procure consumables from Pathway,
then Pathway will provide supplies of consumables such as
special stationery and post office printer supplies which may
be ordered through the Horizon System Helpdesk.
4. If POCL contracts to procure consumables from Pathway,
then small, emergency supplies of consumables will be provided
by ICL Pathway optionally at extra cost. These may be ordered
through the Horizon System Helpdesk for delivery by courier
within 24 hours.
Pathway Comment
1. Pathway proposes that post masters should be responsible
for maintaining an adequate stock of consumable materials.
2. Pathway will analyse post office transactions in order to
develop algorithms, for use by post masters, which can help
them to predict future usage of consumable stock.
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Reference No 526
Pathway Response
1. Pathway will ensure that all reported incidents are
resolved within agreed service performance levels and in
conformance with agreed operational procedures.
26 A comprehensive analysis of all incidents, their cause and
resolution and the service levels achieved will be produced at
agreed intervals for review jointly by POCL’s and Pathway’s
service managers.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 527
Pathway Response
1. Pathway will provide a help desk service that encompasses
all of the support requirements of POCL.
2. The Horizon System Helpdesk will be staffed by fully
trained, qualified and experienced personnel operating
according to agreed procedures and within agreed service
performance levels.
3. All of the Horizon System Helpdesk services will be “
provided for the exclusive use of POCL.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 528
Pathway Response
In the circumstances that a caller makes an inappropriate call
to the Horizon System Helpdesk the call will be answered in
accordance with the Service Levels set out in Schedule G10 and
the caller will be informed and re-directed to the correct
destination.
Pathway Comment
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None
Reference No 529
Pathway Response
The Horizon System Helpdesk service will comply with agreed
standards of procedure and behaviour.
Pathway Comment
POCL are requested to document their contractual requirements
for help service behavioural standards.
Reference No 530
Pathway Response
Pathway has proposed to implement EPOS as previously requested
by the Authorities. However if POCL need to defer the use of
EPOS then Pathway will implement the OPS software so that this
can be achieved.
POCL will have the ability to suppress EPOSS functionality such
that it cannot inadvertently be used/misused to the detriment
of customer service and POCL accounting needs. POCL can
determine the products and functionality accessible to the
counter clerk by POCL Reference Data and by menu hierarchy
changes.
Pathway Comment
It is not possible to underwrite the operational implications -
ef this approach without discussion and clarification. For
example, stock accounting and cash accounting are understood to
be of operational importance to the post office and are
dependant upon the EPOS to collect data from the individual
transactions. In deferring the EPOS do the Authorities intend
to defer the availability of these operational features?
Discussions with POCL are needed to understand the business
requirement more clearly and to clarify the solution.
Reference No 531
Pathway Response
ICL Pathway’s solution for training is defined in the Training
and User Awareness Baseline Document, reference BP/TRN/001.
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Users who fail a competency test during Live Trial and national
Rollout will attend a remedial training event. This is defined
in ICL Pathway’s Remedial Training document reference
SU/TRN/006. This applies to Outlets up to site acceptance
i.e. up to 2 days from installation. Remedial training after
installation and Outlet go live will be the responsibility of
POCL.
All POCL target audiences, job roles and user groups have been
identified by POCL and have been defined in ICL Pathway’s
Training Needs Analysis document reference SU/TRN/0001.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 532
Pathway Response
ICL Pathway has proposed to train POCL’s own trainers in the
use of the OPS service for new and existing staff and for minor
new Releases. ICL Pathway will undertake additional training
for major new Releases which will be subject to the Change
Control Procedure.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 533
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that the solution for training includes the
capability to train users on the live system using a training
mode of operation, which can be invoked at any time, and is a
permanent feature of the system. Training mode operation is
protected by user names and passwords which are separate from
those of live operation. While using the training mode both the
users and system are prevented from interfering with live data
transfer and data integrity.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 534
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Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that its solution for training takes account
of automated products and experience of existing system
platforms. The Training Needs Analysis document, ref
SU/TRN/0001, takes account of the different kinds of user and
their different propensities to learn new skills. The proposal
includes ongoing training requirements for POCL to fulfil using
their own trainers, and support for individuals who change
their roles up to two weeks before attending an ICL Pathway
training course. This is detailed in the Training and User
Awareness Baseline Document, ref BP/TRN/001.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 536
Pathway Response
1. Pathway confirms that peripheral input devices supplied as
part of the OPS will be reliable, robust and easy to use.
2. Pathway confirms that peripheral and input devices
supplied as part of the OPS will be capable of detecting
contention, premature removal and swapping of tokens as
appropriate.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 537
Pathway Response
The Pathway strategy for System Management will comprises a set
of services as follows:
Software repository - the storage and maintenance of records
identifying what software versions are stored on what machines.
Software distribution - the scheduling of software upgrades to
a defined set of machines.
Event management - the notification of significant events to a
central source.
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Asset management - the storage and maintenance of information
on the existence / type of machines and associated peripherals.
Configuration management - the non-static configuration
parameters that drive the applications and operating system.
This includes Resource Monitoring and Network Management
In the delivery of these System Management activities as
applied to services provided to POCL, the operational
procedures developed and the technology applied will be
exploited to achieve the required quality attributes including
consistency, accuracy, reliability, speed and agility in
responding to failures.
For example some of these services provide dynamic information
on the state of operating entities - such as applications and
operating systems. Event management is such a_ service.
Coherence and consistency within a homogenous set of
applications and operating system is achieved through standard
naming conventions for the identification of applications and
standard methods of invoking the event are obeyed. This will
allow for example selected events to automatically raise help
calls pro-actively thus initiating a corrective action
response.
Furthermore a consistent approach to event management populates
the Help knowledge database with reliable information such that
further similar incidents can be recognised and resolved.
By contrast other services manipulate by comparison various
static data such as the existence of machines and software
packages stored on these machine against the current
configuration parameters associated with these packages. Again
a common naming standard for this persistent data will be
adopted to achieve consistency and coherency.
As such we have opportunities to engineer coherence and
consistency at a meta level above, for example, specific types
of operating systems. The delivery of this information will be
in databases at the central systems. These will contain a
consolidated central view of the overall system and from this
logical view we can derive ( and automatically deliver) the
parameters required to drive the applications and sub-systems
that work together to deliver the required functionality.
Pathway can thus ensure that if a common configuration is
required for all instances of an application then that
configuration is uniquely defined in the central database or
where the configuration of different applications share common
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information that common information is again derived from a
cemmon source.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 538
Pathway Response
i. The overall Pathway solution comprises a set of central
host systems together with a number of TMS servers. These
servers will be installed in two data centres, each having the
capability to provide all the services. The post office
network comprises a PC configuration at every counter position.
When the central systems are installed rigorous operational
procedures will ensure that all system data, including date and
time, are consistent. The systems management service will
have the facility to interrogate all servers to check for a
consistent date/time. This will typically be done whenever
there is a need to replace equipment, whenever a general clock
change occurs, and as part of regular system housekeeping.
The counter PC’s will have their date/time set prior to
installation in a post office, or prior to any replacement.
Upon installation a link will be established to the central TMS
and System Management Service to download configuration details
and other data.
Facilities within TMS will automatically synchronise the time ~
between TMS servers and also with the counter PC’s.
2. Time changes due to British Summer Time
The TMS and OPS systems will be based on Windows-NT. This
operating system has automatic algorithms for handling clock
changes due to BST. No user action is required.
3. Local Time and GMT
Pathway understand that the requirement for using local time
may arise with certain AP transactions. In this case any
adjustments for particular AP transactions would be handled
within the AP application. Pathway will require a description
of which transactions are affected and the nature of the
adjustment,
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Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 539
Pathway Response
1. Maintenance of reference data
Pathway will support and maintain both system and application
related reference data for an outlet. System related data
comprises information that relates to the state of the outlet
and its associated software base (e.g. event management
details, software version numbers) .
Application related data comprises information that relates to
particular transactions
(e.g. price of a stamp, check digit algorithm for an AP
client).
1.1 Maintenance of System related reference data
The Pathway Systems Management Service will use Tivoli TME to
provide the functions required to store and maintain reference
data and to manage its distribution and activation. This will
comprise a single Asset and Configuration database which
provides a central logical view of which systems are associated
with which versions of various files, including reference data.
Pathway will use rigorous change management processes to
control the rate and nature of changes to the software
inventory and these will involve a co-ordinated approach with
the originator of any external data including POCL and external -
clients.
The Tivoli supports a central repository, which will contain
various objects including reference data, together with a
supporting distribution infrastructure.
The distribution infrastructure comprises the components that
move those files that constitute a single software package and
also the instructions that prescribe how the package is to be
installed.
The software package is stored on a number of TME Management
servers at each Pathway central site. A Tivoli Software
Distribution job will invoke the distribution of data, such as
new reference data to those sites that require it, and Tivoli
Client Software residing on the client system will interpret
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the instructions from the Management server and install the
software as required.
1.2 Maintenance of Application related reference data
Reference data supplied to Pathway by POCL and/or POCL clients
will be stored and maintained in Pathway’s Central Reference
Data Base system. Agreement will be required on the process
and form by which reference data is supplied to Pathway and the
supporting control and validation processes.
In addition each item of reference data will need to he
associated with a class of post offices, which will have
previously been defined, in order to support the distribution
process.
This information will then be processed, as determined by the
effective date of the new or changed reference data, and
introduced to TMS. TMS will then distribute the data where it
will be activated and held within the outlet as a permanent
object.
2a Use of external reference data
Pathway recognise that some reference data will be provided
from external systems (e.g. TIP and client systems) . Pathway
will agree the precise form and process by which this
information is made available to Pathway’s software
distribution services with the relevant owner. Operational and
technical procedures will be agreed which will ensure the
integrity of data transfer, data verification and activation
procedures.
3. Implementation timescales
Pathway recognise that some reference data items may be subject
to a fast implementation (e.g. as required by a Budget change).
Pathway do not anticipate any significant difficulties with
distributing and activating these changes, as the normal
process would achieve this overnight. Agreement will be needed
on the method of providing such changes to Pathway.
Pathway Comment
An indication of the different forms of reference data and
their owners would assist in the development of the operational
procedures.
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Reference No 540
Pathway Response
1. Environmental Considerations
An important factor in Pathway’s selection of equipment
suppliers for OPS has been their approach to environmental
considerations particularly in the materials policy, production
processes and recycling.
Key considerations are that the products should not contain
materials that endanger the user when used in the post office
environment, and that the manufacturing process avoids the use
of toxic emissions and has the capability to recycle as much of
the product materials as possible.
One of the key components in the OPS is the PC and Pathway
have selected ICL as the supplier. IcL is committed to
protecting every part of the environment by compliance with
existing environmental legislation and anticipating future
moves such as the TCO 6E scheme. Some examples include :-
ICL stopped using PVC many years ago in favour of ABS for the
plastic casings. This avoids the problem of hydrochloric acid
formation when the Pvc plastic is burnt. Other components such
as the keyboard also use ABS for the plastic casing and all
components are selected for their ability to be recycled.
Brominated flame retardants have not been used since 1989.
Only capacitors that do not contain PCB and batteries that
are cadmium-free are used.
The majority of the components of the PC can be recycled and
used for making other goods. All plastic parts are labelled
with the type material they are composed of.
Where ICL has responsibility for equipment disposal, the
following process is followed. All parts suitable for spare
parts are removed and reprocessed. The scrap is roughly sorted
into metals, precious metals , glass and plastics. Batteries
and some other items are sent for special treatment. All
metals are processed by specialist firms. ABS plastics are
stored at present awaiting the development of suitable re-
cycling process. All cathode ray tubes go to an aluminium
factory for crushing and, after washing, the crushed glass is
dumped.
The production process for the electronic circuit boards
requires that the PCB’s are washed to remove metal chips and
chemical residues. This process does not use either CFC
compounds or Preon based detergents due to the environmental
harm these chemicals can cause. All PCBs are washed in mild
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detergent prior to component soldering. The precious metals
are separated from the soldering machine tin ash for reuse.
The equipment is packed in cardboard boxes with styrox
packaging which can be burnt without harmful effects. A self
closing box eliminates the need for glue, tape or staples.
2. Duty of care
Pathway will comply with all relevant environmental legislation
and will generally exercise a responsibility for “Duty of
Care”.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 541
Pathway Response
1. TMS scalability
Pathway have submitted a paper to POCL which addresses Risk 9 -
the scalability of the central TMS facilities. Ref: Risk
PWy000009 - Part 3, version 2 dated 158/12/95.
The analysis in this paper shows that there are no constraints
on the scaling of the central TMS service or of the underlying
network infrastructure to meet the workload volumes projected.
The modular nature of TMS and the network enables additional
system resources to added to accommodate any workload growth.
Monitoring of traffic patterns and actual system resource usage
will be undertaken during operational trials and early system
usage. This will be used to ensure the optimum deployment of
the TMS components.
2. Future transaction requirements
Pathway recognise and support POCL’s strategy to introduce new
business transactions and understand that these may require
access to central host systems for authorisation or data
access/update. An example of this type of transaction is in
operation now in An Post (an on-line Savings system) and
Pathway would implement such links using a TMS agent to provide
the specific Client data exchanges.
Pathway Comment
None
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Reference No 542
Pathway Response
Pathway will provide support for all software running on
Pathway computer systems whilst they are supporting services
provided to POCL.
These support services will be managed by Pathway and will be
sub-contracted to a variety of Pathway service providers.
Support to Pathway for core operating systems (e.g. Windows-NT)
will be provided by ICL Sorbus and other specialists within the
ICL group. Recourse to Microsoft where required will use
current well established support routes.
Support for middleware (e.g. TMS and TMS Agents) will be
provided by Pathway's own support and development resources.
Support for applications software will be provided to Pathway
by the software development sub-contractor. This will include
Oracle and Pathway’s own support and development resources.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 543
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that the APS will support the following range
of tokens:
Landis & Gyr PISCES smart Card
GEC Meters WATERCARD smart card
Schlumberger Smart Card for the water industry
Schlumberger Smart Card for the electrical industry
Magnetic stripe card
British Gas Quantum smart card
Bar coded documents.
Yous wne
It is pointed out that some of the tokens listed above operate
to proprietary standards and specifications also the device
driver software is not currently available to Contractors.
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Support for these tokens is dependant upon receiving the
specifications and the availability and licensing of the
necessary device driver software.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 544
Pathway Response
he The Pathway APS will provide support for all the current
transactions required by POCL’s AP Clients within the counter
application and in the TMS Agent for AP data extraction.
2. The Pathway APS can support the addition, modification or
removal of Clients or Client Service Types. A generic In-Pay
data capture screen is provided which supports the capture of
the specific Client transaction details. Transactions that
support new Client Service Types (i.e. a new OCR bill type, a
new barcoded bill type) can be quickly introduced through a
simple parameterised process which will define details such as
format, validation etc.
Entirely new AP Client transactions (new token type or
additional data items to be processed) may require the
development of additional data capture screens.
3. Pathway will provide reasonable assistance to POCL in the
implementation of interfaces to additional third party
applications or tokens.
4. Pathway will provide reasonable technical assistance in
support of POCL’s relationship with Clients and potential
Clients.
5. The Pathway APS provides a generic method of defining
peripheral types and transaction types. The counter
application is developed using Microsoft Visual Basic. These
techniques enable additional Client Service Types to be added
in a cost effective and efficient manner.
Pathway Comment
None
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Reference No 545
Pathway Response
1. Pathway confirms that it will provide technical and
overview documentation describing the APS. The documentation
will be of sufficient detail so as to allow POCL to market the
POCL Service to Clients and potential Clients and to consider
the suitability of additional services.
Pathway together with POCL will agree the content of the
documentation prior to its production and also prior to
introducing any subsequent changes. Pathway will require the
active participation of POCL to support the production of the
documentation.
2. Pathway confirms that it will produce an Automated
Payments Client specification which specifies the details of
each AP Client and Client Service type of the APS, including
the Client interface specification, the presentation of
information on the OPS, the data involved and any necessary
timings.
Client identity and overview
Identifies the client for whom a specific instance of the APS
is to be provided and provides an overview of the business
objectives.
The respective responsibilities of Pathway, POCL and the
Client organisation.
Tokens and Methods of payment
A description of the token(s) that the client requires its
customers to use and the method(s) of payment that are
acceptable to the client.
Technical Specification
Identification of the service and system boundary between the
Pathway service and system and the other services and systems.
Specification of telecommunications links and associated
protocols.
Transaction data
Contents
Validation
Customisation
Batching
Transfer
Other Data
Contents
Validation
Availability
Operations
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Operational hours
Operational procedures
Fault diagnosis procedures
Operational review procedures
Service Levels
Pathway will require the active participation of POCL and the
Client organisations to support the production of the
documentation.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 546
Pathway Response
1. Pathway confirms that it will deliver the APS using the
POCL Strategic Infrastructure, that is the OPS and the TMS.
2. Pathway confirms that the APS shall be available at all
counter positions where the OPS is installed to meet or exceed
the requirement as specified by POCL in the ITT. Subsequent
changes to the initial requirement will require commercial
negotiation and change control. Pathway’s intention will be to
install equipment at the outset which will have as long a
useful life as possible to minimise obsolescence costs and
disruption in post offices.
3. Pathway shall ensure that the availability of each Client
Service Type at each Outlet is individually controllable via “
Reference Data records.
Pathway Comment
1. In order to Price the APS service transactions within the
Tender, the Contractor will need to assess future transaction
types and the respective volumes also the number of counter
positions.
2» Pathway may propose limits on the volume of individual APS
components to reflect the defined or assumed business need.
Reference No 547
Pathway Response
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La Pathway confirms that data will be captured correctly,
accurately and securely.
2. Pathway confirms that the APS will validate data read from
Tokens or entered by the User in accordance with a set of rules
identified in the AP Client Specification document.
3. Pathway confirms that the APS will check data read from
Tokens or entered by the user against any valid Client Data or
reference data for the Client Service Type (e.g. stop lists)
and take the action prescribed in the AP Client Specification
or Token Technology Specification.
4. Pathway confirms the APS shall enable the display of user
instructions specific to a Client Service Type as identified in
the AP Client Specification.
Pathway Comment
a: The POCL meaning of the word “robustly” in the context of
data capture is not understood and therefore it has not been
committed.
Reference No 548
Pathway Response
i. Transaction committal
AP transactions using smart tokens will be committed to the
local journal as soon as they have been completed. Other AP
transactions will be committed at the end of the customer
session which may include other non-AP transactions.
A non-smart AP transaction once completed may not be voided
within the session in which it took place even though it is
not committed to the journal until the end of the session.
This is because a receipt will have been printed at the time of
the transaction. Should it be necessary to reverse the
transaction then this may be achieved using ordinary reversal
facilities in a subsequent session.
This process will occur when :-
(i) monies have been accepted
(ii) a transaction has been reversed. It should be noted
that the original transaction is never altered and that any
subsequent and related transactions are added to the journal.
{iii) a Token has been issued
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(iv) a Smart Token has been accessed ( including an abandoned
or enquiry transaction).
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 549
Pathway Response
1. Transaction Reversals
The Pathway solution for AP provides the facility to reverse
eligible transactions. This process may only take place at the
post office where the original transaction took place.
The behaviour described in response to requirement 804 will
also apply to AP transactions.
The transaction details from the original receipt (principally
the account number) will be used to identify the relevant
transaction.
There will be a limited time within which a reversal can take
place and this is expected to be contained within one business
day for the post office.
The process will operate to the rules described in :-
POCL APS Generic Rules ~
Token Technology Specifications
AP Client Specification
All transactions are progressively replicated to TMS for
processing by the TMS AP Agent. The end-of-day marker from a
post office is used as the trigger for accumulating Client
specific transactions and forwarding them according to the
rules in the above, last-listed document. The net results of
any transaction reversals will be determined and the relevant
details passed to POCL/POCL Client.
Zs Audit capabilities
All transactions that occur at every post office are recorded
in the User local journal which is replicated within the post
office and to the central TMS. A journal entry, once written
is never altered. Details can be retrieved from the journal by
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suitably authorised personnel to provide a full audit trail of
all activities including transaction reversals.
Pathway Comment
i. The provision of specifications for each class of Token
(Bar-code, Magnetic Card, Smart Card, Smart Key) is a POCL
responsibility. Pathway will agree these specifications, such
agreement not to be unreasonably withheld.
Reference No 550
Pathway Response
1. The Pathway AP system will write data to APS Tokens in
accordance with the rules identified in the appropriate Token
Technology Specification, AP Client Specification and POCL APS
Generic Rules.
Pathway Comment
Pathway understand that the software required to support access
to the PISCES and WATERCARD smart cards and the SCHLUMBERGER
Smart Key will not be provided to the Contractor until after
contract award. The earliest availability of the
specifications of this software would ensure the precise
requirements of POCL and their Clients are met in a timely
manner,
Reference No 551
Pathway Response
1. A receipt will be produced for each committed transaction.
Ze The receipt will contain information as specified in the
appropriate AP Client Specification and Token technology
Specification.
ai The reversal receipt will be identified as such and will
contain the account number of the original transaction together
with details of the date and time when the original transaction
took place.
4. The AP counter application displays details of the
transaction on the counter terminal. These include transaction
type, method of payment, value and account number. In the event
of counter printer failure these can be transcribed onto a
manual receipt. Where the transaction is supported by a
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magnetic card, these details would be transcribed using a card
imprinter.
5. Welsh/English receipts will be produced in all relevant
outlets.
6. The Pathway solution for OPS will retain all transaction
information in the local post office for up to two Cash Account
periods. This will enable information retrieval to take place
by suitable authorised personnel.
Pathway Comment
dew The precise types of information retrieval in the post
office will need to be discussed and agreed with POCL in order
that the appropriate facilities can be provided.
Ze The provision of specifications for each class of Token
(Bar-code, Magnetic Card, Smart Card, Smart Key) is a POCL
responsibility. Pathway will agree these specifications, such
agreement not to be unreasonably withheld.
Reference No 552
Pathway Response
1. Pathway confirms that the APS shall maintain and deliver
committed transactions to POCL and Clients in accordance with
appropriate AP Client Specification.
2. The provision of specifications for each class of Token
(Bar-code, Magnetic Card, Smart Card, Smart Key) is a POCL
responsibility. Pathway will agree these specifications, such
agreement not to be unreasonably withheld.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 553
Pathway Response .
1. Pathway confirms that Data Files from POCL and Clients
will be either collected or received and validated in
accordance with the relevant AP Client Specification.
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2s Pathway confirms that Data Files from POCL and Clients
will be available to all groups of outlets or specific outlets
in accordance with the appropriate AP Client Specification.
Pathway Comment
The provision of specifications for each class of Token (Bar-
code, Magnetic Card, Smart Card, Smart Key) is a POCL
responsibility. Pathway will agree these specifications, such
agreement not to be unreasonably withheld.
Reference No 554
Pathway Response
1. APS fallback strategy
The Pathway solution for the Automated Payments Service
comprises a counter application and supporting peripherals
which operate within the overall OPS counter applications
environment . Each post office counter is equipped with a PC
configuration and each configuration runs its own copy of the
AP application and has its own set of supporting peripherals.
The failure conditions that will affect the ability of a post
office to provide the AP service are limited to the failure of
a PC at a single counter post office, and the failure of the
Smart Card / Smart Key reader at a counter.
The distributed nature of the Pathway solution means that a
single counter failure in a multiple counter post office will
not affect their ability to provide an AP service from the
remaining counters. the provision of the AP service is not
affected by a failures that may occur in either central systems
or the network.
1.1 Single Counter PC failure
A single counter PC failure will result in the post office
providing a manual AP service for transactions supported by
magnetic card or by a paper bill. Magnetic card supported
transactions will be recorded by a card imprinter (zip-zap)
onto a two-part AP voucher. Paper supported transactions will
be recorded by retaining the paper bill.The post office copy
of this voucher will be used by the post master to enter the
transaction using a suitable data entry facility when the post
office counter is restored to service.
1.2 Smart Card/Smart Key failure
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No Smart Card/Key transactions can take place until the failed
unit is replaced.
1.3 Failure probability and impact
Failure Incidence Impact
Total loss of PC at single counter post office. The failure
rate of the PC is 4 hours outage every 1200 days, assuming the
PC is not turned off. This equates to one failure per counter
every four years. Manual AP vouchers will have to be produced
using the zip-zap system or manual transcription. Data from
the post office copy of these vouchers will be used to enter
the transaction details locally.
Loss of Smart Card reader at a counter. The failure rate of the
Smart Card reader is one fail every 300,000 reads or 4 hours
outage every 1800 days. This equates to one fail per counter
every six years. See note below.(assuming 50k reads per
counter per year - Scenario 3 year 2000/01 - Workload Brief
version 1.2) No Smart-Card transactions can take place while
the reader is awaiting replacement.
Note: The scenario described is that of a combined Magnetic
card/Smart card reader, such that any fail will require a whole
unit replacement.
Applying these failure rates to the workload volumes provided
in the Workload Brief gives the following.
Pc failure Smart Card failure
Year 1996/97 Scenario 1: 76 manual vouchers produced per day;
0.0022 % of total / day; 59 transactions not possible; 0.0009 %
of total / day.
Year 2000/01 Scenario 5 (BA) and Scenario 4 (POCL): 367 manual
vouchers produced per day; 0.0075 % of total / day; 422
transactions not possible; 0.0019 % of total / day.
2. Recovery to a known state
The Pathway AP counter application does not complete a
transaction until the data is known to have been committed to
the local journal. The User is always fully aware of whether a
transaction is complete or not. All transactions, once
committed to the Users local journal are replicated to all
other PC’s in the post office and to the central TMS server.
When a failed unit is replaced it will automatically
synchronise with other nodes in its workgroup and restore all
previous transactions.
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3. Data Corruption
All transaction details are recorded in the users local journal
and are appended with a CRC. This is checked every time the
record is accessed and in the event that the record has become
corrupt it will be discarded and retrieved from another node
within the post office or from the TMS servers.
4. Lost transaction data
It is not possible for transaction data to be lost within the
Pathway solution for OPS or any of the applications it
supports. Transactions once committed to a users local journal
are automatically replicated to other nodes in the post office
and the central TMS system. Any nodes which have to be
replaced are automatically re-synchronised from other nodes
within the post office or the central TMS service.
5. Re-Input of transaction data
The Pathway solution for AP will only require manual
transactions to be created should a single counter
configuration fail. Manually recorded AP transactions will be
input to the AP system once the OPS is re-established.
Magnetic Card supported transactions may be input using details
from the receipt. They would be recorded as a keyed entry.
Smart Card/Key transactions cannot take place when a single
counter PC has failed.
6. Data Recovery
Data recovery, or synchronisation, takes place automatically
following the replacement of a counter PC. There will be no
loss of service on any of the other configurations in the post
office while this takes place.
7. Receipts for recovered transactions
The AP system need not produce a receipt for any recovered
transactions.
8. Validation Rules for recovered transactions
The AP system will conform to the POCL APS generic rules.
Pathway Comment
None
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Reference No 555
Pathway Response
1. OPS initial implementation facilities
1.1 All OPS outlets will have the capability to read track 2
magnetic cards complying with ISO 7811 parts 1-4.
1.2 All OPS outlets will have the capability to read/write to
Smart Cards complying with ISO 7816 parts 1 and 2, and/or ISO
7816 parts 1,2 and 3. Future support for ISO 7816 part 4
will be provided.
1.3. Support for non standard cards may be possible and will be
assessed on an individual basis. Pathway would require
specific examples of any Cards which POCL require to be
supported in order to provide a complete impact assessment, but
they are not expected to be very significant. General areas
such as non standard embossing may impact the design of the
manual AP voucher. Non standard data on the magnetic stripe
would need to be reflected in the data validation definition of
the relevant application.
1.4 Pathway will supply a hand held bar code scanner capable
of reading at least 10.9 cm bar codes at 9mils resolution. The
codes supported will be at least Code 128, EAN8, EAN 13, code
39.
2. EPOS initial implementation facilities
Pathway confirm that in all outlets where EPOS is required the
Pathway EPOS solution
will :-
2.1 Provide support for manually fed pre-printed forms at the
counter by using an impact slip printer mechanism provided at
the counter as part of the counter PC configuration. The slip
printer will print Girobank summary forms G4631, G4632 and
G4633.
2.2 Provide support for Cheque printing together with a range
ef other forms at the counter using the same slip printer
mechanism.
2.3 Support the printing of existing Client reports which are
currently printed at the counter including the Girobank Daily
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Record forms. Support is provided for multiple font sets and
90 degree rotation printing so that the Girobank forms
referred to at 2.1 above can be printed.
2.4 Support the connection of the electronic weigh scales
including the Avery Berkel D104 and A702. These will be
connected via RS-232 connection to one or two counter PC
configurations.
2.5 Support the printing of reports to enable POCL to meet
existing Client commitments. This will be carried out on an A4
cut-sheet feed printer which will be installed as part of the
OPS.
2.6 Support the printing of cash accounts and plain paper
summaries using the above printing facility.
2.7 Support the printing of PDF417 two dimensional barcodes as
part of the back office cash account production process. This
will be done using the above printing facility.
2.8 The counter printer proposed by Pathway is a dot
addressable printer which can support the printing of barcodes
on forms and the tally roll.
Pathway will require further discussions with POCL to discuss
the particular applications or POCL Services that require
barcode printing and the types of paper stock that are expected
to be used.
2.9 The back office printer can support the printing of
barcodes and will support code 128, EAN 8, EAN 13 and code 39.
Pathway Comment
Pathway would appreciate any examples of non-standard Cards
which POCL wish to be supported.
Reference No 557
Pathway Response
1. Pathway confirms that the OPS will have the flexibility
for additional peripheral types to be added in future including
input devices and printers.
2. Pathway confirms that at least 4 additional RS-232
connected peripherals may be added to a counter configuration
subject to commercial considerations.
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3. OCR capability
Pathway has been notified that such a facility is not required.
4. Two-dimensional barcode capability
Pathway has been notified that such a facility is not required.
5. Teller Cash Dispensers
The Pathway OPS can physically support a connection to a teller
cash dispenser via an RS232 port. The introduction of new
peripherals will be subject to an agreed contract change
control processes.
Pathway Comment
Peripheral connectivity
Pathway currently intend to provide an 8-port serial card on
every PC. This together with two ports on the PC provides
connectivity for 10 RS-232 devices. The following devices are
the maximum that any one counter is currently expected to
require :-
Touch Screen, MSR/SCR from keyboard, Wand, Counter printer,
APPU, Scales
Total = 6.
With the minimum three spare ports required by POCL, Pathway
will have one additional port available (i.e. a total of 4 ~
spare peripheral ports on a fully configured counter
configuration) .
OCR and Two-dimensional barcode capability
Pathway has been notified that these options are not required.
Reference No 558
Pathway Response
1, Pathway fully appreciates the importance of transaction
times to POCL. We believe that we have demonstrated to POCL
that the Pathway OPS does keep transaction times to a minimum.
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2s Pathway confirms that the OPS is capable of supporting all
of the defined business transactions at the current and
projected volumes of business.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 559
Pathway Response
1. Pathway confirms that the OPS will be provided at each of
the POCL’s outlets.
2. Pathway confirms that the OPS will support the automation
all POCL transactions in due course.
3. Pathway confirms that the initial implementation of OPS
will be capable of supporting APS, OBCS and EPOSS.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 560
Pathway Response
Pathway recognises that technology will change during the
period of the contract and both POCL and Pathway will wish to
take advantage of this. “
Ls Pathway is required to deliver services outputs to POCL
against the stated service requirements, against demanding
performance targets and against associated performance
penalties. In order to deliver the POCL Services the Contractor
must exercise operational control over all aspects of service
delivery (the service inputs).
This includes the selection and replacement of the equipment
which is required to meet the POCL service requirement. Pathway
requires the right to replace equipment at outlets or to
substitute different equipment during implementation in order
that the contracted requirements can continue to be met.
Pathway recognise that POCL will require assurance that any
technology changes do not adversely impact the usability or
functionality of the OPS. Pathway will provide advance notice
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to POCL of any changes that are required to OPS and review any
associated introduction or replacement plans. POCL will not
unreasonably withhold their support for such changes.
2. Pathway confirms that it will periodically review with
POCL the specification of the equipment being used and
installed to ensure that the most appropriate technology is
deployed.
Pathway welcomes these reviews as a mechanism to ensure that
the OPS continues to meet Pathway’s service obligations, and to
consider the impact on the OPS specification of any future
Service extensions required by POCL.
Pathway Comment
In a contract lasting many years there are numerous possible
reasons why the Contractor
may need to replace or substitute equipment and not all of the
possible reasons can be foreseen now.
However, Pathway is not obliged to refresh the technology.
Reference No 561
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that it will indemnify POCL against any
dispute of its or POCL’s right to utilise the hardware,
software or information used for any of the supplied POCL
Services including third party challenges with reference to’
licensing or intellectual property rights. In the event of any
dispute Pathway will use all reasonable endeavours to ensure
that there is no impact on service.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 691
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS functions shall support the LFS and SAPADS, thus
allowing the management of cash and Stock.
2. EPOSS shall allow an authorised User to declare Stock and
cash levels and shall support the recording of Transfers into
and out of the Outlet.
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3 y EPOSS shall support the recording of physical Stock and
cash received in the Outlet.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 692
Pathway Response
1. In general, the outstanding customer session balance can
be settled by a single MoP or a combination of two or more MoPs
(e.g. part cash and part cheque).
EPOSS will be capable of enforcing a set of rules for a
transaction which will determine whether that transaction must
be settled and committed in its own right. For example, a DNS
savings account deposit transaction can be considered to be
committed when the passbook entry is made and stamped. This
suggests that the settlement should be an intrinsic part of the
DNS transaction.
EPOSS will be able to enforce a set rules for any transaction
which will determine the MoPs allowed for that transaction.
2 EPOSS will allow the introduction of new types of MoP by
implementing the MoPs in a generic manner similar to other
products/transactions. As such, EPOSS will allow new MoPs to
be introduced dynamically via reference data.
3. EPOSS will be capable of implementing EFTPOS, handling
debit cards, as a method of payment. EPOSS will have the
inherent capability to handle both debit and credit cards from
the start of the EFTPOS service.
The volumes quoted, while not surprisingly high, are
nevertheless high in absolute terms and will generate
considerably higher daytime telecommunications costs for the
contract services as a whole.
It is understood that cashback will not be required initially
but might become a requirement in the future. EPOSS will
ensure that cashback can be implemented as and when it is
required,
Pathway recommends Girobank as the preferred supplier of the
“Merchant Acquirer” services for EFTPOS. On-line authorisation
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will be routed via TMS and EFTPOS transactions and summaries
will also be transmitted via TMS.
EPOSS will provide daily reconciliation of its EFTPOS
transactions against information from the banking/financial
clients.
Pathway will consider the storage and access requirements for
signed receipts and will propose a preferred approach shortly.
Currently, Pathway favours the storage of signed receipts
centrally by Girobank as an additional service to the Post
Offices. The storage and retrieval procedures will take into
account the 0.2% receipt retrievals anticipated.
The options for the implementation of EFTPOS are currently
under consideration and will be presented separately on
finalisation.
The general benefits of transactions involving EFTPOS are
expected to include:
increased average value of transactions and increased value
of single transactions such as catalogue (e.g. Argos) sales
increased number of transactions - due to attraction of
cashback
increase number of customers from higher socio-economic group
earlier payment of MVLs, bills etc.
payment of bills at counters which currently require cash at
the counter or a cheque by post. E.g. Giro transcash foils with
“Cheque NOT Acceptable at PO Counter”
reduced handling costs (compared to cheques)
reduced clearing time (compared to cheques)
Pathway Comment
70% (at £15 floor limit) on-line authorisation seems high and
may result in annoying delays and lengthy queues. Girobank
state that £15 limit is a Switch rule and that VISA and
Mastercard are higher.
Girobank state that card scheme rules preclude cash withdrawal
at retail counters (including post office counter) but cashback
is allowed.
Pathway seeks to understand if POCL expects to be or to
nominate the “Merchant Acquirer”.
Reference No 693
Pathway Response
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1. EPOSS will allow a VAT style customer receipt to be
produced at the end of the customer session. The receipt will
be optional and will be printed if requested by the operator.
2. Some transactions will automatically produce a customer
receipt.
EP The format of all receipts will be agreed with POCL and
set out in the CCD entitled “Horizon OPS Reports and Receipts -
ICL Pathway Horizon Office Platform Service”.
4. The header/footer will be printed in Welsh and English or
English as required.
5. The facility will be provided for the printing of one or
more copies of a receipt following the end of one customer
session and before the beginning of the next customer session.
The second and subsequent copies of a customer receipt will be
marked as “duplicate”.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 694
Pathway Response
1. All transactions will be recorded using a Point of Sale
function. This function will provide a consistent method for
invoking fixed price product sales, simple open value
transactions and complex transactions. The recording of
information for all transactions will be handled in a
consistent manner.
2. Transaction data captured during other POCL Services will
be recorded via EPOSS.
3. EPOSS will allow the manual entry of weight values where
the scales are not linked. In fact, EPOSS will allow manual
entry of any information that is normally captured via a
peripheral to cater for the cases where the peripheral is not
connected, or has failed, or is unable to read for other
reasons (e.g. illegibility).
4. Where transaction data will be captured through a
peripheral reading device, the invocation of the transaction
will be event-driven.
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5. EPOSS will be able to read data from any appropriate input
device which is part of the OPS.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 695
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will provide a function for declaring actual cash
and stock on hand as part of the stock unit balancing process.
Cash will also be declared as part of the daily cash locked up
function or an electronic ONCH form.
2. The number of stock units and their setup will be under
the control of the manager of the Outlet as part of the office
administration functions. EPOSS will provide facilities for
creating and deleting stock units as well as setting stock unit
“sharable” attribute to cater for local working practices.
3. The stock unit management facility will allow changes to
stock unit options and assignments.
4. EPOSS will allow stock unit sharing where a stock unit is
attached to more than one user at the same time. This will be
optional so that sharable and non-sharable stock units can be
used within the same Outlet.
Si. EPOSS will allow each stock unit to be balanced as often
as is required within a cash account week. Balancing will
involve the declaration of cash and stock by denomination.
Sharing a stock unit results when it is attached to more than
one user at the same time. When sharing a stock unit, a group
of users will be able to divide the administrative functions
amongst themselves. For example, the declaration of cash and
stock on hand can be carried out by each user. Each
declaration will represent that user’s proportion of the total
for the stock unit. The aggregated total for the stock unit
will be used for subsequent balancing operations on the stock
unit.
6. EPOSS will allow an office balance to be produced at the
end of the week by amalgamating the stock unit balances.
The system will provide an office level snapshot, at any time,
of transactions, cash and stock levels across all stock units.
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The same facility will be available to provide an instant
snapshot of the transactions and contents of any single stock
unit.
ds EPOSS will produce an office cash account (conforming to
the approved format) which will include information regarding
manual voucher transactions, automated voucher transactions,
suspense account position, and cash and stock totals. An
office balance brought forward value will be derived for
inclusion in the next accounting period.
8. EPOSS will control access to a stock unit by using an
access level attribute. This will restrict its use to only
those users with an appropriate privilege level. If it is not
sharable then a stock unit can only be accessed by one user at
a time. In addition, each user will be restricted to using only
one stock unit at a time selected from a defined set.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 696
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will produce a daily report showing the cash held in
the office. The format of the report will be agreed with POCL,
although it will show cash held by denomination of bank note
and coin.
2s EPOSS will provide daily and weekly summaries of
transactions by stock unit for those transactions that require
such reporting.
3. EPOSS will print on client cut sheet stationery using the
counter printer or, if the physical size or layout of the
stationery demands it, the A4 Outlet printer.
4. Pathway understands that the range of clients and their
stationery varies considerably.
5. The format of all receipts will be agreed with POCL and
bilingual Welsh/English printing of these will be provided as
required,
6. The facility will be provided for printing more than one
copy of a receipt following the end of one customer session and
before the beginning of the next customer session. The second
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and subsequent copies of a customer receipt will be marked as
“duplicate”.
Ts EPOSS will provide daily and weekly summaries of
transactions by stock unit for those transactions that require
such reporting.
8. EPOSS will print on client cut sheet stationery in support
of Girobank and the PDR summarisation.
9, EPOSS will produce reports using the counter printer and
the A4 Outiet printer as appropriate to the physical printing
requirement. The reports will conform to client specifications
and will be produced at stock unit and office level as
required.
10. EPOSS will allow reports and summaries to be previewed on
screen as well as (or instead of) printed.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 697
Pathway Response
The clause 801 and schedule AO3 applies to this requirement.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 698
Pathway Response
Pathway shall use all reasonable endeavours to minimise and
control liabilities to itself and POCL.
Pathway will set up an organised security infrastructure
covering:
e security policy
e allocation of security responsibilities
e security education and training
e reporting security incidents
¢ physical security control
e virus control
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¢ business continuity
control of proprietary software
safeguarding POCL records
information classification
® compliance with data protection and other legislation
e information exchange control
* external contractors and suppliers
e compliance with security policy
e the management of fraud and risk within the solution during
service operation
Pathway confirms that it will comply with BS7799.
For details of Pathway’s approach to providing for integrity
and privacy assurance in services refer to requirement response
952.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 699
Pathway Response
The audit trail comprises information corresponding to the POCL
Infrastructure Service together with its Systems Management
function. The Systems Management function provides the audit
trail with a record of operational events, inventory,
distribution and remote operations.
Consistent identity of file, record and field will be
maintained.
The POCL Infrastructure Service element of the audit trail
1. All transactions that pass through TMS are recorded in the
journal. The journal will be maintained on magnetic media
within TMS for a period currently planned to be 90 days.
Following this the journal data will be archived to optical
storage. The current or archived TMS journals can be accessed
to provide an audit trail of all TMS transactions.
Some fallback scenarios will still be capable of recording a
transaction in the TMS journal, e.g. keyed entry of card.
Other scenarios will require data capture by alternate means
and subsequent introduction to the TMS journal (e.g. manual AP
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transactions due to equipment failure). In these situations the
transaction details will be entered by the postmaster locally
when the OPS is restored to service. Data captured during such
fallback situations in the TMS journal can be accessed to
provide an audit trail.
The distributed nature of the Pathway TMS enables an Audit
trail to be maintained and accessed during any recovery of a
TMS server.
2. The audit trail provided by the TMS journal will record
all file transfers, messaging or transactions, and the
processing that originated these messages.
3. Transactions recorded in the TMS journal will contain
some standard information and then variable data depending on
the process that originated them.
Standard data will include :-
Post Office ID - The unique ID of the Outlet
Position ID - A unique ID of the counter within the Outlet
Session ID - A unique ID that identifies an individual
customer session
Transaction ID - A unique ID within the Outlet for a
transaction that forms part of a customer
session
Date
Time
User - A unique user name of the counter clerk
initiating this transaction
Application - An OPS application service -
Variable Data will include :-
Transaction details 1
Transaction Details n
4. Activities that use more than one POCL Service may be
traced from start to finish with certainty, or from an
intermediate POCL Service.
A typical customer session in an Outlet may comprise the use of
APS (pay bill) and EPOSS (purchase stamp). All these
transactions will be recorded in the local outlet journal and
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each will contain the same unique session ID to identify that
they occurred as one set of customer transactions at the
counter. Each transaction will also record data specific to
that transaction.
Transactions are then replicated to the central TMS and are
subsequently extracted for processing and dispatch to a variety
of host systems (e.g. POCL, POCL-Client systems). Each
transaction will retain the attributes that enable its source
and any associated transactions to he identified (e.g.
transaction ID, session ID etc.). This data may be
interrogated, subject to agreed procedures with Pathway, at any
point in this process from
transaction origination in an Outlet to Client specific
datafiles just prior to dispatch.
5. Data recorded in the journal will be sufficient to allow a
transaction to be recreated. Pathway will be pleased to
discuss the recording of any specific data items that may be
required by POCL.
6. The content of the audit trail will be agreed between
Pathway and POCL.
7. Audit trail records will provide information for a period
consistent with the Companies Act
8. Pathway will provide POCL with reasonable access to the
audit trail provided by the TMS journal.
9. Once transactions are written to the TMS journal they can
never be altered or deleted.
10. TMS comprises a number of servers separated across two
geographically remote sites. The service is resilient against
the loss of individual servers or of a complete site.
Data within TMS is replicated within the local data centre and
to the remote datacentre. When failed servers or a complete
site is restored, all transactions are synchronised to bring
each server up to date. The TMS service continues operating
during this process.
Should both data centres supporting the TMS servers fail, the
Outlets would continue largely unaffected. Transactions (OBCS,
AP and EPOS transactions) would continue in each Outlet and be
recorded in the local journal. When the central TMS is
restored synchronisation would take place with each Outlet to
bring the central TMS up to date.
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11. It will be possible to provide a suitable legal assurance
as to the integrity of the audit trail.
12. Any changes to the POCL Services provided by Pathway will
be the subject of discussion and agreement with POCL.
Technological change may be one of the implications of a
service change (e.g. the introduction of a new counter
peripheral). The ability to maintain the facilities associated
with audit will be one of the acceptance criteria governing
the introduction of any change. In the event that the audit
trail medium becomes obsolete it will be securely copied to a
medium that will be serviceable for the required lifetime of
the content.
The Systems Management function
The Systems Management Service provides a repository for the
recording of all physical events affecting the platforms which
support the POCL Infrastructure Service, that is TMS and the
OPS. All these environments operate under Windows NT and are
managed from the Tivoli Management Servers. Tivoli provides,
in conjunction with the native Windows NT and messaging
middleware services, a comprehensive facility for trapping,
recording and interrogating audit events relating to the
operational status of the hardware, software and applications
running within the POCL Infrastructure Service.
Tivoli auditing features enable the recording of events such as
which users access which objects, what type of access in being
attempted and whether or not the attempt was successful.
Administrative privilege is required for controlling and
accessing audit files within Tivoli.
Audit events may be viewed through a Tivoli interactive
bulletin board with appropriate access security measures, or
may be accessed by applications to undertake routine bulk audit
analysis. Events related to the router network are similarly
forwarded to the network management server, for storage for
audit or operational planning purposes.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 799
Pathway Response
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Pathway can in principle provide a facility to manage the
receipt and subsequent issue of APS tokens as directed by POCL.
The introduction of such a facility will be subject to the
Change Control Procedure.
Pathway Comment
Before a final solution can be defined it will be necessary for
POCL and Pathway to agree the overall token issue process and
any links to the issuing client organisations.
Areas that will need to be covered include :-
Method of dispatch and receipt of tokens to post offices and
subsequent error handling.
Reconciliation of expected and actual token receipt and
subsequent error handling.
Method of issue to customer, verification processes and
subsequent exception handling.
Other exception conditions (e.g. token withdrawal, token non-
collection, token non-arrival).
Information feedback to POCL and / or Clients.
Reference No 800
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will record details of all transactions between the
customer and the clerk. The information recorded will include
any stock and cash items issued or received.
Z. All transactions carried out whilst serving a customer
will be recorded within that customer session.
Corrections to a transaction within the current customer
session will normally involve a simple modification applied
directly to the transaction. But, if the transaction is of a
type (e.g. on-line financial) that has already been committed
then it will corrected by:
a) the reversal of the original incorrect transaction.
b) the addition of the correct transaction.
If a correction needs to be applied to a transaction in a
previous customer session then the following procedure will be
used:
a) identify the customer session.
b) identify and reverse the incorrect transaction
c) insert the correct transaction.
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Corrections to transactions will not be possible after the cut-
off and despatch of those transactions to the appropriate
client, processing centre or accounting report.
A refund is assumed to be distinct from a reversal to correct
errors. It is considered to be a transaction in which a
customer returns an item bought and is given back cash or is
credited the amount. A refund must be supported by proof of
purchase, such as a receipt, which provides a reference to the
original customer session and the transaction.
3. EPOSS will uniquely identify each transaction and each
customer session.
4. EPOSS will provide an explicit “end customer” event which
will only be valid following the settlement of the customer
session. The provision of a running session balance and change
calculation should encourage the use of one session per
customer. Consideration should be given to the provision of
information messages triggered by the number of transactions in
the session.
S. EPOSS will indicate the change due to the customer when
the cash taken from the customer exceeds the session balance.
This will be implemented such that the session can be ended as
if the balance was zero.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 801
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will support the current range of business
transactions. Pathway understand that these are generically
grouped as:- Value Stock product; Method of Payment (MoP); Loss
and Gain transaction; Retail sales product; Receipt and Payment
transactions.
Zs EPOSS will support fixed price products and variable price
products which may have a default value.
3. EPOSS will support variable price products where:- the
value is entered by the clerk; the price is one of a defined
set. In each case, variable price products can include a
default value derived by look up from reference data or by an
“intelligent” guess based on context. Rules will be allowed
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for the validation of the value (this would include check for
zero value).
4. ‘Composite’ products will be implemented using product
categorisation and grouping. This will allow the sale and
declaration of products by denomination.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 802
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will record the issue and receipt of any stock and
cash items associated with a transaction against a stock unit.
This will result in the increase or decrease of stock and cash
levels within the stock unit as appropriate. This will allow
the current stock position for a stock unit to be reported on
request.
2. Discrepancies between the actual stock and cash on hand
and the system’s view of stock and cash in a stock unit will be
resolved by the stock and cash on hand declaration function.
This will synchronise the system’s view of a stock unit’s
contents with the actual stock unit's contents. This will take
care of these types of discrepancies (compensating or
otherwise) without carrying out a transaction or a reversal.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 803
Pathway Response
EPOSS will implement mechanisms to safeguard against recording
one-sided transactions.
EPOSS will maintain a disk-based log of transactions within a
customer session. Each transaction is added to this session
log as it is completed. At the end of the session all of the
transactions will be transferred (committed) to the journal.
When all transactions have been safely committed the session
log is cleared.
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If failure occurs after the session has ended but before all
transactions have been committed a cleanup procedure will use
the (uncleared) session log to complete the commit process.
A transaction that requires it will be settled and committed
when it is completed (i.e. before the end of the session).
Obviously, this type of transaction does not need to be
transferred and committed to the journal at the end of the
session. For the purposes of recovery this type of transaction
is treated as a session in its own right. It is marked
“committed” after it has been successfully committed but is not
cleared until the end of the session.
If failure occurs before the end of the session, none of the
transactions will have been committed except for those that had
been committed on completion as described above.
The implementation of these measures will ensure that a
balanced status is maintained in the event of interruption or
failure.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 804
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will maintain a journal of all transactions and a
facility will be provided to allow the user to search and
“browse” previous transactions. The user will be able to
restrict the scope of the search.
2. All transactions will identify the stock unit and the
balance period to which they apply.
3. It must be stressed that transactions, once committed to
the journal, are NEVER deleted or modified by counter or office
functions. The original transaction is always maintained and a
reversal transaction negates the effect of the original. The
transaction reversal process is described for the following
scenarios:
Scenario 1. The transaction is in a previous customer
session within the current stock unit balance period. The
transaction has not yet been despatched (i.e. client cut-off)
from the office.
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The user will be able to browse the transaction journal in
order to find and select the transaction for reversal. A loss
or gain transaction may need to be generated to account for any
cash (or other MoP) involved in the transaction. Any client
summary will need to be re-printed to reflect the reversal.
Scenario 2. The transaction is in a previous stock unit
balance period. The transaction has not yet been despatched
(i.e. client cut-off) from the office.
The reversal must be carried out by the office manager within
the office administration function - accounting adjustments.
The manager will select the stock unit balance period and
browse the transaction journal in order to find and select the
transaction for reversal. A loss or gain transaction may need
to be generated to account for any cash (or other MoP) involved
in the transaction. The stock unit balance report and any
client summary will need to be re-printed to reflect the
reversal.
Scenario 3. The transaction is in the previous cash account
period (i.e. the stock unit has been rolled over). The
transaction has not yet been despatched (i.e. client cut-off)
from the office.
As above, the reversal must be carried out by the office
manager within the office administration function - accounting
adjustments. The manager will select the stock unit balance
period and browse the transaction journal in order to find and
select the transaction for reversal. A loss or gain transaction
may need to be generated to account for any cash (or other MoP)
involved in the transaction. The stock unit balance report and
any client summary will need to be re-printed to reflect the
reversal.
Scenario 4. The transaction has already been despatched
(i.e. client cut-off) from the office.
The transaction is not reversible. The error will probably
result in the receipt of an error notice from the client.
Note
There is a distinction between a reversal for accounting
corrections, such as the loss of a foil or stub, and a
reversal due to a transaction refund (e.g. when a customer
changes his mind).
4. Use of the transaction journal to resolve enquiries will
be supported.
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Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 805
Pathway Response
a. EPOSS will maintain a journal of all events such as logon,
attach to stock unit, declare stock and cash and so on. The
journal entry information will include the user and the stock
unit.
2. The journal entries will identify the stock unit and the
balance period to which they apply.
3. A facility will be provided to allow the user to search
and “browse” the events in the journal using specified search
criteria.
4. Use of the event journal to resolve enquiries will be
supported.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 806
Pathway Response
1. The time and date will be maintained centrally and will be
transmitted to EPOSS via TMS thus ensuring that all Outlets are
synchronised
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 807
Pathway Response
The transfer of stock between stock units will be conducted in
the following way:
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a) The requesting user (i.e. the one receiving the stock items
will verbally agree with the sending user that the items can be
transferred.
b) The requester will use a Transfer Request function (a form)
to identify the sender and the stock items required.
c) The sender will use the “Transfer Out” function to view and
confirm the stock items. When this is completed a “Transfer
Out” receipt slip is printed by the sender . This process
generates transfer out transactions and decreases the stock
units stock levels.
d) The requester will use the “Transfer In” function to view
and confirm the stock items. When this is completed a
“Transfer In” informational slip is printed by the requester.
This process generates transfer in transactions and increases
the stock units stock levels.
e) The physical exchange of stock is accompanied by the signing
of the Transfer Out receipt slip by the requester. The sender
keeps the signed receipt as proof.
1. EPOSS will record the movement of stock and cash between
stock units (i.e. transfers) within the same post office. The
details of each transfer will be recorded in the journal and
will identify the stock units and their respective balance
periods.
2. Each transfer will comprise a set of one or more stock and
MoP products.
3. The mechanism for entering the details of a transfer will
resemble a form filling (P119) method rather than a serving
session.
4. EPOSS will automatically adjust the stock and cash levels
of the corresponding stock units to take into account the
transfer.
5. The transfer will be recorded as occurring within the
respective balance period of each of the stock units involved.
Pathway Comment
None
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Reference No 808
Pathway Response
is EPOSS will support the receipt, maintenance, return and
issue of serial numbered stock items and tokens. Where the
serial numbers are identified at the point of service (i.e.
issue) EPOSS will support the recording of “spoiled” items.
EPOSS will provide reconciliation functionality for serial
numbered items. Reconciliation will be by volume and stock
unit as follows:
Number brought forward + Number received
equals
Number on hand - Number issued ( or spoilt or returned)
Where the movement of individual serial numbered items is not
recorded EPOSS will provide manual bulk entry facilities for
reconciliation.
2. EPOSS will support a suspense account mechanism whereby
items not cleared during the accounting period will be carried
forward to the next.
3. EPOSS will provide a snapshot representing the office
balance position derived from all of the stock unit balances
completed within the current accounting period. The format of
the snapshot report will be agreed with POCL.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 809
Pathway Response
1. The EPOSS desktop will provide customer session management
which will maintain:
a) a log of all of the transactions performed since the start
of the customer session
b) the session balance in the form of an amount to “take in” or
“pay out”
c) the allowable methods of payment for settlement
2. Transactions recorded in the journal will be identified by
customer session.
Pathway Comment
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None
Reference No 810
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will allow reversals and refunds. These operations
will only be possible if POCL and Client accounting and
business rules allow them.
2. The behaviour of transactions will be governed as far as
possible by reference data parameters.
3. EPOSS will allow ‘rate shopping’ for those transactions
which involve value-added associated services. For example,
insured, registered and recorded delivery services against an
inland letter transaction.
In addition, EPOSS will allow a total value to be input against
a fixed price product. It will calculate the whole number of
items that may be purchased for the amount specified. For
example, if £1.00 is entered against second class stamps (19p
each) the system will resolve this to 5 second class stamps
with a total amount of 95p.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 811
Pathway Response
1. The passing of information to TMS is not strictly an EPOSS
function. EPOSS will be responsible for recording information
to the journal, but the subsequent replication and transmission
of that information is then handled by the TMS functions.
2. EPOSS will support the introduction of new Client
services, These will be integrated into the EPOSS product set
so that they can be invoked by the appropriate event.
In most cases the introduction of a new product will be
achieved through the distribution of reference data updates via
TMS. In addition to reference data updates functionality can
be introduced dynamically using revised versions of EPOSS (or
APS) (and again these can distributed via TMS).
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Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 812
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will allow customer transactions to be reversed.
EPOSS will also implement a mechanism to allow corrections to
stock and cash transfers within the Outlet or between the
Outlet and a remote location.
2s EPOSS will allow reversals to transactions providing that
POCL and Client accounting and business rules allow them.
36 EPOSS will allow “accounting adjustments” in the form of
correction transactions which are not necessarily mapped to
specific transactions in the journal.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 813
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will allow revaluation of fixed price value stock
and MoP products. Revaluation of a product would normally be
achieved through a reference data change delivered via TMS.
The implementation of these types of products will be such that -
the new version will be distributed to Outlets in advance, and
will coexist with the current version, only coming into effect
on a specified “activation date”. The activation date is part
of the reference data (as is the expiry date of the superseded
version).
2. Pathway acknowledges the possibility of future alternative
currencies and EPOSS will implement MoPs accordingly.
3. The inclusion “uprating” and “downrating” accounting
entries will allow for changes in stock product prices to be
balanced.
4. EPOSS will implement revaluation of generic stock products
in an appropriate and efficient manner.
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Sis The reference data for each value stock product will
contain information which determines the accessibility (or
sellable status) of the product.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 814
Pathway Response
i. EPOSS will provide a cash on hand declaration function
analogous to the filling of a paper form.
2. This function will allow the cash on hand to be declared
by denomination (including coin) for the purposes of daily cash
reporting and as part of the stock unit balancing process.
3. The cash on hand declaration can be invoked at any time
but will normally be carried at the end of a stock unit balance
period and always as part of the end of day process.
4. The EPOSS system only accepts two-sided transactions so
that it is always in a balanced state as far as the information
it processes is concerned. In reality, the system will
sometimes be out of balance due to physical misplacement of
cash, value stock or any other transaction related vouchers.
It can also be logically balanced but physically in error as a
result of mis-keying (e.g. MoP as cash instead of a cheque).
In this case there may be a discrepancy between the system view -
of total cash and the actual cash on hand, but it will not
necessarily result in a loss or gain being generated.
EPOSS will generate a loss or gain when:
Total Receipts (including Opening Stock and Cash)
does NOT equal
Total Payments (including Stock and Cash on Hand)
5. EPOSS will issue an appropriate warning message when the
cash on hand declaration total differs from the expected figure
as maintained by the system.
6. EPOSS will permit the declaration of a zero value of any
(or all) cash denominations.
7. EPOSS will carry forward and default to the denomination
values from the last known declaration when no activities have
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occurred to alter these. A message will be issued to ensure
that the user is aware of this when the cash on hand
declaration function is invoked. Under normal circumstances
the values will be set to zero to try and ensure that the user
explicitly declares each.
8. In a Team Working office the cash declaration activity
could be shared by any (or all) of the users attached to each
particular stock unit.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 815
Pathway Response
ae EPOSS will allow stock units which have not being used
within an Outlet accounting period to be “rolled-over” to the
next accounting period.
2. All stock units within the Outlet which contribute to the
Cash Account must be rolled-over before the production of the
Cash Account. This applies to dormant stock units a well as
those that have been used during the period.
3. The office manager will control the roll-over of the
dormant stock units.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 816
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will have access to a full set of outlet records for
a rolling period of 18 months.
2. Information will be retrieved as complete set of records
for the specified outlet account period.
3. The information for the previous two outlet accounting
periods will be available for review on demand. Information
dating back further than this will be available at 24 hours
notice.
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4, EPOSS will record ail significant events and all data
entries.
5s EPOSS will implement a tiered level of access control.
Each facility will have an associated access level and the user
will require a corresponding (or better) privilege level to
access the facility. Combined with the user logon requirement,
this will provide a controlled environment for all users of the
system.
6. EPOSS will provide the facility for an authorised user to
maintain information about the users. This facility will allow
the introduction of new users, the modification of user
attributes (including password and privilege level), the
deletion of users, and the suspension of a user's access to the
system.
There will be a similar facility for stock units.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 817
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will allow discounting for those products which are
defined to be discountable in the reference data.
2. EPOSS will implement an appropriate discounting mechanism
for each discountable product. In it’s most generic form this
will take the form of a user specified percentage at the time
of transaction. In specific transactions, a percentage will be
derived from the reference data as the default. The
application of a user specified percentage discount for all
discountable products in a customer session will be supported.
3. In a similar way to above, allow a user specified discount
value at the time of transaction. In specific transactions,
the value will be derived from the reference data as the
default. The application of a user specified discount value
for all discountable products in a customer session will be
supported.
Pathway Comment
None
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Reference No 818
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will have access to reference data imported from The
Reference Data System via TMS. EPOSS will support date and
time stamping of reference data in the form of activation and
expiry dates. The activation and expiry dates are part of the
reference data.
2s EPOSS will produce a report of the reference data in use
at an Outlet. The format of the report will allow recent
changes to be presented clearly. Changes (and notification)
will normally be delivered to the Outlet electronically.
3. EPOSS will maintain reference data used to control the
behaviour of most aspects of EPOSS and transactions. EPOSS
functions will be driven by reference data parameters whenever
the functionality can be generalised. This will allow many
aspects of the behaviour of EPOSS to be modified via reference
data changes rather than software.
4. EPOSS will maintain the consistency of reference data to
report on and warn of errors. Interdependencies between
reference data elements will dictate whether reference data
record deletions (and other operations) are possible.
The distribution of reference data to other counter
workstations is the responsibility of the TMS/Journalising
middleware. Similarly, reference data record integrity is
handled by the TMS/Journalising middleware.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 819
Pathway Response
1s EPOSS will support the different cash account formats
(i.e. standard Outlet format and CRU format)currently used.
The use of spare cash account lines to report on new products
will normally be facilitated by reference data changes
distributed via TMS. The cash account tables and validation
rules applying to individual cash account lines will be
maintained as part of the EPOSS reference data.
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2. The mapping of the cash account lines to product and
transaction data will be maintained as reference data.
3. EPOSS will maintain the cash account period numbers and
their associated start and end dates as part of the reference
data. A cash account period is normally a week. To cater for
those occasions when the Outlet is authorised to combine two or
three weeks into a single accounting period EPOSS will produce
a single cash account report covering all transactions in the
combined period. It is proposed that the cash account week
number of the final week is associated with this cash account
report.
It is understood that some client reports require the actual
cash account week number to be identified. EPOSS will print
the actual cash account week number for these reports.
4. EPOSS will initially produce a printed and an electronic
version of the cash account report.
5. EPOSS will include a 2D bar-code on the printed report.
The format of the data contained within the barcode is to be
specified by POCL, but it is anticipated that it will contain a
data-compressed set of all of the cash account report.
6. EPOSS will allow trial cash accounts to be produced.
Production of the final cash account can be followed by an end-
of-week facility which will ‘move’ the outlet forward into the
next accounting period.
Note. Stock units will normally have been rolled-over into the
next accounting period before the trial and final cash accounts
have been produced. This is necessary in order to allow the
staff in the Outlet to continue with their everyday tasks.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 820
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will implement a tiered level of access control.
Each facility will have an associated access level and the user
will require a corresponding (or better) privilege level to
access the facility. Combined with the user logon requirement,
this will provide a controlled environment for all users of the
system.
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2. EPOSS will not hinder the Outlet’s ability to maintain
trading if the OPS is not available.
3. Following an Incident, EPOSS will:
a) allow the user to return to a recent trusted position
b) implement appropriate measures to reduce the risk of data
corruption
¢) resume operation in a controlled auditable way as quickly as
possible.
4. Backup of data will be handled by the data replication
facilities of the TMS/Journalising middleware. This will allow
seamless recovery from Incidents such as localised failure. A
return to a known and trusted reference position will be
provided by the setting of appropriate data markers.
5. EPOSS will implement measures to provide a robust
committal process that reduces the risk of unrecoverable system
errors.
6. EPOSS will implement measures to reduce the amount of data
re-entry following recovery from a system failure.
7. EPOSS will monitor the integrity of the data and will
inform the user of any implications with respect to the state
of the data.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 821
Pathway Response
i. Pathway recognises that the centralisation of the
administration of local schemes is a complex problem and needs
extensive investigation to assess whether it is operationally
achievable in an efficient manner. Therefore, it is proposed
that local schemes will be implemented as a set of blank
template products that can be tailored and activated when
required. Facilities to account for and report on these
transactions will be provided.
EPOSS will be configurable such that it could:
a) restrict the availability of specific transactions for an
Outlet.
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b) allow the use of specific transactions to be optional for an
Outlet.
c) allow local tailoring of specific transactions for an
Outlet.
d) introduce new functionality as agreed with POCL.
2. EPOSS will ensure that transaction data and data derived
from transactions is in the appropriate form for use by systems
outside of OPS. It will also provide facilities to read and
interpret data originating from systems outside OPS.
Pathway Comment
The following information is provided in order to assess the
complexity of administering local schemes centrally.
Currently there are seven regions each administering
approximately 20-30 schemes as indicated in the following
table:
Region Approx. No. of Approx. No. of
Clients Schemes
North East 25 26
North Wales and North West 24 24
Midlands 18 21
Scotland and Northern Ireland 13 14
South East 22 22
South Wales and South West 27 27
North Thames and East Anglia 22 23
Total 151 157
In general, all post offices within an area will offer the
local schemes. A few offices within the area may be excluded
from the scheme, and a few offices from neighbouring areas will
be included in the scheme.
The FAD code of an office is a seven digit number of the form
0CO AAA C
where 000 = Numeric Office code
AAA = Numeric Area Code
C = Check digit
An analysis of the FAD codes has provided the following
information:
1. There are a total of 145 areas in all regions.
2. The largest number of offices in an area is 404.
3. The average number of offices in an area is 135.
4. The smallest number of offices in an area is 4.
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For a centralised administration and reference data
distribution function for local schemes to be implemented, with
each participating office in each scheme being individually
identified, a database estimated at 30,000 to 40,000 records is
required.
Each local scheme will consist of approximately 150 records
with a maximum of almost 500 records.
Reference No 822
Pathway Response
The Contractor shall provide the Logistics Feeder Service
through the medium of the POCL Service Infrastructure such that
it can interface to the agreed POCL SAP/ADS system. The POCL
Service Infrastructure shall be designed such that, subject to
the Change Control Procedure, it can interface into any other
POCL inventory management system, and shall have sufficient
capacity not to preclude such interfacing.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 823
Pathway Response
1. The storage of EPOSS transaction data and data derived
from transactions is the responsibility of the TMS/Journalising
middleware. It is the responsibility of this middleware to
ensure that the data is made available to other POCL Services
which require access to the data.
2. EPOSS will implement appropriate measures in an attempt to
Maintain the integrity of data in the event of an Incident and
avoid corruption of data due to interruption of an incomplete
process.
In addition to the actual data to be recorded EPOSS will
include information which is used to ensure the integrity of
the data. The additional information consists of a message
sequence number and a message CRC check digit.
Pathway Comment
None
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Reference No 824
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will allow the price of posting a mail item to be
determined from information including the class of mail, the
weight, and (if not inland) the destination. The weight will
be provided by a connected electronic scale. Where the scale
is shared between counter positions, it will be the
responsibility of the scale to handle contention and accept or
deny a connection to a counter workstation.
2. EPOSS will ensure that a connection to the scales is only
requested when needed by a transaction and will proceed with
such a transaction when the connection is made. EPOSS will
ensure that the connection to the scale is released promptly
when it is no longer required.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 825
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will record all sales. All transactions will be
recorded using a Point of Sale function. This function will
provide a consistent method for invoking fixed price product
sales, simple open value transactions and complex transactions. =
The recording of information for all transactions will be
handled in a consistent manner.
2. Where transaction data will be captured through a
peripheral reading device, the invocation of the transaction
will be event-driven.
3s Each counter transactions will be maintained within its
respective customer session.
4. Transaction data captured during other POCL Services will
be recorded via EPOSS.
5s Transactions recorded in the journal will be identified by
customer session.
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6. The EPOSS desktop will provide customer session management
which will maintain:
a) a log of all of the transactions performed since the start
of the customer session
b) the session balance in the form of an amount to “take in” or
“pay out”
c) the allowable methods of payment for settlement
7. In general, an outstanding customer session balance can be
settled by a single MoP or a combination of MoPs (e.g. part
cash and part cheque). In some circumstances a transaction
(e.g. savings account deposit) can require settlement in its
own right irrespective of other transactions in the customer
session. In addition, EPOS will enforce a set rules for a
transaction which will determine the MoPs allowed for that
transaction.
8. EPOSS will allow the introduction of new types of MoP by
implementing the MoPs in a generic manner similar to other
products/transactions. As such, EPOSS will allow new MoPs to
be introduced dynamically via reference data and applets.
5. EPOSS will support multiple simultaneous customer sessions
at the same counter position. It will allow a customer session
to be suspended and resumed as required. When one or more
customer sessions are suspended the clerk can continue to start
and end further sessions for other customers.
10. EPOSS will provide a Void (or cancel) facility for the
current customer session. Some transactions in the session may
not be “voidable” due to accounting or business rules.
11. EPOSS will allow reversals and refunds. These operations
will only be possible if POCL and Client accounting and
business rules allow them.
12. EPOSS will support primary products with associated
mandatory and optional products. For example, the £1.00 postal
order product will have an associated 25p postal order fee
product, or the association of a product representing the
notional value of an MVL disc for accounting purposes. EPOSS
will support the linking of as many associated products to a
primary product as is appropriate.
EPOSS will support cross-selling in the form of messages and
prompts associated with selected products. For example, the
selling of theatre tickets could prompt the question: “And how
are you travelling there, sir/madam?” which could result in the
sale of a bus or rail ticket.
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13. EPOSS will have the facility to read data from all the
input devices (and their storage media) that are part of the
OPS.
14. EPOSS will allow the manual entry of weight values where
the scales are not linked. In fact, EPOSS will allow manual
entry of any information that is normally captured via a
peripheral to cater for the cases where the peripheral is not
connected, or has failed, or is unable to read for other
reasons (e.g. illegibility).
15. EPOSS will support the introduction of new Client
services. These will be integrated into the EPOSS product set
so that they can be invoked by the appropriate event.
In most cases the introduction of a new product will be
achieved through the distribution of reference data updates via
TMS. In addition to reference data updates functionality can
be introduced dynamically using revised versions of EPOSS (or
APS) (and again these can distributed via TMS).
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 826
Pathway Response
The Pathway solution for OPS is based around a PC configuration
at each counter position. Each PC will have a number of spare
RS232 ports and these may be used for the connection of future
peripherals. Connection to Avery-Berkel Parcel Scales has
already been demonstrated.
Pathway confirms that the OPS will be capable of connecting to
specialist peripherals which support dual connection. The
capability for such peripherals to be dual connected is
primarily a function of the design of the peripheral, its
physical connections and supporting firmware.
Access to these peripherals will be restricted to those counter
PC's which are suitably configured.
Pathway Comment
None
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Reference No 827
Pathway Response
che The overall Pathway solution can be developed to provide
support for a variety of authorisation methods including stop
lists, go lists and other forms of authorisation in support of
future POCL Products. Detailed discussion would be required
with POCL and/or the Client on the form of such authorisation
processes and the precise maintenance and usage of all
supporting data.
Where such products exploit the “nominated post office”
relationship between a customer and a specific post office the
design of any authorisation process would seek to hold such
data locally to reduce network costs and optimise transaction
times.
2. The Pathway solution can support links to external
computer systems. Such links are already in existence and are
achieved through the use of a service specific TMS agent.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 828
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that it will maintain the confidentiality,
integrity, validity and completeness of data throughout all
storage, processes and transmissions, including during periods
of service failure and recovery from service failure.
The techniques that have been proposed by Pathway in particular
circumstances, include physical and personal security measures,
file integrity checking, data encryption, digital signatures,
CRC checking, disk encryption, systems design for selective
management and visibility of data.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 829
Pathway Response
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Pathway confirms that it will ensure that all relevant
information produced at the request of POCL shall be
evidentially admissible and capable of certification in
accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE)
1984 and the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland)
Order 1989 and equivalent legislation covering Scotland.
Pathway confirms that at the direction of POCL and subject to
reasonable regard to the data volumes and storage durations
incurred, audit trail and other information necessary to
support live investigations and prosecutions will be retained
for the duration of the investigation and prosecution
irrespective of the normal retention period of that
information.
Reference No 830
Pathway Response
1 Contingency plans
Pathway will, in co-operation with POCL establish comprehensive
plans that:
will ensure that all POCL Services are supported by
contingency plans, including where appropriate, fallback
transactions, that will minimise or negate the impact of
failure in any part of the POCL Services
will ensure that such plans are compatible with an overall
service continuity framework
are based on impact and risk assessments agreed between
Pathway and POCL
identify ownership of all plans
include activation procedures and time periods within which
contingency measures will be activated
include a testing strategy for both initial testing on
implementation and deployment and for regular testing during
normal ongoing operations
include:
prevention measures
preparedness measures
contingency measures
recovery of normal service
change control procedures
contact lists
service levels including contractor liability per associated
agreements
be subject to joint review by Pathway and POCL
ee a es
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Pathway Comment
The Business Continuity Framework will be introduced as a
contract controlled document.
Reference No 831
Pathway Response
Reference is made to Interface Specification, POCL Interface
Requirements for BA/POCL System.
PATHWAY SOLUTION:
Pathway will develop the necessary systems and operational
processes to support the interfaces as specified in this
requirement and the POCL Interface document.
Pathway assumes that subject to the comments made below this
document will form the basis of the Contract. Following
Contract award it will become subject to joint change control
between POCL and Pathway.
Pathway recognises from section 1.2.2 of the POCL Interface
document that further functionality may be required and will be
pleased to discuss the necessary operational and commercial
implications as details become known.
The development and implementation of POCL interfaces will
principally take the form of TMS Agents that act upon
transactions originated within the Outlets or which receive
transactions or data from POCL or Client systems.
Transactions from Outlets will be generated as a part of the
counter application (e.g. AP, OBCS, LFS).
The detailed formats of all interfaces will be agreed with
POCL. Pathway notes the requirement in section 2.1.2 and D5
of the POCL Interface document that the ARTS model will be
used where applicable as the standard for record interfaces.
Specific Interface support
1. Logistics Feeder Service (LFS) to/from Outlets via TMS
Interfaces will be provided in accordance with "LFS to SAPADS
and SAPADS to LFS Application Interface Specification” (POCL
reference JED/LFS/007).
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2s Transaction Information System (TIP) system interfaces
from TMS and outlets.
Interfaces will be provided in accordance with Pathway to TIP
Application Interface Specification
3. POCL Reference Data system interfaces to TMS and outlets
Interfaces will be provided in accordance with Reference Data
to Pathway (Reference Data Project Application Interface
Specification) and Application Interface Specification
Reference Data to Pathway Non-Automated Type B Data.
4. Interfaces between outlets (via TMS) and POCL Clients
Interfaces will be provided in accordance with Pathway to HAPS
Interface Specification. Interfaces will be provided in
accordance with AP Client Specifications in respect of
individual AP Clients when these are agreed.
5. TIP/TMS interface for authorisation data
The capability for POCL to effect reconciliation between itself
and its clients is provided by the TMS outputs to TIP as
specified in Pathway to TIP Application Interface
Specification.
Pathway notes the exclusions both in requirement 831 and the
POCL Interface document.
From requirement 831
EFTPOS (although stated as not part of the initial
procurement Pathway notes the terms of requirement 692).
Reconciliation and exception reporting. Reports will be
provided in accordance with Specification for APS
Reconciliation Reports (APS) and Pathway to TIP Application
Interface Specification.
Operational management information.
Inspection of transaction and event logs for audit and
security purposes.
Transitional arrangements in relation to the automated
payments/ALPS host. Automated Payments: Pathway will provide
interfaces in accordance with Pathway to HAPS Interface
Specification. ALPS host: Requirement 899 specifies that the
stop lists for OBCS will be transferred from DSS to TMS;
Pathway will provide interfaces in accordance with DSS Client
Interface Specification \ OBCS.
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Transitional arrangements for cash account processing.
Pathway will provide facilities in accordance with Service
Architecture Design Document Section 4.1.3.3.4.
From the POCL Interface document (where not stated in
requirement 831)
File and message switching interfaces. These are covered in
requirements 471 and 478.
Pathway confirms that all interfaces will be agreed with POCL
and notes that the associated specifications are subject to
change.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 832
Pathway Response
The automation of transaction processing at the counter will
allow the following business processes:
1) The data captured at the Outlet will be complete and
accurate within the context of the activity being recorded.
For example, transaction data will include information which
uniquely identifies each transaction.
2) The transfer of data will be handled by the TMS/Journaling
middleware. It will ensure that the data transfer is secure,
complete, accurate and robust.
3) EPOSS will provide validation of transaction data for both
format and content. Validation of the format of data will
normally be handled at the data entry level by the EPOSS
Desktop using information from the product definition reference
data. EPOSS will also support the validation of the content of
the data in on-line and off-line operation.
4) EPOSS will record transactions and events in a way that is
resistant to tampering. In the event of fraud, this
information will be used to establish that the POCL Service was
operating as intended.
5) EPOSS will support transactions which force the printing of
a customer receipt. A copy of the receipt will be printed for
retention in the Outlet. All of the transaction details will
be recorded in the journal and these can also be used for the
resolution of problems.
6) The Outlet, stock unit, and user will be all be identified
when recording transactions and any activities involving cash
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and value stock. This will enable accountability to be
maintained for the handling of cash, value stock and
transaction documentation.
7) Eposs will record a complete set of transactions for a
customer session at the point of sale. This will include all
methods of payment.
8) EPOSS will implement a tiered level of access control. Each
function will have an associated access level and the user will
require a corresponding (or better) privilege level to access
the facility. Combined with the user logon requirement, this
will provide a controlled environment for all users of the
system. EPOSS will also provide the facility for an authorised
user to maintain information about the users. This facility
will allow the introduction of new users, the modification of
user attributes (including password and privilege level), the
deletion of users, and the suspension of a user’s access to the
system. There will be a similar facility for stock units
9) The TMS/Journaling middleware will provide transparent data
replication within the Outlet and transmission to TMS. This
will provide a robust environment for Outlets with two or more
counter positions. For Outlets with a single counter position
EPOSS will augment the transmission to TMS with transparent
replication of data to an auxiliary storage device (e.g.
diskette drive). Recovery will also be free of operator
intervention. EPOSS will rebuild the system using the data
from TMS and will augment this with information from the
auxiliary storage device. The process described above removes
the need for staff to perform back ups.
10) Each user, counter position and counter equipment device
will be uniquely defined within the Outlet.
11) EPOSS will allow each stock unit to be balanced as often as
is required within a cash account week. Balancing will involve
the reconciliation of transaction data, cash and_ stock
movements against the actual cash and stock held. The
balancing process will provide the opportunity for review and
amendment before final review and authorisation.
12) Transaction data will be transmitted to TMS in a timely and
efficient manner using a secure method.
13) Transaction data that has not been transmitted to TMS will
be clearly identifiable.
14) A recorded transaction will be reconcilable against any
supporting vouchers (i.e. stubs, forms, counterfoils) generated
or collected during the transaction. Where necessary the
vouchers will be made available for central processing and
validation. S
15) EPOSS will maintain an up-to-date record of each stock
unit‘s contents. It will provide facilities to report the
current balance position of each stock unit. It will also
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provide an instant office snapshot facility which will provide
a view of the last known office balance position on demand.
16) All movements of cash, stock and other items will be
recorded and clearly identified. See responses to requirements
691, 807 and 822.
17) EPOSS will produce all specified summaries when required.
If required, summaries will contain only those transactions not
already summarised. The process will take into account the
client cut-off’s such that transactions already reported and
despatched prior to the cut-off are not included on subsequent
summaries.
18) EPOSS will support and identify items posted to suspense
accounts.
19) Pathway will ensure that the system complies with all the
appropriate legislation.
20) The Outlet will continue to operate using the fallback
procedures following a system failure. This will include the
manual recording of all events and transactions, and this can
be considered to be an “audit trail”. On recovery, the system
will record the fact that the system failure took place, and
any events (such as transaction entry) which are part of the
recovery process will be identified as such.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 833
Pathway Response
EPOSS will support a training mode. It will support “trainee”
users and “training stock units”. Operations on training stock
units and any associated transactions will be recorded.
Balancing of training stock units will be permitted but this
information will be excluded from the office balancing and
accounting process.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 834
Pathway Response
1. Adequate Contingency
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The Pathway solution and supporting services provide
comprehensive contingency arrangements for all outlets. These
include :-
A distributed design which insulates the majority of counter
transactions from any failures external to the Outlet.
Comprehensive help desk support to provide OBCS transaction
authorisation where an Outlet is out of action.
Highly resilient designs for TMS, including multiple servers
and resilient local and wide area networks.
Transition of a post office will be undertaken on a “whole
office” basis and will be capable of being performed at any
point during the weekly cash account cycle. The sooner after
the weekly cash account is struck the less the retrospective
re-application of transactions will be required, whether this
re-application is manual or automated.
Because of this approach, contingency during transition of a
post office does not represent a discrete requirement.
Pacilities will be provided to enable information from offices
with ECCO+, Capture, PO Balancer (and similar programs) to be
extracted, converted and used as part of the automation
initialisation process. The automated migration of such data
will be implemented if sufficient information is available
about its storage and the number of offices affected is large
enough to warrant the creation of the appropriate migration
software.
The extraction of data from the office’s existing systems will
be carried out in a non-intrusive manner such that the
integrity of the systems being replaced will not be is not
compromised and will be available for live use until the
manager is satisfied that the new system has been adequately
established. In particular systems will permit more than one
migration sequence to be attempted such that a failed attempt
does not compromise the live system.
It is envisaged that all cash account products will be
“transactable” (in at least a minimum form) as soon as the
office EPOSS automation is operational.
2. Implementation of parent and satellite offices
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The roll-out plan will be agreed with POCL and will take
account of relationships between Outlets (e.g.
parent/satellite).
Where a post office is automated prior to one or more of its
associated satellite offices it will be provided with a
facility for the entry of paper-based information received from
the non-automated satellite offices.
Where a satellite office is automated prior to its parent
office it will be provided with a facility to produce paper-
based reports for its parent office.
3. Plain Paper Summaries
Each Outlet will be equipped with a back-office printer capable
of producing plain paper summaries. The content of these
summaries will require discussion and agreement with POCL.
4. 2-D barcodes
Each Outlet will have the ability to print a 2-D bar code on
the plain paper summary. the content of the barcode will
require discussion and agreement with POCL.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 835
Pathway Response
1. Benefits encashment and other Automated products will be
integrated into the EPOSS Desktop and will utilise its customer
session management and transaction recording facilities such
that:
a) The EPOSS Desktop will automatically record the transaction
details.
b) A local transaction record will be stored for summarisation
and balancing.
c) The information recorded locally will be consistent with the
information provided (via TMS) to other systems.
da) Transaction times will be minimised. The transaction
application will be invoked automatically on the peripheral
device read event. Transaction data will be obtained during
the device read such that manual data entry is reduced.
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2. EPOSS will support the provision of transaction summaries
for comparison with other records. It will provide summaries
showing detail and totals for the following items:
a) motor vehicle tax discs on hand;
b) milk tokens on hand;
c) cheques;
3. Summaries will be enhanced in the process of automating
transactions to show information about items issued, held,
received, returned and spoiled. Individual serial numbers will
be included where appropriate.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 836
Pathway Response
1. Pathway will investigate and assess the level of
integration that can be achieved between the CRISP system and
EPOSS. In the case where the CRISP system is truly standalone
it is anticipated that the sharing of information will be
achieved via file or communications media. If the CRISP system
is to coexist with EPOSS on the same windows NT platform then
integration will take the form of sharing data via OLE
automation.
2; There is a very broad range of secondary businesses run by
Agents in post office Outlets. This means that it is probably
not a good approach to attempt to cater for every type of
business as an integral part of EPOSS. The facility will be
provided to allow appropriate applications for other business
to coexist with EPOSS on the same Windows NT platform.
Transactions from these applications will be identifiable as
separate from EPOSS transactions particularly with respect to
accounting procedures.
3. The information recorded for each transaction will be
dependent on the transaction itself. In general, it will
include the following:
a) Outlet, clerk, and counter position.
b) Date and time.
c) Unique Product Identifier.
d) Value.
e) Quantity.
£) Product, client and/or scheme reference codes (if
applicable)
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g) Various customer details (if applicable)
h) Methods of payment. In many cases the settlement will be
applied to the whole customer session rather than individual
transactions.
4. EPOSS will support the introduction of new Client
services. These will be integrated into the EPOSS product set
so that they can be invoked by the appropriate event. In most
cases the introduction of a new product will be achieved
through the distribution of reference data updates via TMS. In
addition to reference data updates, functionality can he
introduced dynamically using applets (and again these can
distributed via TMS).
Pathway Comment
We should beware increasing the complexity and therefore the
cost of EPOSS to all post offices for the benefit of just a
small number of post shops. At present the contractor has very
little information on the CRISP system (2 pages in the SSR) and
this is not sufficient to formulate a specific response to the
requirement. Pathway would like to discuss the CRISP
requirement with the Programme to take this forward.
Reference No 837
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will support the production of the following
predefined reports:
a) Transaction level reports by stock unit printed on clients’
stationery using the counter printer or, if the physical size
or layout of the stationery demands it, the A4 Outlet printer.
b) Transaction level reports by stock unit printed on plain
paper using the counter printer or, if the physical size or
layout demands it, the A4 Outlet printer.
c) Reports on the current level of value stock products by
stock unit.
d) Reports of transaction volumes and values.
e) EPOSS will produce cash account reports.
£) Reconciliation reports.
g) Reports on cash and value stock movements.
h) Ad-hoc MIS reports as agreed with POCL.
2. EPOSS will support the printing of reports in accordance
with POCL and Client requirements on frequency subject to the
capacity of the printer provided. The printing or output of
reports will be at the users discretion. Client reports will
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be produced on a daily and weekly basis and it where
appropriate the facility will be provided to print several
weekly reports within a accounting period.
Pathway Comment
The contents of these reports will be defined in the ccD
entitled “Horizon OPS Reports and Receipts - ICL Pathway
Horizon Office Platform Service”.
Reference No 838
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will allow the entry of additional information
associated with transactions. It will permit some of this
information to be entered at a later time. EPOSS will not
permit information to be entered which will compromise the
integrity of any balancing or accounting processes. EPOSS will
support the post-event entry of transaction information such as
the weekly total of inland parcels posted as prepaid by
franking meter label.
2. EPOSS will support the entry of data for transactions
(including local schemes) where only the volume is recorded for
accounting purposes.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 839
Pathway Response
EPOSS will provide retail functionality similar to that used in
PostShops. This will be available for delivery at a later date
to be agreed with POCL. The retail functionality will:
support the existing post shop products
be extendible to allow for the introduction of new retail
products and other changes in the product range
allow retail items to be mixed with non-retail transactions
at the counter within the same customer session
record the sale of each retail product as a separate
transaction against the user and the stock unit
support price (and other information) lookup for retail
products
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adjust the office retail stock levels in real-time in
response to receipt, return and selling of retail items.
allow office stock level interrogation on demand
support a weekly office “stock-take” activity
reconcile retail transactions as a single line entry in the
Receipts table in the stock unit balance, office balance and
the cash account
It is understood (from Req 836) that the integration of the
CRISP system used in PostShops and the EPOSS system will be
assessed. EPOSS will also endeavour to provide the type of
retail functionality which will support the following:
a) Till functionality.
b) Discounting.
c) Coupon management.
d) Multibuys.
e) Promotions.
£) Marketing.
g) Reporting.
Note
The retail product set is considered to be separate from the
stock unit product set and will be maintained and accounted for
on an office wide basis.
Pathway Comment
We should beware increasing the complexity and therefore the
cost of EPOSS to all post offices for the benefit of just a
small number of post shops. At present the contractor has very
little information on the CRISP system (2 pages in the SSR) and
this is not sufficient to formulate a specific response to the
requirement. Pathway would like to discuss the CRISP
requirement with the Programme to take this forward.
Reference No 869
Pathway Response
1; Pathway notes that POCL are not concerned with the
performance of individual subsystems per se, but that their
primary concern is with the overall performance of the service
as it impacts upon their own systems, clients staff, agents and
customers. Pathway notes that targets for the level of
internal performance between its subsystems will therefore not
be set by POCL , but that internal subsystem performance will
be judged by POCL as it affects overall service performance.
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2. Pathway will specify the internal performance requirements
of any subsystem that is re-tendered. Pathway will maintain
and report actual measured performance for TMS in respect of
its interfaces with other subsystems.
4. Pathway will specify the performance requirements and
tolerances for
3.1 Hours of operation of the TMS
3.2 Response time required between TMS and OPS
3.3 The number of outages of TMS, identifying types of
outage monitored
3.4 The availability of TMS.
4. Pathway confirms it will report against all the
requirements and tolerances identified in (3) above.
5. Pathway will maintain detailed technical documentation of
the interfaces from TMS to, OPS and all attachable computer
systems. In the event of any changes to any interface to TMS,
this will be notified to POCL in advance with updates to
technical documentation made within 10 working days of the
change being implemented.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 870
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will be implemented such that it operates
efficiently and accurately with the minimum of user interaction
with the keyboard and other devices. It will endeavour to
reduce the transaction times wherever possible such that the
serving of a customer is not slowed down overall. The system
response to peripheral input will be maintained at an
acceptable level.
2. EPOSS will provide summarisation and balancing facilities
in an efficient manner so as to avoid unnecessary re-processing
due to data adjustments.
3. Normally, EPOSS will record the time of completion for
each transaction. This means that the time from the end of one
transaction to the end of the next can be measured. EPOSS will
also record the beginning of a customer session as the point
where the first transaction is invoked. Whilst this does not
provide a strictly accurate measure of transaction time it can
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used for simple analysis. It is recommended that the analysis
of transaction times be carried out centrally using information
extracted from TMS. This will allow transaction times <o be
compared across Outlets so that averages, trends and
substantial performance deviations can be reported.
If a higher level of detail is required then mechanisms can be
implemented to capture all recordable user and system events
(device input/output, keystrokes etc.). It is recommended that
this is type of mechanism is only used on a temporary basis for
monitoring purposes.
4, EPOSS will perform transactions in a predictable and
consistent manner such that the elapsed time from invocation to
completion for the same transaction (i.e. same type, similar
data entry, similar office size and office load conditions)
does not vary to a statistically significant extent. Where the
transaction time does not meet this criteria then Pathway and
POCL will investigate and agree an appropriate course of
action.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 871
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will be implemented such that the version of any
reference data being referenced from outlets will be the latest
applicable version of such reference data. The version of such
reference data will be considered fully updated when all
applicable updates have been applied. If one day’s worth of
updates have not been applied then the version will be deemed
to be one day behind and so on.
2 Transaction data will normally be forwarded to POCL
central systems (e.g. TIP) soon after the completion of the
business day on which the transactions occurred as part of one
or more batch communications transmissions. Transaction data
not available for the first transmission will be included in a
subsequent transmission.
Data which is included in the first batch transmission to take
place after the time of the completion of the business day will
be deemed to be in the first batch transmission and so on.
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35 Batch transmission times will be agreed for each POCL
central system, but will not be scheduled to complete before
0430 on the morning of the day following the business day in
question.
Service levels for the above will be as described in Schedule
Fos.
Pathway Comment
It will be necessary to define the time or times when the
business day is deemed to end.
It will be necessary to define the start and finish times for
the first, second and third transmission windows.
Pathway notes that the definition of transmission of batched
transaction data does not anticipate transmission to commence
before the end of the business day in which the transactions
occurred.
Where an outlet does not report end of day by the time the
latest time for this signal then Pathway will compile the
transaction record on the basis that end of day was signalled
at that time. It will be necessary to define the time or times
for the signal which may or may not be the same as end of
business day.
Reference No 880
Pathway Response
Transaction data from the Outlets and sent to TIP via TMS will
follow the specifications defined in the TIP Applications
Interface Specification.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 890
Pathway Response
1. AP transactions
All transactions that take place in an Outlet will be
automatically and securely replicated to TMS throughout the
day. Transactions, once committed locally as part of a
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customer session, will be immediately replicated to any other
counter position PCs in the outlet and periodically to central
servers in TMS. Each transaction will have a unique and
increasing sequence number and TMS facilities ensure that
transactions cannot be replicated out of sequence.
The end of day process in each Outlet will transmit any
remaining transactions, any end of day control totals and an
end of day marker.
TMS Agents will extract information from the central TMS
journal and prepare the files (including transaction and value
totals) for subsequent dispatch to POCL and their Clients. Any
outlets for which an end of day marker has not been received
will be identified and investigated.
2. POCL and Client synchronisation
It is anticipated that the AP datafiles will be accumulated
during the day by the TMS Agent and that the files for POCL
(i.e. for TIP or equivalent) will be generated following Outlet
closures.
Transactions for POCL Clients (e.g. AP Clients) and for POCL
are all derived from the same source data (in TMS) and will
therefore be consistent. File dispatch to POCL and POCcL
Clients will be determined by the operational windows agreed
with these parties but will always occur at least once every 24
hour period.
The agents which extract and transmit TMS data to Clients and
TIP act independently and can access the same source data
simultaneously. This ensures that the data received by TIP is
entirely consistent with the data transmitted to the clients.
In addition to the Outlets’ Transaction records, Client cut-off
records will be transmitted to TMS from Outlets (by Stock Unit
and by Balancing Period). The Client cut-off records will
indicate the despatch of foils, stubs and vouchers to the
appropriate processing centre. These Client cut-off records can
be used to control the extraction and transmission of TMS data
by the agents.
Pathway Comment
None
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Reference No 891
Pathway Response
1. General requirements
1.1 Pathway will ensure that all captured data (that is inward
data across service interfaces) is complete, and accurately
reflected in the appropriate outward interfaces. These
specifically to include:
transaction data of all transaction types and modes including
stock and money levels
reference data changes, both local (from an individual
outlet) and from POCL Reference Data System except for any
transient arrangements
such data consistency will be maintained at the levels of
interface and across interfaces according to requirement, e.g.
data captured in EPOSS is accurately reflected in the interface
between OPS and TMS
1.2 Pathway will provide for the synchronisation of data flows
and storage, by applying timing data (date and time stamps) and
time sentinels (end of day records) as appropriate. This
specifically to include:
monitoring data transfers and accounting for data brought
forward, received, passed on and carried forward across the
service boundaries
monitoring data transfers and accounting for data across
interfaces internal to Pathway
for example, EPOSS transaction data transferred to TMS and
subsequently transferred to TIP
where a single data stream is “switched” to more than one
recipient, Pathway will reconcile or eliminate any differences
due to timing between transfers, providing information to each
recipient such that they can reconcile with other recipients of
the same data even though such recipients may process the data
at different times and frequencies
for example, POCL will require (at least) daily volume and
value totals of APS transactions sent to its clients, such that
POCL may reconcile these against the daily volume and value
totals sent to TIP.
1.3 Pathway will ensure that data is consistent between the
levels where transaction or stock and money level data is held,
maintained or transferred at more than one level. This
specifically to include:
transaction data at summary and individual item level
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It should be noted that the Pathway solution maintains
transaction data in its original, non-updated and most finely
divided form within TMS both at the post office and
correspondence server layers, and that all derivations are from
this invariant base.
1.4 Pathway will perform daily cut-over reconciliations for
any on-line interfaces with external systems, for example
between TMS and any EFTPOS merchant acquirer. In particular,
interfaces with POCL clients which transfer data up to declared
cut off points will contain reconciliation data to check that
the data received corresponds with that sent.
1.5 Pathway will report reconciliation results to POCL
including any reconciliation exceptions. Reconciliation
exceptions will be held in a Reconciliation Exception Database
{RED) and the progress to resolution of each outstanding
exception will be reported to POCL. These to include
reconciliation results:
between Pathway and POCL
between Pathway and other external interfaces (e.g. POCL
clients) to enable POCL to maintain its commercial
relationships
between Pathway internal service components (to inform/assure
POCL on the status of the Pathway system and service)
1.6 Pathway shall apply appropriate integrity controls at all
interfaces and provide information demonstrating integrity.
For interfaces that are already in place integrity controls
shall be as specified in the document titled “POCL Interface
Requirements for BA/POCL System, version 1.6, dated 16 April
1996”. For new interfaces such integrity controls shall be
agreed through a process which is defined in the documents
Business Requirements Definition (reference PA/STD/003) and New
Service Introduction (reference PA/PRO/007).
1.7a Pathway will control the implementation of configuration
changes, including changes to reference data. This to include:
checking and reporting the implementation of changes against
instruction
maintaining the integrity of other reconciliation processes
across configuration changes, including demonstrating this in
testing
1.7b Pathway will meet all reconciliation requirements in
contingency situations as well as in normal working.
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1.8 Targets for all reconciliation requirements are:
full reconciliation with 100% of items accounted for
provision of reconciliation reports identifying
reconciliation totals at summary level and RED reports for
reconciliation exceptions at detailed levels, for example at
transaction level for transaction data
Pathway will resolve any reconciliation exceptions produced
by its reconciliation processes
Pathway will provide reconciliation reports at summary level
and identification of reconciliation exceptions to POCL by 9 am
of the day following that in which the reconciliation exception
occurred
Pathway will use all reasonable endeavours to resolve
reconciliation exceptions promptly
For APS, this is described within Pathway document CR/SPE/005
“Specification for APS Reconciliation Reports - for Release
NR2"”. There is no reconciliation for OBCS.
2s Post Office Outlet Reconciliation Requirements
2.1 Pathway will ensure that stock and money levels are
reconciled with transaction data. This will be:
at the transaction level
at the customer session level
at the stock unit level
at the outlet level
Note: the requirements for balancing within an office are
defined in the EPOSS requirements, those for stock and money
movements between offices will be reconciled by the POcL
Inventory Management System using data provided to it from
EPOSS via TMS.
2.2 Pathway will provide the fundamental controls for stock
and money brought and carried forward, transaction data and
transfers to/from suspense as detailed in the EPOSS
requirements as well as facilities to allow permitted reversals
and rectifications. Such controls will be available in
fallback or recovery after failures.
2.3 The reconciliation of stock and money for transactions
will be, in effect, instantaneous, with a record of the levels
of stock and money within a stock unit being maintained as the
transaction is committed.
Fe TMS reconciliation requirements
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3.1 Pathway will maintain controls on operations including
connection to and loss of communications with off:ces or with
other POCL Service components to alert Pathway operational
Management to situations and/or events requiring its attention.
3.2 Pathway will apply controls on file and data transfers at
all technical levels and, using relevant counts and financial
totals, at business levels. Pathway notes that POCL will rely
on information provided via TMS interfaces to its TIP and IM
systems for reconciliation and control of various office
business processes.
3.3 Pathway will ensure that information provided to POCL via
TIP makes explicit what transaction data has been sent to its
clients.
4. Commercial reconciliation requirements
4.1 Pathway will provide information to enable reconciliation
of POCL Services provided by Pathway with charges made by
Pathway.
4.2 Pathway will act, and be seen to act, as an agent for POCL
in reconciliations with other parties, and provide the
necessary information for it to exert appropriate management
control over operations performed on its behalf:
Pathway will undertake the operational aspects and take
responsibilities as each defined in the Contract
Pathway will ensure that the commercial relationships between
POCL and third parties are not compromised.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 894
Pathway Response
1. Pathway’s Management Information System (MIS) will capture
the data necessary to facilitate effective contract and service
management. It will employ exception reporting for business
performance and monitoring reviews.
1.1 Contractual information presented via the business review
route will embrace:
a) Service Level Performance (by event, priority,
classification and type)
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b) Service Delivery Analysis (by product, function,
outlet and role)
c) Contractual Alerts and Escalations (by Red, Orange and
Amber classification)
d) Systems Operation (by type, performance and
availability).
1.2 Information relating to business reviews will be analysed
via exception reporting during the life of the event. Where
this relates to alerts and escalations it will be supplemented
by a declared owning problem/project manager. Critical
dependent systems will be subject to full SLA monitoring and
reporting via the review forum.
2. Requests by POCL for information during the life of the
contract, and relating to service management of the contract,
will be handled and processed in an effective and efficient
Manner. Formal requests for information will be via the
business review route and delivered against pre-declared agenda
requirements. Please note that Pathway does not commit to
providing an MIS service after the life of the contract unless
provision for this is explicitly made within the Contract.
2.1 Special and ad-hoc information needs would have to be
fully understood and sized before contractual commitment can be
made. The scope, volume, timing and frequency of such requests
would be part of the task activity before such commitment.
Currently this is neither defined or qualified.
3. Pathway will provide information that would facilitate
infrastructure activities by POCL in matters embracing
resource, network and productivity. Where these topics are an
integral part of service delivery events they will
automatically be included in the business review forum.
Additional or supplementary requests would fall under the
criteria of paragraph 2.1 above.
3.1 Data will be available that enables service analysis
against the key attributes of POCL outlets. Flexibility will
be maintained by making data organisationally independent. Thus
any organisational based information will be defined and
qualified by construct at the time of information search
enquiries.
4. Pathway will, via the review forum, provide service
delivery information that would facilitate extrapolation for
marketing planning activity. Full trend and plan projections
against forecasts and budget could result. Pathway EIS would be
an enabler for the task but not a deliverer of it; limited by
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current defined requirements. Future needs, by definition, are
not known.
Pathway Comm
1. caveat at section 2 relating to MIS service after
the life of the Contract. What would be the commercial basis of
a service “after contract”?
2 There are one or two areas where apparently “open ended”
commitments have been requested.
Reference No 895
Pathway Response
The POCL Service Architecture will be capable of monitoring
irregular encashments and reporting on them. Information will
be shared with POCL Audit/Security/Operations when it relates
to an Outlet in relation to the following pattern.
1. Daily reports of Transactions at a non-live Outlet i.e. one
reported to the Contractor as temporarily out of commission
Reference No 896
Pathway Response
Pathway will develop an electronic publishing and
communications strategy jointly with POCL to establish the
business requirements and feasibility.
You will see by reference to our response to requirement 471,
that at first sight that electronic information is not cost
effective and does not meet requirements for fallback operation
or for situations when staff will wish take paper documentation
home to read in their leisure time.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 898
Pathway Response
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i. OBCS will be implemented using TMS and OPS and will based
on the current ESNS in use in ALPS post offices.
21 The implementation of OBCS will comply with the Horizon
OPS Style Guide.
3. Horizon System Helpdesk support will be provided to all
users of OBCS.
4. OBCS will be available at every counter position in every
automated outlet, at which OBCS is required, during the normal
opening hours of that outlet.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 899
Pathway Response
1. Local Stop List proposal
Pathway propose that a local stop list strategy be adopted in
order that the risks and costs associated with maintaining and
accessing the entire stop list at every outlet are removed.
Each post office will have a local stop list. Foreign Order
Book encashments will be checked against remote stop lists
accessible via TMS.
For a full description of the manner in which Stop Lists will
be maintained see Service Architecture Design Document, Section
4.1.4.2.2.
2. Pathway understand that the maximum size of the stop list
will be 1.5 million entries.
3s Pathway understand that the maximum size of a stop list
update will normally be 100,000 entries. The Pathway solution
for the OBCS stop list is not as sensitive to the size of the
stop list as other solutions, such as that used by ESNS.
Pathway would require notification if POCL expected the stop
list update size to exceed 100,000 entries.
4. Pathway understand that a null content file may be sent
comprising solely of header and footer records.
Pathway Comment
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In proposing this solution to OBCS Pathway have adopted an
approach which exploits the distributed architecture of OPS and
in addition minimises the volume of data transfer and local
processing.
Reference No 900
Pathway Response
The functionality required of OBCS will be provided in a local
counter application which will run on OPS and will conform to
the same technical architecture as other OPS supported counter
applications.
The Pathway OBCS application will provide a facility to deal
with barcoded order books presented for payment for encashment
of benefits at automated outlets.
For a full description of the manner in which Order Books will
be processed see Service Architecture Design Document, Section
4.1.4.2.3.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 901
Pathway Response
1. When an order book with no barcode is presented for
encashment OBCS will prompt the clerk to enter the number of
vouchers to be encashed. A default of one (1) will be
presented which the clerk can override.
2. As part of the end of day process, each outlet will
calculate the number of vouchers encashed for non-barcoded
order books. This will be replicated to central TMS which in
turn will return this information to DSS.
as This information will be supplied in accordance with the
DSS Client Interface Specification \ OBCS
Pathway Comment
None.
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Reference No 902
Pathway Response
The Service Levels will be as described in Schedule H08.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 903
Pathway Response
The Service Levels will be as described in Schedule H08.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 905
Pathway Response
The Pathway solution for the OPS system includes a facility for
linking associated services and product offerings with any
particular transaction type, such that the User is prompted to
offer customers such services at the time of transaction.
The extent of such additional services to be provided will be
agreed with POCL.
Pathway will accept full responsibility for the accuracy and
integrity of data supplied to the User through the OPS. The
accuracy and integrity of product information and data supplied
by POCL and faithfully represented to the User by the OPS shall
be POCL’s responsibility and liability.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 906
Pathway Response
Pathway's roll-out strategy is based upon a geographic area-by-
area approach.
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Pathway's implementation programme effects delivery and
installation of counter equipment on the same day unless
specifically requested otherwise. This may be the case for
example in large offices where we understand that a weekend
installation is preferred.
Referring to the text of the requirement, it should be noted
that we have not interpreted "new" terminals to mean "unused"
terminals. Pathway may supply equipment which has been used in
other post offices, particularly in the case of office
relocation, upgrade or other changes.
Pathway confirms that Installation covers physical placement,
connection to the system and testing.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 911
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that it will maintain accounting and reporting
integrity across changes in the versions of operating software
and hardware. Such changes will include upgrades or rollbacks
of whole POCL Services or other subsystems, changes to software
and reference data, operating controls and so forth.
This will include implementation of changes to effect rollback
to a previous version, and operation of the whole POCL Service
where parts have been updated or rolled back. Reference data
shall be upgraded or rolled back in step with the objects or
operations to which it refers.
Each transaction will be matched against the version of the
product that was active at the time of the transaction. This
link will be maintained to allow transactions against different
versions of a product to coexist and be correctly accounted
for.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 912
Pathway Response
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A Pathway will arrange for the electrical safety testing of
all of its equipment installed on POCL’s sites enabling POCL
and Postmasters to meet their legal obligations under the
Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
2 The Regulations
2.1 The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 are a statutory
instrument arising from the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The purpose of the regulations is ‘to require precautions to be
taken against the risk of death or personal injury from
electricity in work activities’.
2.2 The regulations impose duties on employers in respect of
‘systems, electrical equipment and conductors and in respect of
work activities on or near electrical equipment’.
2.3 To meet the requirements of the regulations, which came
into force on 1st April 1990, it is necessary to assess all
electrical equipment, including information technology
equipment, with a view to eliminating possible hazards. In
practice this will usually necessitate a program of recorded
inspections and where appropriate, tests.
2.4 Full and accurate records must be kept, if for no other
reason than the ‘duty holder’ can demonstrate that ‘all
reasonable steps were taken and all due diligence exercised to
avoid the commission of an offence under the Act’.
2.5 The onus for compliance is with the employer, who is
responsible for the correct use of the equipment and the safety
of employees. The regulations define the employer or his
nominated employee(s) as the duty holder.
3 Scope of the service
3.1 The Electricity At Work Inspection And Test Service
enables Pathway’s customers to meet their legal obligations
under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
3.2 The service provides for inspection, test and labelling of
each item of electrical equipment. Full records will be
presented to the customer on completion of the service.
3.3 During the service, the Pathway service deliverer will
carry out the following activities:
Visual inspection of all Pathway installed equipment and
mains cords on the customer site
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Tests systems on the customer site using appropriate tools
and test equipment. Testing of each item is undertaken by
application of the relevant test procedure
Attaches a colour coded sticky label to each item inspected
and tested to indicate success (of inspection and relevant
test) or failure
Replaces faulty detachable mains cords, incorrect value fuses
and damaged plugs
Re-terminates plugs where necessary
Renders inoperative any electrical item which fails the
inspection and test and brings this to the attention of the
customer and arranges for its replacement
Records test results against a unique identifier for each
item
3.4 Once these activities are complete the service deliverer
provides the Postmaster with the test results. Test results
will also be made available to POCL and will be maintained in
Pathway’s database.
3.5 The service is delivered during normal office hours,
however, Pathway may agree to provide the service outside those
hours on request. The schedule for safety test visits will be
agreed in advance with Postmasters and POCL’s Service Managers.
3.6 All remedial maintenance work carried out on site will
comply with the standards prescribed and will ensure that the
requirements of the Act continue to be met upon return to
service.
3.7 Pathway will report on the progress of its safety test
schedule at each monthly service review meeting.
Pathway Comment
The regulations apply to all items of electrical equipment on
the site. Pathway will be pleased to quote for the extension of
this service to cover all other electrical items not supplied
by Pathway.
Reference No 913
Pathway Response
1 Introduction
ICL Pathway will provide one paper and one diskette copy of the
PPDs to the POCL Self Service and publishing Team covering all
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automated transactions. This will be suitable for incorporation
by POCL into the Operations Manual.
2 Availability
2.1 The users of the POCL Services are:-
All Outlets, Head Office, Business Centres, Central Services
and Regions (including Regional Helplines) and Retail Network
Managers.
2.2 Other Users
The Operations Manual is despatched and readily accessible to
all users outlined at 2.1. The Operations Manual is in booklet
form and will be available to users at all times.
2.3 Contingency/Disaster Recovery Arrangements
Part of the Operations Manual will contain comprehensive
fallback and recovery procedures needed to perform transactions
in the event of a system failure.
3 Content of User Documentation
POCL will add the clerical procedures to the ICL Pathway
provided automated procedures. To provide a complete set of
operational procedures for staff at Post Offices and other
outlets. This will be subject to POCL Client Managers
approval.
4 Accuracy of Information
Accuracy of content in the existing manual is confirmed by POCL
Client Account Managers and in some cases, Clients prior to
publication and distribution by the POCL Self Service and
Publishing Team. Following receipt from ICL Pathway’s Technical
Authors, POCL Self Service and Publishing Team will interleave
the automated procedures with the current procedures for
approval by POCL Client Account Teams. POCL Self Service and
Publishing Teams will return amendments to ICL Pathway within
an agreed timescale.
5 Design of Document
5.1 Visual Identity
The POCL Self Service & Publishing Team have constructed
templates to accommodate inclusion of the ICL Pathway
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“flowchart” style to the operations manual while ensuring the
POCL Design Application Guidelines and Visual Identity Policy
is maintained. ICL Pathway technical authors will provide the
automated transaction data in the format agreed with the POCL
Self Service and Publishing Team.
5.2 Communications Policy
The POCL Self Service & Publishing Team confirm documentation
produced will conform to the POCL communication policy as
outlined in the “A guide to Head Office Communications Team”
document. The POCL Self Service & Publishing Team will conform
to the POCL Environmental Policy when interleaving ICL Pathway
automated transactions to the operations manual.
6 User Documentation for New Product/Service
6.1 Notification of Requirement by POCL
ICL Pathway expect the majority of planned documentation
changes to be the subject of a Product or Service Introduction
Plan for each new product or POCL Service to be introduced on
to the automated platform. The Product Service introduction
plan will detail timescales needed for production of new
documentation for the automated platform.
6.2 Drafting of Documentation
The final copy of user documentation for a new product or POCL
Service shall be provided to the POCL Self Service & Publishing
team for notification to all system users, initially by the
Counter News medium and subsequently by inclusion in the
operations manual.
6.3 Final Approval by POCL
Final Approval of all updated user documentation shall be made
a number of days before the implementation of that particular
change, the timescales to be agreed by POCL and the contractor
at the time of agreeing such changes. For routing additional
and changes approval will be required within 15 days of the
implementation.
6.4 The POCL Self Service & Publishing Team will provide
information of new products and services prior to introduction
via the weekly POCL Counter News operational document which is
currently used for such purposes.
7 Updating User Documentation
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7.1 Planned Changes
7.1.1 Notification of Changes by POCL
ICL Pathway wiil be notified of planned changes by the
appropriate authority within POCL in accordance with the
timescales described in paragraph 7.1.1 of the requirement.
This will be carried out in conjunction with POCL Self Service
and Publishing Team. All system users will be provided with a
change notification in the POCL Counter News medium and
subsequent inclusion in the automated operations manual as
appropriate.
7.4.2 ICL Pathway will be notified of final updated user
documentation a number of days before that particular change,
in accordance with the timescales described in paragraph 7.1.2
of the requirement. This will with POCL Self Service and
Publishing Team. All system users will be provided with a
change notification in the POCL Counter News medium and
subsequent inclusion in the automated operations manual as
appropriate.
7.1.3 The same procedures as at 6.3.
7.1.4 The POCL Self Service & Publishing Team will provide
updated user documentation by the Counter News’ medium
immediately prior to introduction. A subsequent addition to
the operations manual will be provided within the agreed
timescales. A 10 day lead time for each weekly edition of
Counter News.
7.2 ICL Pathway commits to making emergency documentation
changes to the PPDs available to POCL within 24 hours of
notification. Pathway are able to alert system users by way of
‘on screen’ messages to consult relevant documentation
concerning such changes. This will map the same lead time as
Counter News e.g. 10 days notification on a weekly cycle.
8 [Not used]
9 User Satisfaction
9.1 Frequency of Monitoring
POCL Self Service & Publishing Team would recommend the
formulation of a user group, formed of ten people from branch
and agency outlets to meet at quarterly intervals to review the
effectiveness of the new manual, covering the subjects outlined
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at 9.3 of this document. This will be the responsibility of
the POCL Self Service & Publishing Team.
9.2 User Satisfaction Targets
Measurements should be made by market research telephony or an
equivalent form of data gathering procedure on at least an
annual or ideally a twice a year basis. The number of outlets
contacted should be statistically valid and recognised as an
acceptable vehicle for user satisfaction monitoring. The
results of the monitoring must be targeted to produce an
acceptable user satisfaction rate of 90%. Notification of
results will be provided to ICL Pathway.
9.3 Areas to covered in the User Satisfaction Survey will
include:
a) Ease of use of the manual.
b) Effectiveness of the manual.
c) Satisfaction with Layout, Style and Language.
d) Quality and Clarity of text.
e) Quality and understanding of Graphics.
f) Accuracy and comprehensiveness of index/indices
and cross references.
Reference No 914
Pathway Response
1 Introduction
1.1 This response documents the key service characteristics of
the Horizon System Helpdesk service.
2 Helpdesk Service
2.1 General
2.1.1 The Horizon System Helpdesk will provide a single
point of contact providing assistance and fault management to
Help Desk Customers. Help Desk Customers will include Users and
those of POCL’s Clients with access to the POCL Services
supported.
2.1.2 The Horizon System Helpdesk service will embrace
fault management, advice and guidance and overall operational
service management, information and administration. It will
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operate a full call logging service 24 hours per day, 365 days
per year (except Christmas Day).
2.1.3 Contact with the Horizon System Helpdesk will be by
‘local-call’ telephone (e.g. an 0345 number). The average
response time will be targeted at 80% of all calls answered
within 20 seconds and 99.9% targeted to be answered within 40
seconds. A target of less than 5% of calls during peak hours
will be abandoned calls. The percentage of ‘calls not answered’
shall be less than 1%. This includes calls where the line is
busy as well as calls answered but put on the ‘waiting queue’.
2.1.4 Three levels of service will be provided extending
from Level 1 addressing simple calls through more complex level
2 calls to level 3 calls which involve support from outside of
the help desk environment.
2.1.5 Operational Service availability, details of
scheduled interruptions and progress towards full service
resumption will be communicated by the Horizon System Helpdesk
to its customers. The Horizon System Helpdesk management team
will assist POCL in negotiating scheduled interruptions to
service with the Help Desk Customers.
2.2 Level 1 Service
2.2.1 Level 1 calls may be categorised as those which are
relatively simple and straightforward to explain and diagnose
and which can be fully resolved in less than 10 minutes by the
call taker who will have sole responsibility for the call’s
progress to resolution.
2.2.2 As end-users become more familiar and experienced
with Pathway’s systems, the time required to explain simple
resolutions will decrease and may approach an average of 5
minutes. Calls taking longer than 10 minutes to resolve will be
categorised either as Level 2 or will signify a potential
skills problem within the Horizon System Helpdesk or the post
office. Calls identifying potential skills problems will be
evaluated by Pathway and raised for discussion at the monthly
service review meetings.
2.3 Level 2 Service
2.3.1 Level 2 calls will generally be more complex problems
and potential faults. The Horizon System Helpdesk will make
extensive use of ‘Expert Systems’ diagnostic tools to assist in
their resolution and these may require more detailed and
extensive analysis, taking more time.
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2.3.2 Calls are transferred to Level 2 electronically
within the same help desk Call Management System. All of the
details of the call are preserved and available at Level 2.
Calls at all levels are presented to the diagnosticians in the
form of a prioritised stack of outstanding work-in-progress.
2.3.3 Typically, Level 2 problems will take less than 30
minutes to resolve but in extreme cases may take longer, up to
45 mins. Much of the diagnosis will be carried out ‘off-line’
from the originator, and may involve one or more interim
telephone calls from the Horizon System Helpdesk to clarify
symptoms or elicit extra information.
2.3.4 Level 2 calls will be analysed to identify trends and
patterns which may indicate the need for improvements in the
diagnostic process. New problems identified will always be
analysed to determine whether an appropriate Level 1 solution
is possible to save time in future instances.
2.3.5 As for Level 1, Level 2 calls which take longer than
45minutes to resolve will be categorised either as Level 3 or
will signify a potential skills problem within the Horizon
System Helpdesk or the post office. Calls identifying potential
skills problems will be evaluated by Pathway and raised for
discussion at the monthly service review meetings.
2.4 Level 3 Service
2.4.1 Level 3 service is invoked when the call can not be
fully resolved wholly within the Horizon System Helpdesk but
requires escalation either to a higher level of technical
support or to an engineer to perform a maintenance visit.
2.4.2 Calls will be transferred to Level 3 support
electronically complete with all of the details of progress
made at levels 1 and 2. Calls will be prioritised and
categorised so that they can be actioned within standard agreed
timescales.
2.4.3 All level 3 calls will be monitored to ensure that
the Service Level Agreement is met. The call will also continue
to be monitored post resolution to ensure that repeat or
intermittent failures are identified as quickly as possible.
2.4.4 Level 3 calls will be analysed to identify patterns
and trends of failure either within specific Outlets or with
system items.
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2.5 Hours of Service
2.5.1 Pathway will provide a continuous call logging
service 24 hours per day every day of the year except Christmas
day.
2.5.2 A full Horizon System Helpdesk service is required
during the POCL Core Day. A skeleton help desk service shall
be provided between 05:00 and 08:00 and between 20:00 and
24:00, Monday to Saturday, and between 07:00 and 22:00 on
Sundays.
2.5.3 Calls may be received directly from users or from
POCL help desks and help lines. Calls received which are
outside of the responsibility of the Horizon System Helpdesk
will be transferred to the appropriate authority.
2.5.4 The hours of service may be changed on request given
2 working days notice. Emergency cover may be provided at 5
hours notice.
2.6 Problem Management
2.6.1 Pathway will employ a specially developed Problem
Management System to log and manage all calls to the Horizon
System Helpdesk. The system is an enhanced version of one of
ICL’s current call management systems.
2.6.2 The system data model is comprehensive and records
all of the necessary data associated with calls during their
life. Call data is recorded as a collection of ‘progress
details’ each date and time stamped and ‘signed’ by the call
taker providing a complete audit trail.
2.6.3 The system will maintain call details including the
following
Problem Site Identifier
Call serial number (combined with Site ID provides unique
call identifier)
Site details such as address, telephone number’ and
Postmaster’s name
Site contact name
Date and Time problem occurred
Date and Time problem reported
Horizon System Helpdesk contact
Problem description
Problem Type (such as Hardware, Software, Advice & Guidance
etc.)
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Identity of any equipment or software associated with the
problem
Reported and assessed impact on the Help Desk Customer's
business
Priority of the call
Estimated Fix time (for level 3 calls)
Current actionee within Pathway
Referral details
Progress information (date and time stamped and attributed)
Call resolution actions
Date and Time equipment returned to service
Date and time call closed (accepted by the Help Desk
Customer)
2.6.4 The Horizon System Helpdesk system also contains
details of engineer schedules. It provides an interface to the
2-way radio paging system used to assign calls to engineers and
to the spares system used to control the allocation of spares.
2.6.5 The problem management system will also be used to
record and manage incidents relating to systems operational
problems including those associated with the uploading and
downloading of data to post offices and interfaces to POCL and
POCL Client systems.
2.6.6 All calls will be given one of three priority
classifications depending upon the impact and urgency of the
problem with respect to the caller’s business
A Caller’s business is disrupted and cannot continue normal
working
B Caller’s business is impaired but a work around is available
C Caller’s business is suffering only minor inconvenience
2.6.7 Throughout the life of a call, the Horizon System
Helpdesk staff will monitor its progress. The Help Desk
Customer will at all times know precisely what is expected to
happen next by regular updates of progress. The Horizon System
Helpdesk will always advise the customer of any changes.
2.6.8 All aspects of the operation of the Horizon System
Helpdesk will be comprehensively documented in a manual of
procedures which will be agreed with POCL and which will be
maintained in accordance with Pathway's objective of
registration to IS09000 quality standards.
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2.6.9 Major incidents, such as the total failure of systems
within a post office, will immediately be classified as alerts
and will be assigned to a problem manager. All alerts will be
managed in accordance with agreed documented procedures
covering all aspects of the fallback operation of the Outlet,
including the re-allocation of its responsibilities to other
Outlets.
2.6.10 A problem will remain open at the Horizon System
Helpdesk until agreed with its originator that is has been
resolved satisfactorily. The call will continue to be monitored
even after closure to ensure that a repeat or consequential
problem is not reported.
2.7 Systems and Services Supported
2.7.1 In addition to the problem and call management
database, Pathway will create and maintain databases containing
user, asset, configuration and change management information.
2.8 Resilience
2.8.1 The Horizon System Helpdesk will operate a fully
resilient service across two geographically remote sites with
duplexed database servers, networks and telephony systems and
separate telephone exchanges and electrical power supplies.
2.8.2 Each site will normally accommodate half of the
Horizon System Helpdesk staff and management team but will have
spare capacity to accept increased workload in the event of
disaster at the other site.
2.8.3 The sites will be served by dual telephony and
Automatic Call Direction equipment which will perform call load
balancing between them.
2.8.4 Each site will be connected with Pathway’s central
systems via dual high speed carriers and will be resilient to
single network, system or site failures.
2.9 Training
2.9.1 During Roll-Out, Pathway will deliver training to
POCL staff. This training documentation and POCL’s Horizon User
Guide will include guidance on how to make most effective use
of the Helpdesk services.
2.9.2 Simple step by step instructions will be documented
in the operational procedures manual known as the Horizon User
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Guide, a hard copy of which will be produced and distributed by
POCL to each post office.
2.963 The Horizon System Heipdesk staff will receive in
depth training in all of the operational systems.
2.9.4 The staffing levels at the Horizon System Helpdesk
will be set to accommodate peak workload resulting in periods
during the shifts where activity is relatively light. These
periods will be used by staff for skills development and
training.
2.10 Personnel
2.10.1 Pathway will ensure that all Horizon System Helpdesk
managers and staff have the appropriate skills and experience.
Each member of staff will receive in depth training in
Pathway’s solution and operational procedures.
2.10.2 All staff will have individual personal development
programmes and training plans recording their progress in
achieving progressively higher standards of skills.
2.10.3 Staffing levels will be set to accommodate workload
peaks, staff absence due to sickness and holidays and natural
wastage.
2,11 Service Targets
2.11.1 Pathway proposes that service targets should be
established as follows.
80% of calls answered within 20 seconds
99.9% of calls answered within 40 seconds
Calls not answered < 1%
Abandoned calls (where the caller rings off) < 5%
95% of Level 1 calls resolved within 5 minutes
100% of Level 1 calls resolved within 10 minutes
95% of Level 2 calls resolved within 30 minutes
100% of Level 2 calls resolved within 45 minutes
3 SERVICE MONITORING
3.1 Service Performance Statistics
3.1.1 The Horizon System Helpdesk service will be monitored
and reviewed over monthly periods. Statistical evidence of its
performance against agreed measures will be produced by
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analysis of the data captured by the Horizon System Helpdesk
system and by the telephony system.
3.1.2 The analysis will be presented to POCL in an agreed
format within 2 working days of the end of the period.
3.1.3 The data upon which the analysis is made will he
maintained within a relational database system supporting
standard SQL enquiries. This will enable Pathway to view the
data in a flexible way and provide reports based on problem
type, Help Desk Customer group and location, closure time, etc.
3.1.4 Pathway will make extensive use of this data to
identify actions to improve process efficiency and
effectiveness.
8.1.5 Help desk records will be maintained for a minimum of
18 months.
3.2 Help Desk Customer Satisfaction Surveys
8) 62 wid Pathway will be pleased to participate with POCL in
devising and conducting quarterly Help Desk Customer
satisfaction surveys.
3.3 On-line Access and Ad-hoc reports
3.303, Pathway will be pleased to discuss the provision of
on-line access to its problem management systems for named
representatives for the purposes of planned audit and
inspection.
3.3.2 Reasonable requests for single ad-hoc service reports
will be welcomed and will normally receive a response within 3
working days.
Pathway Comment
1 It is not clear from the requirement what is the purpose
of POCL’s request for on-line access to the Problem Management
System.
2 The number, nature and frequency of the requirements for
ad hoc reports is unclear and needs further clarification.
Reference No 915
Pathway Response
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1. Introduction
The training requirements for POCL training is set out in the
document Training Needs Analysis reference SU/TRN/0001 and the
Training and User Awareness Baseline document reference
BP/TRN/001. As documented in the Training and User Awareness
Baseline document the Contractor will provide a maximum of
12,600 courses. Within this limit the Contractor will provide a
maximum of 5,504 one day Counter Assistants Course and a
maximum of 7,004 one and a half day Managers Courses. The
balance of the 12,600 courses are made up of specialist
courses. These courses are described in both the Training Needs
Analysis document and the Training and User Awareness Baseline
document. A further breakdown of course types and allocation
are detailed below.
Total training breakdown:
*Managers course 1.5 days 7,004 events
*Assistants course 1.0 day 5,504 events
*Train the trainer 5.0 days 25 events
*Auditors course 2.0 days 34 events
POCL helpline 1.5 days 33 events
Total offering 12,600 events
Key:
*Managers course = Branch managers, Assistant Branch manager
(ABM) , Postal Officer. Assistant Branch manager (POA) ,
subpostmasters, franchise managers, nominee managers, Head of
Retail Networks (HORNs), regional support staff, relief or
deputy managers, Retail Network Managers, Outlet managers, POCL
User acceptance team, POCL staff who perform stock unit
balancing, and nominated POCL staff and officers.
*Counter Assistants course = Postal officers, Counter Clerks,
subpostmaster’s assistants and franchise staff
*Train the Trainer = POCL and agency trainers
*Auditors course = national and regional audit teams, POCL
security and investigators
POCL Helpline = POCL Helpline staff and managers
Key measures identified by the Contractor and agreed with POCL
will be used to assess the effectiveness of the training
programme as a whole. This is documented in the Training
Evaluation paper reference SU/TRN/005.
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2. Training Services
2.1 General
The Contractor and POCL shall agree acceptable standards of
competencies in the use of the automated platform. The
Contractor will be responsible for training POCL and agency
trainers to an acceptable standard. However it will be the
responsibility of POCL to ensure quality and competence levels
are maintained both by non Contractor Trainers and their
delegates.
The Contractor will be responsible for designing and developing
course materials/training event to POCL's approval. Any
Updates to training or additional supporting documentation will
be supplied by the Contractor and approved by POCL. This will
be provided to those Outlets Rolled Out subsequently as part of
national Rollout. Style and layout of training workbooks and
supporting materials are documented in the Training and User
Awareness Style Guide, reference PATH/PUBS/001.
2.2 Specific Responsibilities
POCL will mandate training for Users i.e. Outlet Managers,
Subpostmasters and Counter Assistants or Counter Clerks in
accordance with POCL’s Policy for Releasing Individuals to
Attend Training (CAR response number 531.000.03), document
reference BP/PRD/007.
It is not envisaged that "day to day" development of training
materials will be required although ongoing quality assessment
and maintenance will be undertaken by the Contractor.
The Contractor will ensure that all nominated parties are
advised of training activities. Such periods of notification,
content thereof and identification of nominated parties shall
be POCL’s responsibility prior to Contract Award.
Management of training will be the responsibility of the
Contractor in liaison with POCL. However Training Invitations,
Site selection/preparation and provision of equipment will be
the responsibility of the Contractor.
Management information (training) will be the responsibility of
the Contractor. Information passed to POCL shall be defined by
POCL and subject to change control procedures.
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Attendance of regular training review meetings will be the
responsibility of the Contractor and will be part of the
overall implementation review process. Training is an
integrated part of the implementation and roll-out programme
therefore it is not envisaged that the training will be
isolated from project reviews.
Agreement and sign off by the Contractor will be part of the
implementation plan. .
Monitoring and review of performance will be jointly undertaken
by the Contractor and POCL. This will be via standard and
agreed report formats within agreed timescales.
Identification of improvements to the training programme will
be part of an approved quality process and is part of the
Contractor's responsibility.
3. Key Measurables
3.1 Timeliness
The Contractor shall ensure that training is delivered in
accordance with the Project Plan. Such training will be
completed no more than 5 working days before live usage, and be
complete no less than 1 working day before live usage.
3.2 Quality
Course delegates will be requested to complete a questionnaire
on the training environment, and the Contractor shall achieve
not less than 85% satisfaction. Details of processes and
procedures to support ICL Pathway training environments are
documented in the Training Venue Administration document
reference PATH/PRO/0004.
The Contractor shall not be responsible for adverse
comments/user dissatisfaction relating to POCL’s premises.
The Contractor shall agree positive training matrices with POCL
prior to contract award. The Contractor shall ensure 95%
compliance with these matrices as measured through satisfaction
questionnaires as defined in ICL Pathway’s Training Evaluation
paper reference SU/TRN/005.
3.3 Cycle Time
Training should take no longer than a period of 1.5 days for
Outlet managers, subpostmasters and 1.0 day for counter
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assistants or Counter Clerks. This will be a continuous event
held during the day and off site. All trainees are to achieve
the minimum standard of competence as described in POCL’s
document reference BP/PRD/006. It is the Contractor's
responsibility to achieve the overall agreed level of
competence e.g. 90% for knowledge related areas for
transactions of the automated platform relevant to a specific
Outlet.
Training will be offered to Users, who do not make up the ratio
for minimum training compliance, up to individual site
acceptance and during the Horizon Field Support Officer visit.
This will be offered on an exception basis at the time of
training invitations i.e. 4 weeks from installation. Remedial
training will also be offered to Users during this period who
fail a competency test and who do not make up the ratio for
minimum training compliance. Thereafter all outstanding or
ongoing training will be the responsibility of POCL. This
training will be delivered to either new or existing Outlet
Users. Update training or CSR+ training of existing Users will
be the responsibility of POCL. CSR+ training for Users at
Outlets which have not been Rolled Out will be _ the
responsibility of Pathway as part of the standard national
Rollout training programme. Subsequent updates and new product
training will be the responsibility of POCL unless the
Contractor takes on this responsibility in accordance with the
Change Control Procedure.
3.4 Contingency/disaster recovery
Notification of course cancellations by POCL must be issued
within an agreed timescale between the Contractor and POCL. A
minimum of 48 hours notice must be provided for 98% of cases.
The same will apply if the Contractor cancels a course with
notification of an alternative date.
The Contractor shall not cancel more than 2% of the scheduled
courses in accordance with the implementation Roll-Out plan.
However if an installation is cancelled due to POCL changes
then this is the responsibility of POCL and should not be
included in the 2% targeted for the Contractor.
It is the Contractor's responsibility to reschedule alternative
training venues if a site becomes inoperative at no extra cost
to POCL unless a POCL venue has been agreed and an alternative
is required.
3.5 Data Accuracy and integrity
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There will be no reduction in system performance as a result of
training mode being use<. Training mode will be used in the
same way as live mode with the exception of "training" stock
data.
It is the Contractor's responsibility to ensure there are no
factual errors at the time of acceptance and release.
3.6 Competence levels
It is the Contractor's responsibility to meet the agreed
objectives/competence level of the course and for delegates to
demonstrate this capability as part of an end of course review.
A competence test will be carried out at the training event to
meet the agreed competence level of 90% for knowledge related
areas for transactions of the automated platform.
The Contractor shall agree competence matrices with POCL prior
to contract award. The Contractor shall ensure 90% compliance
with the matrices as measured through a competence test. The
Contractor has the responsibility to meet level 1 of the
standarc Kirkpatrick model. This will be achieved by the end
of course review/appraisal. Level 2 of the standard
Kirkpatrick model will be met by the end of course competence
test.
4. Communication
It is POCL’s responsibility to provide agreed format on
performance criteria along with written permission from
franchise Outlets that assessments can be carried out on their
staff. For POCL staff, subpostmasters and assistants ICL
Pathway will notify Users that data will be gathered on
individual performance and distributed to POCL for analysis.
It is also POCL’s responsibility to certify that managers of
franchise, Sub-Post Offices, POCL offices and multiple
franchise Outlets, ensure competency of their staff, and to
further ensure that their staff apply due diligence and
professional standards of care to ICL Pathway systems and
services.
POCL Regional reports will be defined by POCL and agreed with
the Contractor. Reports will be provided by the Contractor in
a timely manner to a nominated contact. These will be
distributed within 5 working daya for each Region at the end of
each month. 24 hour competency failure reports will be supplied
to POCL by the Contractor for immediate action by POCL.
Response by POCL will be within 24 hours or the next working
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day. This is detailed in ICL Pathway’s Training Scheduling and
Minimum Training Compliance document reference IM/REQ/014.
It is the Contractor's responsibility to provide training
invitations to a nominated contact within the Outlet 4 weeks
prior to the proposed training event. It is also the
Contractor's responsibility to confirm attendance in writing at
least 1 week prior to the training event. This is detailed in
ICL Pathway’s Training Scheduling and Minimum Training
Compliance document reference IM/REQ/014.
5. Monitoring Training Services
Monitoring of training services will be carried out as part of
the implementation programme. It ais the Contractor's
responsibility to supply information to POCL in an agreed
format and to agreed measures. This format will be subject to
Change Control Procedure.
6. Training Review Meetings
It is the Contractor's responsibility to hold regular
Management meetings to review progress and performance. This
will be carried out on a regular basis and to an agreed
timetable.
Regular review meetings regarding implementation should be the
responsibility of both the Contractor and POCL.
7. Escalation Procedures
Failures in Service Levels will be the responsibility of the
Contractor and POCL's nominated SLA manager to resolve.
Issues or actions which fail to be rectified will be passed to
the agreed Contractor and POCL’s service management team for
escalation.
8. Change Management
Progressing (through the Change Control Procedure) permanent
variations to the agreed Service Levels and/or the training
services provided will be managed as part of the implementation
programme and will be the responsibility of the Contractor.
Pathway Comment
None.
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Reference No 918
Pathway Response
1. Pathway recognises the importance of a partnership
approach to communications and we are keen to establish a close
working relationship with the POCL Communications team who will
be managing this activity.
2. Pathway recognises the strategic need for the partnership
to be responsive to events as they occur, and accordingly we
recommend that the partnership is empowered to a level agreed
between POCL and Pathway.
3. The partnership will need to be comprised of suitable
staff from the POCL Communications Team and Pathway.
4, Pathway acknowledges that POCL shall retain the right of
veto on all communications, marketing and education for all
Customers, POCL employees, Agents and their staff.
Reference No 921
Pathway Response
2s The Pathway solution for OPS will provide a secure timeout
facility for counter PC’s and Back-Office PC’s. This will
comprise a user activated timeout which will enable the user to
clear the screen and leave the terminal for a _ short
(configurable) period. The user session is reactivated by the
user entering their password. Any applications are left
active.
2. The clerk will reactivate their session by entering their
password.
3. The display presented when the timeout facility is
activated will be different to any normal desktop or
application screen.
4. Should the clerk who initiated the timeout be unable to
re-activate the facility, the following actions may be taken :-
After a configurable period of time during which there is no
active session it will automatically log-out. A journal
message will be created indicating this.
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The postmaster may assume responsibility for any uncompleted
session, the stock unit or share thereof, by entering his own
user name / password.
Once the terminal has logged-out any authorised user may then
use that terminal.
All the above events will be written to the journal.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 922
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that the acoustic noise emission of any item
of OPS equipment supplied by Pathway will not exceed 60dB(A)
measured at a distance of 1 metre.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 925
Pathway Response
None
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 926
Pathway Response
an Pathway confirms that all rollout plans and changes to the
plan will be agreed with POCL but POCL shall not unreasonably
withhold consent and shall not in any case withhold consent if
so doing would cause Pathway to fail to meet its obligations
under the Codified Agreement.
2. Pathway reserve the right to change functionality at its
discretion, subject to maintaining contractual obligations and
service levels.
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a. Operational change procedures shall be defined for the
Rollout programme, which should embrace any expected change to
service aspects.
4. Service Level measurement during rollout will be skewed
due to instability; suspension of rollout based on failure to
meet service levels needs to account for this and POCL should
advise which Service Levels will determine rollout suspension
prior to contract award.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 938
Pathway Response
Pathway responsibilities
Pathway will be responsible for:
Ensuring that any information supplied under the Data
Protection Act 1984 (DPA) is accurate and providing assurances
to that effect.
Delivering any information requested under the DPA to the
requesting body or person as appropriate.
Pathway will:
Comply with changes in the DPA (after 15 May 1996), or
related EC laws, or recommendations having the force of law.
In particular, record all written requests for a data
protection print from a customer or authorised representative,
within five (5) days of receipt of such request and deal with
queries raised within a timescale to be agreed with POCL.
Make available for authorised inspection all information
provided under the DPA.
Retain records of requests and responses made under the DPA
according to requirements of the DPA
Reference No 941
Pathway Response
Pathway confirm that the dates for Rollout will be agreed with
PoCcL given that POCL will not unreasonably withhold their
consent to such agreement.
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Pathway will treat Northern Ireland as a discrete area for the
purpose of rollout.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 945
Pathway Response
None.
Pathway Comment
During the Rollout we do not wish to and can see no reason why
we should provide POCL with the serial numbers of the equipment
installed as this is clearly our responsibility. In this
respect we could be non-compliant with this part of the
requirement. The Contractor is charged with the maintenance and
management of all counter equipment supplied under this
agreement. Configuration management thereof (including serial
numbers) remains the Contractor’s responsibility, and the
Contractor agrees to make available this information to POCL on
a periodic basis.
Reference No 949
Pathway Response
Pathway confirms that it is able to provide a complete training -
service if required. Currently Pathway is providing Counter
staff training and support together with POCL Train the Trainer
events.
Clarification is needed to understand what is meant by total
training which refers to all of POCL’s training requirement
and not just those required to support the POCL Services under
the Codified Agreement.
Pathway is assuming that although the capability to provide
total training is sought the option will be exercised through
the Change Control Procedure and the additional costs are not
included in the Charges as at the date hereof.
Pathway Comment
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The requirement as stated is very vague and the scope as stated
may be greater than was really intended. Prices are not being
included within the Charges as at the date hereof.
Reference No 951
Pathway Response
Pathway will develop and maintain a document describing the
POCL Service Architecture.
Pathway confirms that it will, as a minimum, specify:
the major components, provided directly or subcontracted,
used in providing the services
the functionality within the major components
the interfaces between the major components
the design service levels of those interfaces
all interfaces with POCL’s systems and with other parties
Pathway notes that the audience for this document will be
technical staff within POCL and that it should be self
contained, although probably referencing other documents to
provide further levels of detail. Pathway affirms that the
level of detail within the document will be such that it gives
a thorough background to the construction of the services and
the rationale for the approach, and notes that a length of 200-
400 pages is anticipated.
Pathway Comment
None =
Reference No 952
Pathway Response
The OPS will support a reliable, secure and encrypted means for
the transfer of data that may subsequently be used for
cryptographic applications at the counter.
The cryptographic services within the Pathway solution can be
considered in three groups:
* services covering post office traffic from and to POCL and
POCL Clients on the one hand and the Pathway Central Services
Layer on the other
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* services covering the authentication of the Point to Point
connection between the TMS layer and the post office
' services covering transaction traffic to and from the
Central Services Layer and the OPS and at the OPS itself
This requirement response describes the means by which keys
are distributed for the last group. The methods described are
subject to detailed agreement with HMG (CESG).
The OPS related cryptographic services comprise:
The selective digital signature and authentication of files
or transactions to or from the correspondence layer. The
purpose here is data integrity - to prevent tampering or non-
malign loss or injection of data.
Data will be transmitted in clear. Data will be digested
using a CESG-approved hashing algorithm called SHA and this
digest used to produce a digital signature using a companion
algorithm called DSA which uses asymmetric key pair techniques.
It is expected that a key length of 768 bits will be used. The
keys used will be session key pairs renewed periodically,
probably half-yearly. The session keys will be transported
using the CESG-approved modified Diffie-Hellman algorithm and
relying on master key encryption. Methods of master key
encryption will be agreed with POCL and CESG. The options
include secure factory installation into the OPS equipment by
Pathway of the initial key protected by Microsoft Windows NT's
accredited access control. Alternatively first installation
will be via security accredited personnel, using manual keys
transported securely or by IC memory card, and input using
specific role protection. Renewal of master keys may use
similar manual or IC memory card-based methods.
The encryption and decryption of data stored on disk. The
purpose here is privacy - to prevent disclosure of sensitive
data.
Similarly, the keys used will be single session keys, managed
using the same key distribution methods as described above.
Data will be enciphered and deciphered using a CESG-approved
symmetric algorithm called RED PIKE.
Note that such data will only be enciphered for OPS journal
write and deciphered for OPS journal read. Replication of a
journal entry to and from TMS will be in clear.
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Use of cryptographic protection, particularly for
transactional data transfers, and transfers requiring digital
signature computation at the OPS will require exceptional
service level agreements.
Pathway Comment
The Security Functional Specification is a CCD covering
agreement on the above.
Reference No 953
Pathway Response
1. The Pathway solution to OPS supports concurrent access to
its POCL Services by providing each working post office counter
with a PC configuration comprising peripherals and the counter
application set required for that outlet.
2. The precise requirements for back office reports have yet
to be agreed, but in general terms details including date/time,
clerk identifier and transaction number can be included to
ensure clarity and status of data printed on back office
reports and activity at the counter.
3. The Pathway solution for OPS is based on a PC
infrastructure configured such that multiple activities within
an outlet do not significantly impact on each other. In
particular back office processes ( e.g. report production) will
be operate on a logically consistent set of data which will not
be affected by any concurrent counter transactions.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 956
Pathway Response
Business supported across the boundary
Pathway confirms that it will provide the OBCS in accordance
with the description given in the Service Architecture Design
Document.
Pathway understands that its service responsibilities extend
to:
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transport of ESNCS-created data transfers and associated
information (e.g. reference data) from the ESNCS service to its
own POCL Service (OBCS) along with all subsequent processing.
This to normally include detecting the availability of such
data transfers and data on the ESNCS service. Pathway
interprets this to mean that Pathway will normally “pull” files
to itself
provision of all responses to such data transfers where
required (e.g. acknowledgements) along with delivery to the
ESNCS service . This is interpreted as including the “pushing”
of files back to ESNCS
transport of OBCS-created data transfers and associated
information from OBCS to the ESNCS service and notification of
their availability. Pathway interprets this to mean that
Pathway will normally “push” files from itself
Pathway confirms that the technical nature and implementation
of the ESNCS to OBCS connection is specified in “OBCS Access
Service (VME) Release 0100 System Interface Definitions”.
Pathway Comment
None.
Reference No 960
Pathway Response
1. EPOSS will support zero-value transactions to:
a) record volumes of transactions for clients, such as Royal
Mail and Parcel Force
b) record the distribution of various forms
c) record customer enquiries, requests, incomplete services and
soon. The precise number and types of events associated with
a particular product or service will be dependent on its
complexity.
2. EPOSS will support zero-value Automated Payment
transactions for recording reversed smart card transactions and
other cancelled transactions.
3. EPOSS will support zero-value Order Book receipt, re-
direct and issue.
4. EPOSS will record the dispatch of items to storage,
retrieval and processing facilities.
Sie Automated Payments will be supported as currently.
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Zero-value transactions will be designed as services and
products in their own right with the normal controls, data
flows and interfaces to external systems.
Pathway Comment
The volume of transactions will increase significantly with the
increase in the number of “events” and checkpoints which can
result in recorded transactions.
Transactions which cannot be substantiated (e.g. cancellation
before commit) are open to abuse if they contribute to payment
or penalty.
Reference No 971
Pathway Response
Pathway will agree with POCL a strategy to achieve a single
stream of unreconciled data to POCL's automated payment
clients, from day 1.
Part of the strategy will be a timetable for the absorption of
Farnborough's reducing workload by Pathway.
Pathway Comment
None
Reference No 972
Pathway Response
Pathway will develop a rollout plan sympathetic with POCL‘s
requirements as follows:
pa The nominated major conurbations to be done first are:
West Midland; Greater Manchester; Merseyside; Leeds/Bradford;
Tyne and Wear; Glasgow/Edinburgh; South Wales.
2. The Contractor confirms installation within the M25 area
will take place in the second half of the overall timetable.
Pathway Comment
None
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Reference No 973
Pathway Response
Pathway acknowledges that, during the lifetime of the contract
or at termination, POCL Services supplied by Pathway may need
to be replaced or supplemented with services provided by other
suppliers. Pathway further acknowledges that it must be
technically viable for its POCL Services to be replaced by
and/or interface to services from other suppliers. The
commercial viability of such replacements or adjuncts is
largely a matter for the other supplier and Pathway can offer
no warranty on this.
Pathway has agreed in its response to requirement 951 to
provide the service architecture document which will contain,
inter alia, the functionality of the major components, the
interfaces between them, and their design service levels.
These interface descriptions shall cover:
a) a definition of the business processes supported across the
service boundary, including who originates the processes;
b) all business transactions supported across the service
boundary including responses, associated information, any
supporting facilities and any constraints including
required timings.
Attention is drawn also to requirement 869 (TMS)and the Pathway
response. Pathway will specify the internal performance
requirements of any sub-system that is retendered. Pathway
reserves the right to modify service targets for overall
performance at the contract service boundaries in the event
that such a subsystem is retendered and/or let to a third
party.
Pathway’s costing and charging basis for integration with other
suppliers’ services will be on strict commercial terms.
Where a service or an upgrade thereof is supplied by another
supplier Pathway will require that it conforms to specification
as evidenced by a satisfactory test report based on a test
specification agreed by Pathway before being put into
operational use. In the event of malfunction of Pathway’s POCL
Services caused by the malfunction of another supplier’s
service, that service supplier shall be liable for all losses
sustained by Pathway including lost revenues and additional
operational costs.
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Where the content of the work to be done by Pathway as a result
of such service replacement makes for practicality,
subcontracts from Pathway will be let following competitive
tender. Such tenderers shall be at the sole discretion of
Pathway and shall not necessarily include prospective
replacement or supplementary service providers or POCL.
Pathway Comment
None
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POCL OBLIGATIONS
Ref. I POCL Obligation
463 1. For all testing required by POCL (including Acceptance,
Destructive and other) a co-operatively developed Test Plan
should be produced with Pathway. This would include the
objectives, timetable, key activities, expected outputs and
equipment requirements.
2. POCL should allow appropriate Pathway staff reasonable
access to any Test activities.
3. POCL should provide Pathway with the results of the Test
and, through a review process, discuss the implications of
the Test.
464 None
465 IAgreement to a specification of equipment livery which
Pathway accept as reasonable in terms of its impact on cost,
manufacture and long term support.
466 None
467 None
468 None
469 IA co-operative role in the final review stages of the
documentation
470 IA co-operative role in the final review stages of the
documentation
471 1. Agreement as to the scope of the Broadcast facility
(including message types and expected usage) such that agreed
technical and cost boundaries can be defined.
2. Agreement to the development of an electronic information
strategy.
3. Co-operation in the design and specification of the data ~
preparation processes as required to support any electronic
information service in a post office.
472 Agree the events that must be logged and the data items that
must be recorded
473 1. Specify the precise user types and permissions required
for post offices.
2. Co-operation and involvement in the specification and
implementation of the processes to handle exceptional events
(e.g. lost password)
3. Provide details of which POCL Services are required in
each post office
474 1. Process for co-operation and involvement with Pathway in
agreeing reasonable responsibilities and subsequent actions
as required under current and future Health and Safety
legislation.
475 IInvolvement in the Change Control Procedure as may be
required for document enhancements
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476 1. Agreed involvement and co-operation in the assessment of
business functionality and any HCI of new or enhanced
application releases through system test and quality reviews
2. Agreement to a change control process which will govern
the acceptance of the functionality of new or enhanced POCL
Services.
477 Agree a period of notice.
478 I1. Agree the method.
2. Agree the data file.
473 1. Specification of the authorised computer systems to which
TMS can connect
2. Agree a period of notice.
480 None
481 None
482 None
484 None
485 INone
486 POCL is responsible for the agreeing of the documentation
review process and adherence to the agreed timescales for
review.
487 None
488 1. POCL shall provide a nominated person at each site who can
accept the installation works, in accordance with the roll-
out schedule.
489 POCL is responsible for defining a site to where the existing
automated equipment will be taken.
490 INone
491 POCL will facilitate the planning permission process. A
process will be agreed to cover cases where planning
permission cannot be agreed.
492 None
493 None
494 I None
495 IPOCL shall be responsible for the initial identification of
all outlets to which the OPS shall be installed.
496 I None
497 IPOCL is responsible for identification of all sites and
Nominated Person so that Pathway may discuss with them their
requirements for each installation.
498 IPOCL will provide personnel who understand the existing
systems and manual processes and can work closely with
Pathway to plan how to achieve effective migration.
499 INone.
500 IPOCL will facilitate the planning permission process. A
process will be agreed to cover cases where planning
permission cannot be agreed.
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501 POCL is responsible for the nomination of Horizon
Implementation Manager, together with their interface,
operational responsibilities in relation to Roll-out.
502 POCL shall provide post masters who can agree the works
required to their own site for which they are responsible
for, and who will co-operate with the Contractor during the
installation activities.
503 POCL shall provide post masters who can agree the works
required to their own site for which they are responsible
for, and who will co-operate with the Contractor during the
installation activities.
504 POCL is responsible for supplying details of existing
equipment so that it may be assessed for future utilisation.
507 IPOCL is responsible for the timely identification of peak
times where roll-out to outlets may not be undertaken (e.g.
Christmas etc.)
508 IPOCL will agree a process.
509 POCL to agree with Pathway normal specifications for the
siting of the office platform and will provide outlet
managers who can agree the positioning of the office platform
within each office.
510 None
511 /POCL shall provide post masters who can agree the works
required to their own site for which they are responsible
for, and who will co-operate with the Contractor during the
installation activities. .
512 POCL will agree a process.
513 None.
514 IPOCL will agree a process for deciding whether an office goes
live. -
516 IPOCL will agree a process.
517 I None
518 None
519 IPOCL is responsible for the forecast of probable future
potential requirement for additional counter positions.
520 I None
521 None
522 I None
523 POCL will agree the operation of systems interfaces between
Pathway and POCL and their clients.
524 IPOCL agrees to supply details of the type of call which is
presently experienced on their own help desks.
525 POCL will agree a process for ordering adequate consumable
materials where appropriate.
526 I None
527 I None
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528 None
529 IPOCL will agree the behavioural standards.
530 I None
$31 I POCL will agree the competency standards.
532 IPOCL will make appropriate staff available.
533 None
534 INone
536 1. Reasonable advance notice of any change to OPS services
that would result in new peripherals being required
537 1. POCL will participate with Pathway in reviews and analysis
of those system management events that indicate POCL
operational or technical procedures and mechanisms require
modification.
2. POCL shall give reasonable notice to changes that are
required of the Pathway SMS.
538 I None
539 I1. POCL shall provide and maintain a specification of all
externally provided reference data.
2. POCL shall provide timely notification of any changes to
reference data and shall co-operate with Pathway in any
service testing that may be required.
3. POCL shall facilitate discussions with any third parties,
to produce an agreed interface specification and the
associated technical and operational methods to effect valid
data transfer.
540 I POCL shall use reasonable endeavours to promote the agreed
operational procedures for OPS including equipment use,
operating conditions, physical and environmental conditions
and all relevant Health and safety legislation
541 1. POCL will provide information on forecast changes to ~
business volumes within current or new POCL Services.
2. POCL should adopt a flexible approach to the operational
and procedural implications of new or changed POCL Services
as advised by Pathway’s impact assessment on the current
technical architecture and POCL Services.
3. POCL should co-operate with Pathway in any system testing
and other activities as may be required in order to assess
the impact of changes to business volumes.
542 POCL shall not unreasonably restrict Pathway from changing
the support processes or support organisations as applied to
current or future POCL Services provided by Pathway, where
such changes do not adversely impact Pathway’s contracted
obligations.
543 I Provide the specifications applicable to each of the token
types.
Arrange access to software algorithms and drivers required to
implement support for tokens where such algorithms are held
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under IPR arrangements by POCL or its agents.
544 IAgree with Pathway the range of APS service types and the
initial client set to be supported by type
Provide timely information to Pathway on the characteristics
of new service variants by means of the standard parametrised
reference data or any extensions thereto required
Provide timely information on the token specification and
interface requirements for service extension to new clients
and facilitate Pathway access to sample tokens and equipment
for the purposes of service development, integration and
testing
545 1. Agree with Pathway documentation contents prior to its
production and to any subsequent changes
2. Facilitate Client participation in the production of the
Automated Payments Client specifications
546 IAgree with Pathway the counter positions at which the AP
service shall be available, and identify in a timely manner
proposed extensions to such service availability
Co-operate with Pathway in the assessment of future
transaction types and volumes.
547 IAgree Pathway the definition of the term “robustly” as
applied to APS data capture and validation
Agree with Pathway the implications of rules defined in the
APS Generic Rules and Token technology specifications.
548 IWill discuss with Pathway any modifications to POCL counter
and backoffice procedures necessary for the proper operation
of the required POCL Services by POCL staff or agents.
will use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that agreed
office and counter procedures are followed in their affect .
upon the operation of the Pathway services
549 IAgree with Pathway the implications of rules defined in the
APS Generic Rules and Token technology specifications
General obligations on agreeing and following counter
procedures
550 I POCL shall provide access to token specifications and
facilitate access to appropriate software algorithms in a
timely manner to facilitate the Pathway development (as in
Req Ref 543) and agree the rules defined in the APS Generic
Rules and Token technology specifications (as in Req Ref 547)
551 IAgree the scope and details of APS information retrieval
services required at the Outlet
552 ITo agree the implications of rules defined in the APS Generic
Rules and Token technology specifications
553 ITo agree the implications of rules defined in the APS Generic
Rules and Token technology specifications
The AP client specification should include action(s) to be
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taken in the event of non-availability of the Client system
or interface to it
554 IPOCL shail agree with Pathway the fallback approach.
555 1. Co-operation in agreeing the barcode standards to be used
(read or printed) for each service.
2. Co-operation in defining or agreeing the specific cards
(magnetic or smart) to be used in each service.
3. Co-operation in agreeing the format of any printed output
required for a service.
4. Facilitate the provision of examples of all current
magnetic and smart cards/keys and all associated software
such that development and testing can proceed.
557 1. POCL shall give reasonable notice of any future service
requirements that may require additional OPS equipment.
2. POCL shall co-operate with Pathway in any equipment
assessment and selection process.
3. POCL shall recompense Pathway for any agreed costs
incurred in equipment selection, testing and development
should the new or enhanced service not be required
4, POCL shall give a firm statement on the requirement for
OCR reading at the counter and the associated technical
specification.
5. POCL shall give a firm statement on the requirement for 2-
D barcode reading and the associated technical specification.
558 Regular review of expected and actual business volumes for
current and future POCL Services.
559 I2. POCL will agree a process under change control for adding
functionality.
560 $1. POCL should not unreasonably prevent Pathway from
implementing changes to the OPS equipment for some or all of -
the outlets where such changes do not impact on Pathway’s
operational or service delivery commitments.
2. POCL will constructively contribute to any discussions
that Pathway may initiate concerning technology refresh.
561 None
691 POCL Shall:
ds Define the denominations of all items
receivable/returnable
2. Define the format of the consignment note
692 1. specify the allowable methods of payment for each
product/service offered.
2. Indicate which transactions should be committed on
completion (independent of the customer session)
3. Identify which services cannot be paid for using EFTPOS
(e.g. lottery tickets)
4. Indicate if and when credit cards will be supported
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5. Indicate if and when cashback will be supported
6. Describe the mechanism for selection/appointment of
Merchant Acquirer
693 1. Agree format of all receipts.
2. indicate which transactions will automatically produce a
receipt
694 None
695 I POCL Shall:
Agree format of all reports.
696 None
provide example pre-printed stationery
3. provide filled in examples of existing reports
viele
697 II£ impropriety or negligence should be attributable to POCL,
they shall take all reasonable measures to prevent
recurrence.
698 1. Agreement of policy.
2. Assessment, regular review of compliance.
3. Incident reporting (joint responsibility dependent on area
of responsibility) .
4. To take all reasonable steps to prevent privileged Pathway
information being released.
5. To take all reasonable steps to protect access to the
Pathway System via their dedicated access.
699 I1. Agree the content of the audit trail
2. Agree the procedures for identification of POCL staff
initiating transactions in the POCL Service, - POCL Counter
Staff for counter transactions
799 IAgree with Pathway the procedure for token issue, including
any client interfacing requirements and technical =
specifications
800 None
801 I1. identify the specific products and services within each
product style
2. Indicate default values (if applicable) for open value
products
3. Specify the product groups that comprise denomination
components
802 I1. identify by denomination the products which are considered
to be cash or value stock
803 IPOCL Shall:
1. Advise whether a semi-complete customer session should be
discarded completely or recovered so far as possible.
804 IPOCL Shall:
1. Identify the cut-offs for the clients which affects
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reversibility.
805 I1. Specify which events are to be recorded in the journal
2. the criteria that may be used for searching for
transactions and journal events
806 [Specify whether the system will be operated across different
time zones
807 I POCL Shall:
1. identify the items by denomination that can be transferred
between stock units.
808 I POCL Shall:
1. identify the items that will be reconciled by individual
serial number.
809 None
810 I POCL Shall:
1. identify all of the transactions that should allow "rate
shopping”.
81i [1. Provide a complete set of definitions for existing
products
2. Provide definitions of new products sufficiently in
advance of their live availability requirement
812 IProvide the rules regarding the reversibility of each
transaction
813 Identify which products can be revalued
814 IAgree rules for the sharing of cash and stock declaration
work in a team working environment
815 I None
816 I Specify the scope of an auditor’s access to accounting data -
817 I1. Identify discounts applicable to existing products
2. Specify their discounting strategy and the products
affected
818 IAgree the format and content of Reference Data transmitted
from POCL.
819 I POCL Shall:
1. identify the items that comprise the cash account.
2. at any point in time provide calendar information for the
previous, the current and the following year subject to
agreed process, including agreement on timescale.
3. provide the format of the data in the 2D bar code.
820 I POCL Shall:
1. Follow the fallback and recovery procedures agreed with
Pathway.
821 IPOCL Shall:
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1. provide timely information describing each local business
scheme and identifying the regions, areas and offices
affected.
B22 I1. Agree the format and content of reference data transmitted
to and from SAP/ADS
2. Identify the precise products whose movements are
controlled by the SAP/ADS
823 I None
824 {1. Provide full details of rules and tariffs involved in
mails services
2. Specify the level of data capture associated with added
value mails services
825 IPOCL Shall:
1. identify the business and data relationships between the
“linked” products.
826 I1. Advance notice of any requirement of POCL to introduce a
new peripheral into OPS.
2. Assist in the development of an impact assessment
resulting from any new equipment covering current service
provision, Pathway/POCL liabilities, procedural changes and
any resultant costs.
827 I1. The timely specification, using the Change Control
Procedure, of any changes to business functionality required
in current Services. This would include the introduction of
new authorisation methods.
2. Co-operation and involvement in the specification and
outline design of new authorisation methods
3. Support for Pathway in dialogue with third parties
828 5. Agree mechanisms for provision of control data, e.g. Post
Office reference details.
829 IInformation required to support fraud investigation or
prosecutions shall be notified before the end of the agreed
normal retention period for the relevant information;
currently 12 months in the case of physical evidence (e.g.
receipts).
830 I1. Agree contingency scope and operational responsibilities.
2. Agree procedures for invoking contingency, particularly at
Post Office Counter.
3. Agree mechanisms for classifying and reporting when
contingency invoked.
4. Agree change control mechanisms for contingency
7. Agree review and problem resolution processes associated
with management of contingency invocation
831 I POCL shall:
1. Place the POCL Interface Requirements for the BA/POCL
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System document under joint change control.
2. Discuss the implications of extensions to this
functionality.
3. Agree to the specific applications of the ARTS model.
4, Agree the operating timetable for LFS.
5. Agree the operating timetable for TIP.
6. Assist in the agreement of operating timetables for POCL
Clients.
7. Assist in the agreement of interfaces for POCL Client
Authorisation Requests, Confirmations/Exceptions,
Authorisations and Client-specific reference data.
8. None
11. Agree the transition of traffic from APT host to AP
client hosts.
12. Agree outlet arrangements for cash account production.
13. None :
14. Agree a development strategy and timetable for the LFS
application.
15. None
16. None
17. None
832 IAll faults must be reported to the Horizon System Helpdesk.
833 I None
834 POCL Shall:
1. Agree with Pathway an approach to migrating business data
for all classes of office during roll-out.
835 I None
836 INone
837 I1. define the format and content of all reports 2. Identify
the frequency of production of each report
838 I POCL Shall:
1. identify the transactions / products which will support
post-event entry of information.
839 POCL Shall:
1. identify all items by denomination that make up the retail
stock.
869 I1. POCL will endeavour to provide timely information on all
likely and possible changes to business volumes within
current or new POCL Services.
2. New or changed POCL Services will be subject to a change
control process.
3. POCL will agree system testing with Pathway.
870 I None
871 I None
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g80 IAgreement of the technical details of the interface to TIP
and its operational characteristics, in terms of timings and
transfer schedules, etc.
Agreement on any reconciliation mechanisms between POCL,
Pathway and, where appropriate, any third parties, for
transactional data transferred to TIP.
890 I1. POCL shall agree with Pathway the technical details of the
interfaces by which committed AP transactions are transferred
to POCL and Clients.
2. POCL shall agree with its AP clients and Pathway the
operational characteristics of such transfer processes,
including time windows and the procedures by which
demonstrability of successful transaction transfers shall be
measured
891 IPOCL shall:
1. input reference data at the central and/or post office
levels, and such other levels as may be defined, in
accordance with operating procedures agreed with Pathway
2. notify Pathway without unreasonable delay of any
reconciliation exceptions encountered by POCL systems that
are unexplained by POCL
3. ensure that Pathway is notified without unreasonable delay
of any reconciliation exceptions encountered by POCL client
systems that are unexplained by POCL clients or POCL
4. as appropriate, agree interface integrity controls with
Pathway
5. co-operate with Pathway in seeking explanations for
reconciliation exceptions
6. take appropriate steps to restore TIP and SAP/ADS in the
event of their failure.
9. accumulate and despatch paper receipts to the agreed
repository in a timely fashion and in accordance with agreed
procedures for grouping, enveloping, despatching and
notifying despatch
10. provide information to Pathway for the retrieval of
receipts
894 IAgree the arrangements for MIS reports and POCL control
mechanisms.
Agree frequency of Review meetings
Agree content of inputs
Agree reporting periods
Agree arrangements for exception reporting.
Agree the procedure for arranging “ad hoc” meetings
OWN
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6. Agree the list of reports that will be required
7. Specify data requirements to enable resource, network,
productivity, cash management and marketing planning
8. Advise changes to MIS requirements under Change Control
procedures
9. Specify and agree all required interfaces to Information
systems, e.g. TIP.
10. Agree the medium for the reports, i.e./ fax/EIS
access/paper/floppy disk/other
11. Customer to provide and agree MIS reporting requirements
895 I1. Agree irregular encashment information.
2. POCL must inform Pathway of any exception event occurring
in a Post Office
896 IPOCL shall be jointly responsible for developing a strategy
study for the use of electronic communications in the user
documentation area.
898 Specify those outlets that require OBCS
899 IAgree the service levels and methods of data transfer to/from
the DSS ESNCS system.
900 {Provision and discussion of the ESNCS interface document
referred to above.
901 I None
902 I Agree OBCS service level
Agree process by which OBCS time monitoring will be achieved
903 Provision of DSS interface document
Co-operation in the design and operational procedures
relating to the DSS ESNCS data interface
Agree final definition and enactment of OBCS service levels
905 I None -
906 I None
911 I POCL shall:
Agree the transition arrangements through a change control
procedure.
POCL will agree a change control procedure.
912 1. POCL to agree a schedule for the electrical safety test
service, commensurate with the post office roll-out
timetable.
2. POCL to facilitate and promote the importance of this
service and the ongoing safety responsibilities of post
office staff.
3. Facilitate the access to equipment and other areas as
required during the electrical safety service.
913 I POCL is responsible for the definition of the documentation
agree a process and adherence to the agreed timescales for
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review.
POCL will copy and distribute the paper copies of the manual
to the appropriate users.
914 None
915 I[1. POCL will give details of the staff to be trained.
918 I None
921 1. Advance notice of any requirement of POCL to introduce a
new peripheral into OPS.
2. Co-operation in the development of an impact assessment
resulting from any new equipment covering current service
provision, Pathway/POCL liabilities, procedural changes and
any resultant costs.
922 INone
925 IPOCL shall produce and baseline the Operational Trial and
Model Office Test Requireemnts of the Service Provider
document for agreement with the Contractor.
926 IPOCL shall document the process to follow for agreement to
roll-out plans, including but not limited to:
a) initial release timeframe;
b) extent and scope of roll-out plan;
¢) process of change;
d) expected change frequency;
938 IAgree the content and distribution of the DP Act print report
941 I1. Refer to the Project Plan.
2. Agree the frequency and format of the installation
acceptance reports.
945 I1. POCL shall nominate an Outlet Manager for each site who
can agree and authorise the site preparation work to be done
and also periods when no modifications can made to the site. a
POCL shall agree with the Contractor the format and approach
of the User Survey and also the parameters for the siting of
the OPs, prior to commencement of the Roll-out.
2. POCL shall define and agree with the Contractor the role
and interface with the “Regional Liaison Manager”.
949 I1. To define the scope of the “total POCL Training” that may
be required.
2. To identify the numbers, locations and skills profile of
the staff to be trained.
3. To identify the training requirements in sufficient time
to allow the preparation of training plans and training
courses.
951 I POCL shall:
Give timely notification of changes in the interfaces of
their systems and, where possible, those of other parties,
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where these affect Pathway.
952 I None
953 I None
956 IPOCL shall: -
Negotiate any required practical alternative arrangements for
reception and transmission of files.
Originate the data transfers for OBCS and provide for
reception of transfers from OBCS in accordance with the
interface specifications and operational procedures to be
agreed with Pathway and POCL.
Facilitate access for the installation and maintenance and
de-installation of Pathway equipment.
Provide Pathway with specifications of OBCS functions,
particularly for the known addition for stop and recall
receipt acknowledgements.
Provide Pathway with reasonable notice of change in such
specifications.
Aid agreement as principal with Pathway in the event that
Pathway and DSS’s agents cannot agree on technical and
operational process.
960 I Identify the precise events that should be recorded as zero-
value transactions for all products/services but particularly
for APS.
971 IPOCL shall identify all automated payment clients and their -
data requirement.
POCL shall identify the nominated end of day time for each
Post Office, and the assumed end of day for data transmission
cut-off.
POCL shall agree with the Contractor the strategy for
achieving single-stream unreconciled data transmission to its
automated payment clients.
972 INone.
973 I POCL shall: -
Give due notification of intention to re-tender any POCL
Service.
Give due notification of changes in interfaces of their
systems and those of alternative or supplementary suppliers.
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Agree test specifications, schedules and reports. for
replacement or supplementary POCL Services.
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