CSMS Message: 94-000704

TO ALL ACS TRADE INTERFACE PARTICIPANTS:

AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, CUSTOMS MANAGEMENT HAS INITIATED A LONG-RANGE
PROJECT TO MODERNIZE AND REDESIGN THE AUTOMATED COMMERCIAL SYSTEM. THIS
PROJECT WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE TRADE COMMUNITY IN THE
FUTURE AND COMMISSIONER WEISE IS COMMITTED TO WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP
WITH THE TRADE ON THIS VERY IMPORTANT INITIATIVE. AS A CATALYST FOR
SOLICITING COMMENTS, CONCERNS AND SUGGESTIONS ON THE DIRECTION OF
CUSTOMS FUTURE COMMERCIAL AUTOMATION, THE COMMISSIONER IS MAKING AVAILABLE
TO ALL INTERESTED TRADE COMMUNITY MEMBERS THE REPORT OF THE FUTURE
AUTOMATED COMMERCIAL ENVIRONMENT TEAM (FACET) WHICH PROPOSES THE CONCEPT
FOR A NEW AUTOMATED COMMMERCIAL ENVIRONMENT (ACE).

THE COMMISSIONER HAS ALSO ESTABLISHED THE AUTOMATED COMMERCIAL
ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT TEAM, WHO WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PLANNING,
ANALYSIS, DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW SYSTEM.
PLEASE DIRECT ALL WRITTEN COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS AND QUESTIONS ABOUT
THE NEW SYSTEM TO THE ACE DEVELOPMENT TEAM. THEIR FAX NUMBER IS
(202) 927-4808.

SINCE THE CONCEPT DOCUMENT IS FAIRLY LENGTHY, IT HAS BEEN POSTED ON
THE CUSTOMS ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD (CEBB) IN PLACE OF DISSEMINATING
IT AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE. MANY OF YOU ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH
USING THE CEBB. FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT, A VERY BRIEF SUMMARY OF USER
INSTRUCTIONS FOLLOW. IF YOU NEED FURTHER INFORMATION ON USING THE CEBB,
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR CLIENT REPRESENTATIVE.

ACCESSING THE CUSTOMS ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD:

ALL THAT IS REQUIRED IS A PERSONAL COMPUTER WITH A COMMUNICATIONS
PACKAGE AND A MODEM. THIS SYSTEM SUPPORTS BAUD RATES FROM 1200 UP TO
14,400. THEN JUST PERFORM THE FOLLOWING STEPS:

- SET UP YOUR COMMUNICATIONS PACKAGE AS AN ANSI TERMINAL
- SET THE DATABITS FIELD TO 8
- SET THE STOPBITS FIELD TO 1
- SET PARITY TO N
- SET THE PHONE NUMBER TO (703) 440-6155

NOTE: FOR BEST RESULTS, SET YOUR TERMINAL BACKGROUND COLOR TO
BLACK, AND DISABLE ANY CALL WAITING FEATURE ON YOUR TELEPHONE.

ONCE YOU ARE SUCCESSFULLY CONNECTED, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO LOG ON.
AT THE PROMPT, TYPE IN YOUR FIRST NAME, FOLLOWED BY YOUR LAST NAME. THE
SYSTEM WILL ASK IF YOUR NAME HAS BEEN SPELLED CORRECTLY. RESPOND
ACCORDINGLY. YOU WILL RECEIVE A PROMPT ASKING FOR A PASSWORD. ASSIGN
YOURSELF A PASSWORD CONSISTING OF NO MORE THAN 15 CHARACTERS (CAN BE ALPHA
OR NUMERIC), AND PRESS ENTER.

NEW USERS WILL BE ASKED TO COMPLETE A QUESTIONNAIRE WHICH WILL BE
USED BY THE CEBB ADMINISTRATOR FOR STATISTICAL PURPOSES. AFTER COMPLETING
THE QUESTIONNAIRE, PRESS ENTER TO CONTINUE. THE CUSTOMS BANNER APPEARS
NEXT. A SERIES OF MENUS AND HELP SCREENS WILL HELP YOU NAVIGATE YOUR
WAY THROUGH THIS USER-FRIENDLY SYSTEM. THE FACET REPORT APPEARS IN
CUSTOMS EXTRA! (AREA 12), UNDER THE TITLE FACET1.EXE, AS A COMPRESSED
FILE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD ONLY.