EDI VAN Providers Ready To Offer Web EDI Services

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Insurance )



EDI VAN (value-added network) providers have sensed both opportunity and threat from the Internet and the emerging technologies for Web EDI. It is to the interest of EDI VAN providers to begin rolling out their own Web EDI capabilities and improve their services to you as an EDI user.

Once the technology designers for an individual VAN wraps up their work, you'll gain the facility to access the VAN Web site that keeps the EDI transaction templates, pull down the templates, enter your transaction details, and return the completed template. The VAN provider's web server translates your document's HTML code into EDI transaction formats, and transmits the file to the EDI VAN hub for processing like any other EDI document.

As an alternative, the EDI VAN could arrange with established Internet value-added service providers (VASP) to maintain the Web EDI templates. You and your trading partner can use the EDI forms on the VASP server, which transmits completed forms to your EDI VAN for translation and forwarding.

Another Internet EDI option harnesses the capabilities of file transfer protocol (FTP). FTP EDI is most useful when you frequently collect and send batches of electronic transactions. If you handle claims submissions for healthcare providers, FTP EDI is the method of choice.

You can use a LAN environment to allow multiple staff to prepare transactions simultaneously. As they enter transaction details into a batch file, formatting happens automatically. You will want to encrypt each batch file before transmission for privacy and add digital signatures to provide the recipient a means of authentication.

A third EDI alternative allows you to send EDI transactions in the form of enveloped messages, using simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) to set the specifications. You and your trading partner will transmit your messages (each one embedded with your EDI information) to the mailboxes of your EDI VAN.


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