File transfers enable staff and contacts to exchange files electronically and securely via NetStaff CS and NetClient CS portals. The file transfer function within Practice CS allows for greater control and monitoring than the traditional File Transfer function available through NetFirm.

To perform file transfers, your firm must be licensed for both the Client Management module of Practice CS and NetFirm CS.

Overview

Once you have initiated a file transfer or file request, the recipient will see that file transfer (and respond if applicable) on their NetClient CS portal.

• Clients can log on to their portal by going to http://netlinksolution.com in any web browser.
• Alternately, you can create a login page on your own 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, if further management is necessary (such as reviewing a signature status or retrieving a file from a file transfer request), then you can do so by following procedures outlined in the "Managing File Transfers" section below.

Before you can use file transfers, you must first complete the  Practice CS: File Transfer - Setup process.After the setup steps have been completed, you can now either send a file, or initiate a file transfer request using one of the following methods:

File Transfers to Contact

1. Go to Actions, then Manage Clients.
2. Select the  File Transfers tab.
3. Right-click the screen and choose Send Files to Contact
4. Enter the appropriate From Staff contact information. You can not only initiate a file transfer from your own staff ID, but you can also initiate a file transfer as if it is being sent by another staff.

   Note: If you use a different staff member in the From Staff field, you will need to provide the other staff's NetStaff CS portal password before the file transfer can be initiated.

5. Enter the appropriate contact in the To field.
6. Enter a subject and message text. There are two options for delivering the message body.
   1. The Include message body in email option will insert the message text into the email that is sent to the contact informing them that a file transfer has been initiated.
   2. The Deliver message body securely option will not include the message in that email. With either option, the message text is viewable on the File Exchange portlet in NetClient when the client accesses the file transfers (by clicking on the note symbol in the Message column).
7. Browse to and add file(s) to the portal by clicking the Add Files button on the right.
8. The Signature Required option allows the sender of a file to require that the recipient sign the document electronically. The recipient can view / download the file without signing, but the request must be accepted or rejected before the file transfer can be considered completed.
   • The signature status is viewable in the file transfer details screen, and a notification can optionally be sent to the originator of the file transfer when the document is signed. For more information, see the appropriate section of Practice CS: File transfer - general information.
9. Click the Send button.
10. Practice CS will request the NetStaff CS portal password for the originator of the file transfer (ie, whatever staff is listed in the From field).

    You have the option to have the program "remember" the password of the staff member currently logged into Practice CS. If the file transfer is initiated on behalf of a different staff member, you must enter that staff member's NetStaff CS portal password each time. There is no option to remember other staff's password information.

    Note: If you need to change the cached portal password information within Practice CS for your own staff ID, you can do so in the Setup menu, in System Configuration, on the NetStaff CS Login Information screen.

11. If the contact (recipient) is already associated with an active portal, Practice CS immediately sends the message and transfers the file to their portal. If no portal exists for that contact, you will be prompted for additional options. See the Additional procedure when portal isn't associated with a contact section below.

File Transfer Requests from Contact

A client cannot send unsolicited files via the Practice CS file transfer process. All file transfers via Practice CS must be initiated by a firm member. If you would like a client to send a file, you should initiate a file transfer request, using the following procedures.

1. Go to Actions, then Manage Clients.
2. Select the File Transfers tab.
3. Right-click the screen and choose Request Files from Contact.
4. Enter the appropriate contact in the To field.
5. Enter a subject and message text.
   • There are two options for delivering the message body.
     1. The Include message body in email option will insert the message text into the email that is sent to the contact informing them that a file transfer has been initiated.
     2. The Deliver message body securely option will not include the message in that email. With either option, the message text is viewable on the File Exchange portlet in NetClient when the client accesses the file transfers (by clicking on the note symbol in the Message column).
6. Click the Send button.
7. Practice CS will request the NetStaff CS portal password for the originator of the file transfer (ie, whatever staff is listed in the From field).

   You have the option to have the program "remember" the password of the staff member currently logged into Practice CS. If the file transfer is initiated on behalf of a different staff member, you must enter that staff member's NetStaff CS portal password each time. There is no option to remember other staff's password information.

   Note: If you need to change the cached portal password information within Practice CS for your own staff ID, you can do so in the Setup menu, in System Configuration, on the NetStaff CS Login Information screen.

8. If the contact (recipient) is already associated with an active portal, Practice CS immediately sends the message and transfers the file to their portal. If no portal exists for that contact, you will be prompted for additional options. See the Additional procedure when portal isn't associated with a contact section below.

Once completed, on the client's portal (in the File Exchange portlet), there will be an extra Upload icon. This option is unique to file transfer requests, and is what allows the recipient of a file transfer request to upload a file.

The recipient can attach and upload files to the file transfer request as long as the file transfer has not been completed. 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, it can be retrieved by using the dashboard portlets or via the File Transfers tab in Manage Clients. See the "Retrieving Files from Clients" section below for details.

Additional Procedure When Portal Isn't Associated With a Contact

It's recommended but not required to first associate NetClient portals with Practice CS client contacts as part of the file transfer setup process. If you attempt to initiate a file transfer to a contact that doesn't already have a portal associated with it, you will need to either find and assign an existing NetClient portal to this contact, or add a new portal in NetClient CS for this contact.

For more detailed information these options see Practice CS file transfer - Creating NetClient or NetStaff portals from Practice.

Managing File Transfers

You can view information for and manage existing file transfers, view file transfer statuses, and save files associated with the file transfer by using one of the following screens:

• Actions / Manage Clients / File Transfers tab.
• Firm Dashboard, Staff Dashboard, and Client Dashboard (via the File Transfers portlet).

Information appearing in the dashboard portlets is similar to that appearing in the Manage Clients screen, except that it is automatically filtered. For example, on the Staff Dashboard, only information about file transfers involving the staff member currently logged in will be shown. On the Client Dashboard, only file transfer information related to the client that is selected in the dashboard is shown. The functions that can be performed in these two areas, however, are identical.

The file transfer screen is divided into two 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. For convenience, 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 icon in the upper-left corner of the grid.

There are a number of management functions that can be performed on the file transfer screen. To access these functions, right-click on a specific file transfer in the upper pane. You will be presented with some or all of the following options (depending on the type of file transfer and status):

• Save All Files: Use this command to save any files associated with a file transfer. You can save files as long as they still reside on the portals (i.e., not expired nor manually removed). Further, you can use this option to save files associated with file transfers to a client (i.e., sent from your firm) or file transfer requests (i.e., files requested from a contact).

  Note: Practice CS will request the NetStaff CS portal password for the originator of the file transfer when using this command.

• Browse to File Transfer: In addition to accessing the files from within Practice CS (using the Save All Files option described previously), you can access file transfers via your NetStaff CS portal. This command opens the NetStaff CS File Exchange portlet of the person who is listed as the "From Staff" in a web browser. 

  Note: Practice CS will request the NetStaff CS portal password for the originator of the file transfer when using this command.

• 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 does not remove the file transfer status and history information within Practice CS. However, if you attempt to use the Browse to File Transfer or Save All Files option on a file transfer that has been removed, you will receive an error.

  Note: Practice CS will request the NetStaff CS portal password for the originator of the file transfer when using this command.

• Resend Notification Message: If the recipient of the file transfer hasn't logged in and downloaded the file (status will show "Ready for Download"), then you can resend a copy of the original email notification message to remind the recipient to log on to their portal and complete the file transfer process.

The file transfer status and related information for this screen is automatically retrieved at regular intervals from the NetFirm CS portals. If there is a situation where 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 events by going to Tools and select Download Portal Events.

Retrieving Files from Contact

You can use the file transfer process to both send to and receive files from contacts. However, a file cannot be sent from a contact to the firm unless first requested by the firm via a file transfer request. If you have sent a file transfer request to a contact, you can later retrieve the file uploaded by that contact using the File Transfers tab in Manage Clients or the File Transfers portlet on the dashboards. See the "Managing File Transfers" section above for more detail.

Once uploaded, files reside on the portal for 30 days, unless manually deleted prior to that point. If this time period expires before the file can be downloaded, the file will not be retrievable.

Files sent and received via the Practice CS file transfer process are also optionally accessible via the File Exchange portlet on a staff member's NetStaff portal login. All file transfers that an individual staff sent to any contact (i.e., where they are the "From Staff" on the file transfer) will appear on that staff's File Exchange portlet.

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