In this simple yet common example, there may be responsibilities and rules governing levels of authority. Perhaps the invoice’s value, if less than a certain amount, does not require the department manager to authorize thepayment. Conversely, if the invoice exceeds a certain value, the level of authorization may exceed that of the department manager, necessitating a sign-off by an officer of the company.

Fortis Inflo is the automated tool for document processes. Imagine the increase in business, imagine the cost savings…imagine the ease of use…imagine the reputation you will enjoy with your customers. Provide answers, solve problems, fulfill requests, and provide a forum for incoming business activities, from employees, agents, suppliers, or the population at-large. All with the immediacy once considered to be unattainable – a fast, immediate and consistent experience. These are the objectives of Fortis Inflo, whether you use our traditional client with Fortis or via the “thin client” using PowerWeb!

Today’s organizations recognize their documents are key to decision-making, and play an active role in influencing direction, responding to requests from customers, colleagues and suppliers. Your documents are so much more than a mere static repository. Rather, they represent a dynamic set of tasks and activities comprised of deliberations, decisions, actions and outcomes. In today’s highly competitive climate, with the business reach increasingly more global, more “e”tensive, only those companies that complete their tasks in the most expeditious and accurate manner can be assured of success. Success measured by long-standing customers and a commitment from their most valuable assets – their team of employees and colleagues.

Fortis Inflo is designed for the automation of document-centric procedures using a rules-based approach for event driven task management. Fortis Inflo allows users to work faster, more accurately, and more efficiently than was ever possible with traditional paper processing derivatives. Fortis Inflo is beneficial whenever successive points of input or tasks are required in order to complete a business task, process or procedure. From processing applications for a mortgage, employment, credit, insurance; to the approval cycle for invoices, expense reports or capital expenditure; to remittance processing – Fortis Inflo streamlines collaboration, ensures timing of tasks and hastens the expedient delivery of decision information – thus accelerating the completion of critical business tasks.

Fortis Inflo does not operate in isolation. It can be easily incorporated as a document repository for data exchange or integration with existing core software applications, including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management, Health Information Systems (HIS), Procurement or in a B2B (business to business) trading community.

Fortis Inflo Server
There are two main components of Fortis Inflo: the “Process Designer” and the “Inflo Server.” The business process -- complete with events, participants, tasks and rules -- are created in the Process Designer. The Inflo server is the “workhorse,” the engine that monitors the Fortis database, executes the “rules” and notifies the participants of “tasks” they need to perform during the business process.

Process Design
The Process Designer of Fortis Inflo is a tool to create a graphical map or a process diagram, detailing the specific tasks, participants and event sequence for each process – a comprehensive tool to illustrate the structure of a process. Anyone creating a process map will use a familiar Windows interface, “Point, Click, Drag and Drop” for creation, comprehension and visual representation. This is done within the scope of a Fortis Database. The map outlines tasks, rules and participants that determine the process flow. There are two major components of the process design map: Tasks and Rules.

Tasks
Tasks identify work that must be performed by users, or groups of users. These Tasks are the fundamental building blocks of a Process. Each Task is represented by a Task symbol on the Process map. A Task is an activity or an item of work that forms one logical activity within a Process. Tasks may contain an overall description along with one or more steps that must be performed by the participant. Tasks are logically connected to graphically illustrate the flow within Fortis Inflo.

Rules
A Rule within a Process allows the specification of business circumstances or situations which determine the flow of documents. Each Rule is represented by a symbol, known as a “Rule Symbol” on the Process map. It is really quite simple – tasks are connected to Rules. Rules are
used to move documents from one Task to the next. Rules are composed of Criteria, Actions and Scheduling.

The Criteria provides a method of identifying those documents of a certain status. Let’s use the example of the invoice authorization, where documents:

1) were waiting for an authorization,
2) were waiting for payment, and,
3) do not exceed $1,000.

The criteria in Fortis Inflo would ensure that the document type was an invoice, it was located in the applicable folder, it was ready for payment processing and ensured that only those with a value of less than $1,000 were presented.

The Actions instruct the Workflow Server how to keep documents flowing through the process. Given the criteria and example above, a corresponding action might be to: “Move those invoices into the Accounts Payable folder and send an e-mail to the Accounts Payable clerk.” The Scheduling of the Rule instructs the Workflow Server when the Rule should be run. This can be based on any time period. A Rule can be marked as "Disabled" to prevent the Workflow Server from running it.

e-mail Notification
The e-mail notification Action can be used in a host of support activities and management of the Process to participants both inside your organization and to those collaborating externally through the Fortis Inflo “thin client” (PowerWeb). Users or groups of users may be informed of work to be performed; managers may be informed of status, to monitor work levels, goals and to load balance. The Recipient can be one of:

• Fortis User Name
• Fortis User Group
• External e-mail address

Fortis allows an administrator to specify an e-mail address for a user account, providing the ability to specify just the Fortis user name. If a Fortis User Group is used, then all users in that Group receive the message. In cases where notification is required outside the Fortis system, the external e-mail address can be specified (e.g. “billg@microsoft.com”).

The Subject can be any text and variable combination. The Message Body can also be a combination of text and variables. In addition, the Message Body can contain a link to the document. When the user receiving the e-mail message opens this link, that document is opened for viewing and editing. The link is specified in the form of a standard HTTP URL. Use of the URL requires Fortis PowerWeb to view the document inside a browser.

Rule Scheduling
You may set a timeline on the Rule as an integral part of its definition. This will determine when the Rule should be run. The scheduling of a Rule may be any combination of date or time interval, and/or “run” manually. If your desire is to set an automated timeline, then the “At a given time/day” feature selects an absolute day/time to run the Rule, which includes the following options:

• Every X minutes past the hour (1, 5, 10, 20 and 30 minutes allowed)
• Hourly on X minutes past the hour
• Daily at a specified time
• Weekly on a specified day/time
• Monthly on a specified date/time
• On a specific date/time

For example, to run a Rule once every minute, the first option is used specifying 1 minute. To run the Rule twice every hour, the first option is used specifying 30 minutes. To run the Rule once every hour at 25 past the hour, the second option is used specifying an interval of 25 minutes. To run a Rule once a day at 7 a.m., the third option is used.

There may be Rules that should not be run on a specified day/time but more specifically on an as-needed basis. In those cases, an administrator with appropriate permission can instruct the Inflo Server to run one or more Rules.

This execution results in the automated flow of documents throughout Fortis, performing actions such as moving documents from folder to folder, updating the status, labels or index of such documents automatically. These actions also include notification to the participants of documents that have arrived for their action. This is accomplished using Document Alert on a simple level or using the power of standard “e-mail” notification, whether you are using Fortis or an outside party, using the Thin Client through PowerWeb.

The Fortis Inflo Server operates on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server platform, monitoring one or more Fortis databases. Its primary function is to run the Rules specified within a Fortis database. Fortis provides for a host of database repository choices, as it adopts industry standards. The ODBC technology provides access to Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle.

You may select one or more Fortis databases to be monitored by a single Fortis Inflo Server. Multiple Fortis Inflo Servers can be configured on the same network. However, only a single Inflo Server should be monitoring a specific database.

Fortis Databases that you wish to monitor may be added and removed given the permission of the administrator. When added, a Fortis user account is specified when monitoring the database. This dictates the permissions that will be used by the Server when performing Actions, such as moving to folders and setting Index Field values. The Server can be “stopped” and later “started” to suspend activity when needed.

Just in case the “real time” monitoring feature is not enough, the Fortis Inflo Server maintains an Audit Log. The log contains the date/time that each Rule is run, along with details about each action it performs (i.e. document moved to particular folder, index data set, etc.). A log may be based on a day, week, or month to help manage the size and scope of the data that is captured.

The results are swift. Documents you need to make a decision are presented, providing you the opportunity to review, collaborate and decide. Today’s organizations recognize their documents are key to decision-making, and play an active role in influencing direction, responding to requests from customers, colleagues and suppliers. Your documents, as you can see, are in so much more than a mere static repository!