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File transfer practice and procedures

File transfers help staff and contacts to exchange files electronically and securely via NetStaff CS and NetClient CS portals. The file transfer function in Practice CS gives you more control and monitoring options than the File Transfer function in NetFirm.
To perform file transfers, your firm needs to be licensed for both the Client Management module of Practice CS and NetFirm CS.

Overview

Once you've started a file transfer or file request, the file transfer will be shown on the recipient's NetClient CS portal.
  • Clients can sign into their portal at http://netlinksolution.com.
  • Alternatively, you can create a sign-in page on your firm's website by following the steps listed in the NetFirm CS topic: Adding portal login fields to your website.
After the file transfer has been sent, you can take the steps in the Manage File Transfers section that follows.
Before you can use file transfers, you'll need to first setup File Transfer in the Practice CS. After you've completed the setup steps, you can either send a file, or start a file transfer request using one of the following methods.

Start a file transfer to a contact

  1. Select
    Actions
     then
    Manage Clients
    .
  2. Select the
    File Transfers
     tab.
  3. Right-click the screen, then select
    Send Files to Contact
     from the context menu.
  4. Enter the
    From Staff
     contact information.
  5. Enter the contact in the
    To
     box.
  6. Enter a subject and message text. There are 2 options for delivering the message body.
    • Include message body in email
      : will insert the message text into the email that is sent to the contact informing them that a file transfer has been initiated.
    • Deliver message body securely
      : will not include the message in that email.
  7. Choose the files then select
    Add Files
    .
  8. Select
    Send
    .

Start a file transfer request from contact

A client can't send unsolicited files via the Practice CS file transfer process. All file transfers via Practice CS need to be started by a firm member. To send a file to a client, take the following steps to start a file transfer request.
  1. Select
    Actions
    then
    Manage Clients
    .
  2. Select the
    File Transfers
     tab.
  3. Right-click the screen and select
    Request Files from Contact
     from the context menu.
  4. Enter the contact in the
    To
     box.
  5. Enter a subject and message text. There are 2 options for delivering the message body.
    • Include message body in email
      : will insert the message text into the email that is sent to the contact informing them that a file transfer has been started.
    • Deliver message body securely
      : will not include the message in that email.
  6. Select
    Send
    .

After you start a file transfer request

  • Practice CS will request the NetStaff CS portal password for the originator of the file transfer (the staff member in the
    From
     box).
  • You can have the application remember the password of the staff member currently signed into Practice CS. If you start the file transfer on behalf of a different staff member, you'll need to enter that staff member's NetStaff CS portal password each time. You can't have the application remember other staff's password information. 
  • To change the cached portal password information within Practice CS for your own staff ID, go to the
    NetStaff CS Login Information
     screen, select
    System Configuration
     then
    Setup
    . 
  • If the contact (recipient) is already associated with an active portal, Practice CS sends the message and transfers the file to their portal. If no portal exists for that contact, you'll get a message that recommends additional steps to assign an existing NetClient portal to the contact or add a new portal in NetClient CS for the contact. 
  • Once completed, on the client's portal (in the File Exchange portlet), there will be an extra
    Upload
     icon. This is how the recipient uploads a file.
  • Once the file transfer has been marked complete, the recipient can no longer add files to it. After the recipient uploads a file to the originator of the file transfer request, you can get it from the dashboard or via the
    File Transfers
     tab in Manage Clients.

Additional procedure when portal isn't associated with a contact

We recommend that you first associate NetClient portals with Practice CS client contacts as part of the file transfer setup process. If you try to start a file transfer to a contact that doesn't already have a portal associated with it, you'll need to either find and assign an existing NetClient portal to this contact, or add a new portal in NetClient CS for this contact.

Manage file transfers

You can view file transfer information and manage file transfers in the
Firm Dashboard
,
Staff Dashboard
, or
Client Dashboard
. Alternatively, select
Actions
,
Manage Clients
, then the
File Transfers
 tab.
Information on the dashboards is similar to that in the
Manage Clients
 screen except that it's filtered. For example, on the Staff Dashboard, only information about file transfers involving the staff member currently signed-in will be shown. On the Client Dashboard, only file transfer information related to the client selected in the dashboard is shown. The same functions are available to you in both dashboards.
The file transfer screen is divided into 2 parts. The top pane shows each past and in-progress file transfer. After you select a specific file transfer, the bottom pane shows a detailed history of the events associated with the selected file transfer. You can limit the information displayed using various filters, including only transfers from the last 30 days, or open transfers only. You can also choose which columns display in the grids by using the
Field chooser
.
There are a number of management functions you can perform on the file transfer screen. To access these functions, right-click on a file transfer in the upper pane. You'll have the following options (depending on the type of file transfer and its status):
  • Save All Files
    : Save any files associated with a file transfer. You can save files as long as they still reside on the portals (that is, they're not expired or manually removed). You can use this option to save files associated with file transfers to a client (sent from your firm), or file transfer requests (requested from a contact).
  • Browse to File Transfer
    : Opens the NetStaff CS File Exchange portlet of the person who is listed as the "From Staff" in a web browser, so that you can also access file transfers via your NetStaff CS portal.
  • Remove File Transfer from NetFirm CS
    : This command will log a deleted file transfer event in Practice CS and remove the file transfer data from the File Transfers section on the recipient's portal. It will permanently remove the file transfer, the associated message body, and any file data attached. This doesn't remove the file transfer status and history information within Practice CS. However, if you attempt to use
    Browse to File Transfer
     or
    Save All Files
     on a file transfer that has been removed, you'll get an error.
  • Resend Notification Message
    : If the recipient of the file transfer hasn't signed-in and downloaded the file (status will show "Ready for Download"), then you can resend a copy of the message.
The file transfer status and related information for this screen is retrieved at regular intervals from the NetFirm CS portals. If a portal event hasn't been updated yet, but you need to work with that file transfer, you can manually force a download of the latest portal. To do this, select
Tools
 then
Download Portal Events
.

Retrieve files from contact

You can use the file transfer process to send and receive files from contacts. However, a file can't be sent from a contact to the firm unless first requested by the firm via a file transfer request. If you've sent a file transfer request to a contact, you can later retrieve the file uploaded. To do this, go to File Transfers on a dashboard and select the File Transfers tab.
Once uploaded, files are kept on the portal for 30 days, unless manually deleted. If this time period expires before the file can be downloaded, you can't retrieve it.
You can also get file transfer files from the File Exchange portlet on a staff member's NetStaff portal login. All file transfers that an individual staff sent to any contact (where they are the
From Staff
 on the file transfer) will show on that staff's File Exchange portlet.

This article applies to:

  • Product: Practice CS