Inside this issue:
ECSI's Move
1098-T
ECSI Website Services
CD-ROM for Reports
Credit Bureau Update
What's New: SAL Windows Update
Close Out Dates
The new building is approximately 18,000 square feet, three times the size of the old building. We now have a dedicated mailing room, a larger computer room, a conference room and the entire third floor can be used as a training facility. And we made sure that there was some room for future growth.
Due to an overwhelming response from our customers, ECSI will begin providing services related to higher education reporting requirements for the Hope Scholarship and the Lifetime Learning Credits, as mandated by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 (TRA). The services will include creating and mailing 1098-T notices to students and taxpayers and the IRS, creating and managing a 1098-T database for all necessary fields, fielding phone calls, providing additional copies of 1098-T and providing interactive Web-based services in a secure environment. ECSI will also provide a 1098-T screen which allows a school to look at their information at anytime.
ECSI is currently designing several different options for these services. A school will have the ability to choose from a "bare bones" option to full service for maintaining and servicing all the integral parts of the 1098-T process. We will work very closely with you to insure that all facets of the 1098-T process performed by ECSI meets your needs. A detailed proposal will be available soon. Anyone that has not notified ECSI of their interest in pursuing this service should do so as soon as possible. Please contact John Lynch, Jr at jlynch@ecsi.net or Raymond Leech at rleech@ecsi.net.
Information required by the IRS in 1999:
The statement to the student must also include:
After 1999, the following information will be required:
If outsourcing, ECSI would provide the following:
Although not required in 1999, ECSI strongly encourages all clients to provide the money fields noted above on your 1098-T forms. This will prepare you for the changes in tax year 2000.
As in tax year 1998, we will provide the 1098-E services again this year. We are expanding our offering to include many of the options available for 1098-T. All 1098-T options will now be available for our 1098-E clients as well.
The Client Application is a starting point for many of the interactive services available on our web site. Everything is available in one place so you won't spend hours searching around.
Student Account Information
Now you can view the same information that the borrower sees when they check their account on our web site -- without having to know the student's PIN number. ECSI provides students with the ability to review their account information on our web site but this information is generally one day behind. When a borrower calls, it is often useful to review the same information they are looking at.
Even though you don't need the PIN, we still maintain security on the information. Only current clients can access the application and each client can only review borrowers at their school.
Transmissions
Many of our clients permit ECSI to transfer the data between their computer and ours using Remotely Possible. There are two benefits to Remotely Possible: 1) we do all the work and 2) you can see the activity. There is a level of comfort in being able to glance at the screen and see files moving from one place to another, programs being run and files being returned.
Some clients use FTP and transfer their files themselves. FTP is often a "black hole" where things go in and everyone 'hopes for the best'. We now record each FTP transmission and make that information available for your review. It can provide peace of mind that your transmission was successfully received and you can even compare the date, time and size of the files for accuracy.
You can review your transmission reports directly through the Client Application for the current month, the past month or forever. You can also request that an Email is sent listing the files, which saves you from having to reference our web site for every transmission. The Email is delayed approximately 15 minutes to ensure that the transmissions have completed.
Update Notification
Nothing is more frustrating than trying to find what's new each time you visit a web site. If you look at ECSI's home page, you will find three tidbits of information to help: the date of the last news item; the date of the last regulation and the date that the site was last updated. Also, all of the site changes are documented on one page, available from the Updates link. All these tidbits are there to help you find the things that are new or changed on our web site.
We have added a tool to notify you by Email when the site has changed. The Web Site Update Notification allows you to provide an Email address and select the type of changes that are relevant to you or your school. You can be notified if any changes are made or just specific areas of interest. Emails are generated when the changes match your area of interest. The Email contains a link that will open the ECSI site directly to the updates page so you can quickly scan the list of changes.
These features are available today. The next addition will be the ability to review your Escrow Account banking information (more about that next time). To access any of these functions, you will need the User ID and password that were assigned by ECSI. If you cannot remember your password, send an email to rleech@ecsi.net and a new one will be assigned. If you have a suggestion for a new feature you think would be useful, please send us an Email.
ECSI is continuing to explore new technologies, and is pleased to announce that we are in the beginning stages of testing the ability to offer the Monthly Reports on a CD-ROM. This new product will be able to run on machines that do not have the SAL system installed, allowing more flexibility and easier access for supporting personnel.
CD-ROM's are more reliable and eliminate the need for multiple diskettes for larger clients. This process is currently in the testing stages and we will provide more information to you when it is available for full release.
In November, 1999, ECSI will begin programming which will allow the reporting of data submitted to credit bureaus in a revised layout called the Metro 2 format. Metro 2 accepts data that is dated in the next century and also takes into account the new reporting requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
For example, accounts closed by consumers, accounts in dispute and a date of first delinquency all have specific fields in Metro 2. It also includes additional reporting fields such as actual payment amount and deferred payment start date and provides the capability to identify account number changes.
If your school's status with ECSI is not "service client" you may continue to use the existing Metro format or switch to the Metro 2 format. The old format does not have a 4-digit year field however, the credit reporting agencies can use "windowing techniques" to ensure the data is accurately loaded to their files. The procedure you use once you decide to switch to the new format will be:
There are currently 20 schools using our SAL Windows system. They have been using our Windows application for 3 months. Ten schools were converted on October 1st and 10 additional schools will be converted at the end of October. Our plans are to convert between 10 and 20 schools a month onto our Windows application until all schools are converted. Any school wishing to be converted sooner than later, please contact ECSI. Once the school has agreed to be converted, they will be notified approximately 1 month in advance before the actual conversion.
During the past few months we have finished the Collection Module, Collection Review, Coupons and other minor routines. This month we are currently working on programs that deal with receivables, daily interest, ACH and TPP applications. At the end of this month, SAL Windows will finally contain all the major functionality of the standard DOS product (excluding customer specific code and a few optional modules). These areas will be coded in the months to follow.
| Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Mid-month Billing Calc | 13 | 14 | 13 |
| End-month Billing Calc | 29 | 30 | 31 |
| Final Transmission date for reports | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Reports mailed to schools | 11/2 | 12/2 | 1/2 |