FedConnect_Ready_Set_Go.pdf

FedConnect ®

Ready,Set,Go!

A quick start guide designed to get you up and running fast with FedConnect®, the portal for doing business with the federal government.

Version 1.9.9 www.fedconnect.net

Registering

Managing Your Profile

Searching for Opportunities

Creating a Response

Receiving an Award

Sending and Receiving Messages .. 12

Managing Users

Quick Answers

Are you looking to do business with the

U.S. federal government? Are you seeking grants or assistance funding?

FedConnect® can help you do both. FedConnect is a one stop location where you can find opportunities for federal contracts, grants, and other types of assistance funding.

FedConnect is a web portal that bridges the gap between government agencies and their vendor and grants applicant/recipient communities to streamline the process of doing business with government. Through this portal you will be able to review opportunities and receive awards. You’ll also have an open channel of communication with the government that is both secure and auditable where you can ask questions, submit responses, acknowledge receipt of documents, and receive awards. You can even create teams within FedConnect to manage your response or award.

This guide is designed to help you get up and running as quickly as possible.

First we’ll take you through the registration process. It’s fast, easy and most important, free! Next, we’ll walk you through the basics of everything from creating your organization and user profiles to submitting a response, and receiving an award.

Of course, if you ever need help, the FedConnect support team is standing by, ready to assist you.

Ready? Let’s go!

www.fedconnect.net

© 2006-2012 Compusearch Software Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Compusearch® and FedConnect® are registered trademarks of Compusearch Software Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. FedConnect® is the registered trademark for the Compusearch product FedConnect.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Companies, names, government entities, and data used in examples herein are fictitious.

FedConnect Support

Email: support@fedconnect.net

Phone: 1-800-899-6665

The FedConnect Support Center is staffed Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., EDT.

Closed on Federal holidays.

Registering

FedConnect – Ready, Set, Go!

Registering and using

FedConnect is fast, easy, and free.

You can have an unlimited number of users under your FedConnect company account.

You can check the status of your registration at any point by clicking the Check

Registration Status link on the sign in page.

When you sign in, FedConnect checks to see whether you are an administrator or a representative. What you see on the pages within

FedConnect and the tasks you can perform are determined by this role designation. For more information about the differences between administrator and representative access, see page 15.

Before you can register with FedConnect, you will need the following:

• Your company’s DUNS (including plus 4 extensions if applicable).

If you don’t know your company’s DUNS or if your company does not have a DUNS you can search for it or request one at http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform.

• A federal Contractor Central Registration (CCR) account.

If your company is not currently registered with CCR, please register at www.ccr.gov before continuing with your FedConnect registration.

• Possibly, your company’s CCR MPIN.

If you are the first person from your company to register, FedConnect will need your CCR MPIN to create a company account.

Guidance for how to find your MPIN on CCR is available at the following link:

https://www.fsd.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/187. If you don’t have the sign in credentials for CCR, you can identify the person who does by looking up your organization’s CCR record. CCR provides a search tool at: https://www.bpn.gov/CCRSearch/Search.aspx.

When you find your record, scroll down to the bottom to locate the Electronic Business POC and Alternate Electronic Business POC information. These are the people who should know your MPIN.

After the initial FedConnect account is created, employees can register themselves without the MPIN. If you are not sure whether your company has an account with FedConnect, don’t worry. Complete the registration form and FedConnect will let you know.

1. Click Register for Free Account.

This link is available on the FedConnect home page at www.fedconnect.net.

2. Fill in the requested information.

The email address that you enter on this page will become your FedConnect user ID and will be used for all communication between FedConnect and you. Make sure that any SPAM filters you or your company use are set up to allow communication from the.

fedconnect.net URL. If not, important notices and alerts might never reach you.

3. Click the Register button.

What happens next depends upon whether or not your company currently has a master FedConnect account.

If your company has a master FedConnect account...

• FedConnect creates an account for you with a status of pending.

• An email is sent to your company’s FedConnect administrators.

An administrator decides whether to activate your account. The administrator also decides whether you are to be given administrator privileges or if you will be a standard user.

• You will receive an email from FedConnect.

When your account status has been changed, either activated or denied, you will receive an email from FedConnect.

If your company does not have a FedConnect account...

• You will be prompted to enter your company’s CCR MPIN.

If you know your company’s CCR MPIN, enter it in the field that now displays and click the Register button again. If you don’t know this number, see the “Before you can register...”

section on page 2 for guidance on who in your company would know this.

• FedConnect will confirm your CCR registration.

This process normally takes just a few seconds. If your registration is valid and active, FedConnect will create a FedConnect company profile for you, download your address from CCR, and populate preferences such as your CCR-specified NAICS and PSC/FSC codes.

• FedConnect will create a personal account for the person creating this company account and make that person a FedConnect administrator.

Since the person who sets up the initial company account on FedConnect must know your agency’s MPIN, that person is designated as an administrator for the FedConnect company account. An administrator can perform a variety of management duties within FedConnect, including updating company information and activating or denying registration requests by others in your company.

• An email will be sent to this new administrator.

Once the registration is complete, this new administrator will receive an email notification that the account has been activated.

If you forget your password, you can reset it using the

“Forgot your password” link on the FedConnect sign in page.

Have questions?

Email.us.at support@fedconnect.net

Managing Your Profile

The links to access the company profile and your personal profile are at the top of most FedConnect pages.

Some of the information in your company profile comes directly from CCR and displays in read-only mode in FedConnect. If you’ve recently made changes to your CCR account, be sure to click the Update Company from www.CCR.gov button on the company info page.

There are two different profiles associated with you in FedConnect, your company profile and your personal profile. Each user can edit to his or her own personal profile.

However, users designated as administrators for your company can also edit the company profile. This section will explain the differences between the two and show you how to access them.

Company Profile

Editable by administrators only

The company profile includes information such as the company address, a list of company users, and the NAICS codes as well as the PSC/FSC codes in which your company is interested. The address and the codes are all downloaded automatically from CCR when the initial company account is created and cannot be edited within FedConnect. If your company makes changes to its CCR information at www.ccr.gov, an administrator for your company’s FedConnect account can click the Update from CCR button within FedConnect on the Company Info page to download the changes to FedConnect.

To access the company profile:

1. Sign in to FedConnect.

2. Click the Company Profile link at the top of the page.

A link to the company profile is available on most pages within FedConnect.

To move between sections within the company profile, click the menu options on the horizontal menu bar, or the buttons at the bottom of each page.

Your Personal Profile

Editable by you and administrators only

Your personal profile is where you maintain information such as your name, how it displays or prints, and the agencies from whom you would like to receive information about opportunities or awards. It is also where you must go to change your password.

To access your personal profile:

2. Click the My Profile link at the top of the page.

A link to your profile is available on most pages within FedConnect.

To move between sections within your profile, click the menu options on the horizontal menu bar, or the buttons at the bottom of each page.

The email address listed in your personal profile is also your FedConnect user ID.

Be sure the email address you use here is one you frequently monitor, as

FedConnect will send email alerts for opportunities, awards, etc. to this address.

You can change your pass-word at any time by clicking the Change Password button.

You will receive opportunities only from agencies you specify on the

Agencies tab in your user profile. To access, click

Agencies.

Although an administrator can access your personal profile, the administrator cannot see your password.

Searching for Opportunities

Opportunities are filtered behind the scenes to show only opportunities from agencies you specified on the

Agencies tab in your user profile. To update that list, click My Profile at the top of the page.

Opportunities posted on FedConnect include both publicly posted (available for access by anyone) and directed (available to only a limited agency-specified list of vendors). FedConnect offers a number of options to simplify the searching process, including the ability to specify search criteria and to sort by column.

To search for opportunities as a registered vendor...

1. Sign in to FedConnect.

2. Go to Opportunities.

Click Opportunities and FedConnect displays the available opportunities.

FedConnect displays 10 opportunities per page. If more than 10 opportunities are available, you can click the numbered hyperlinks at the bottom of the list to page through them.

Tips for finding opportunities:

To sort the opportunities in the list by different columns, click the column headings. For example, if you know an opportunity is from a specific agency, click the Agency column heading and FedConnect reorders the list by agency name. You can then page through the list until you find the opportunity you seek.

Search criteria can be specified in the fields at the top of the list of opportunities.

These criteria can be used to filter, or limit, the opportunities that display. Search criteria options include both basic and advanced search capabilities. To view the advanced search capability options, click Advanced Options. To return to the basic options, click Search Criteria. For easier viewing of the search results, click the [-] minus sign next to Search Criteria to hide the criteria. To reopen the search section, click the [+] plus sign.

4. Review the opportunity details.

To view the details of a specific opportunity, click the hyperlink under the opportunity title to go to the opportunity summary page.

On the opportunity summary page, an overview of the opportunity can be found in the left column. The actual opportunity and all attachments are available in the documentation section in the right column. To view the form or attachments, click the document title.

If you see an opportunity you’d like to pursue, click the Register to Receive Notifications button in the center of the page. The page refreshes and displays the message center for the opportunity in the center column, and the Responses and Response Team sections in the right column. Your name displays in the Response Team list.

If someone from your company has already registered interest for an opportunity, the Register to Receive Notifications button does not display. Instead, you can join the response team by clicking the Join button within the Response Team section. Once on the team, you will receive all amendments, messages, and email alerts issued for the opportunity.

Anyone in your company who wants to stay informed about the opportunity should join the response team to ensure that he or she has access to all email alerts, amendments, and communications related to the opportunity.

To remove yourself from the response team, click the

“X” next to your name.

Creating a Response

Throughout the entire response development process, FedConnect tracks all activity and edits and stores who did what and when in an audit log.

To learn more about using the

Message Center to communicate with an agency, see “Sending and Receiving

Messages” on page 12.

Anyone in your company who will work on the response should join the response team to ensure that he or she has access to all email alerts, amendments, and communications related to the opportunity.

Registered vendors can electronically respond to any opportunity available to them in FedConnect.

1. Sign in to FedConnect.

2. Go to Opportunities.

Click Opportunities on the horizontal menu bar.

3. Open the opportunity.

Find the opportunity in the list. For help on using the search and sorting options available on this page, see “Tips for Finding Opportunities” on page 6. Once you’ve located the opportunity, click the hyperlink under the title to open it and view the opportunity summary page.

4. Create the response.

What displays on the opportunity summary page depends upon whether your company has registered interest with the agency through FedConnect and whether you are currently on the response team. When your company registers interest, all members of the response team are kept up to date with future amendments and email alerts. Team members can use the message center for an opportunity to communicate with the agency and to view publicly posted messages. In addition, team members can participate in response development.

To register interest, click the Register to Receive Notifications button in the center column. If the button does not display, your company has already registered interest for the opportunity.

Once interest is registered and you are a member of the response team, the message center for an opportunity displays in the center column and the Responses and Response Team sections display in the column to the right.

If you are not currently on the Response Team, and want to join, click Join in the Response

Team section. To delete yourself from the team, click the X next to your name.

To create and submit a response...

• Click the Create button in the Responses section. Your response is created and the first data entry page displays.

Some opportunities allow more than one response or alternate responses to be created and submitted. If a response has already been created for this opportunity, it displays in the Response section. Click the response description to open.

• Complete the data entry pages.

The data entry pages available to you within the response vary depending upon the opportunity and how the agency configured it. For more details about a particular page, see the online help.

To move between the pages, click the options on the menu bar or by use the Continue and Previous buttons at the bottom of the page. Each time you move from one page to the next, the system saves your data.

• Submit the response to the agency.

On the response complete page, specify the number of days the response is good and click Submit to Agency. If you are not ready to submit to the agency, but want to exit the response, click Return to Opportunity Summary at the bottom of the page, or the home button in the toolbar at the top of the page.

• Print the confirmation page.

You’ll notice that on your confirmation there are two dates and times. One is when you submitted the response, and the other is when the agency’s system actually picked up the response. For security reasons, FedConnect cannot directly insert any data into the agency’s internal systems. Because of this, there might be a time delay between when you submit, and when the agency electronically picks up the response. But don’t worry, the official time of submission is the one that was recorded when you clicked the Submit to Agency button.

For a No Bid response...

If you want to submit a No Bid type of response, click the Submit No Response button in the Responses section. Once a No Bid is submitted to the agency, you cannot create a standard response, and the Create button will be hidden. Likewise, once a standard response is created, you cannot submit a No Bid response and the Submit No Response button is hidden.

Editing a Response Option available for responses with a status of In Progress.

1. Follow the steps 1-3 on page 8 to open

2. In the Responses section, click the response description to open a response you want to edit.

Deleting a Response Option available for responses with a status of In Progress.

1. Follow the steps 1-3 on page 8 to open click the delete button on the row of a response you want to delete.

Withdrawing a Response

Option available for responses with a status of Submitted or

Received.

1. Follow the steps 1-3 on page 8 to open the opportunity.

click the Withdraw button on the row of a response you want to withdraw.

NOTE: If the response is for an opportunity that is not a sealed bid and the due date/time has passed, a withdrawal request is sent to the agency. It is up to the agency to decide, based upon FAR rules, whether to accept or deny the request.

Receiving an Award

Anyone in your company who wants to stay informed about the award should join the team for this award to ensure that he or she has access to all email alerts, modifications, and communications related to the award.

To remove yourself from the team for this award, click the

“X” next to your name.

When an agency posts an award to you through FedConnect, an email alert is sent to the email address you specified when you registered in FedConnect. You can then sign in to FedConnect to view and acknowledge the award.

1. Sign in to FedConnect.

The email alert sent to you from FedConnect includes a URL link.

2. Go to Awards.

Click Awards on the menu bar, and FedConnect displays all the awards that have been made to your company.

FedConnect displays 10 awards per page. If more than 10 awards display, click the numbered hyperlinks at the bottom of the awards list to page through them.

Tips for finding awards:

To sort the awards in the list by different columns, click the column headings. For example, if you know an award is from a specific agency, click the Agency column heading and FedConnect reorders the list by agency name. You can then page through the list until you find the award you seek.

Search criteria can be specified in the fields at the top of the list of awards. These criteria can be used to filter, or limit, the awards that display. Search criteria options include both basic and advanced search capabilities. To view the advanced search capability options, click Advanced Options. To return to the basic options, click Search Criteria. For easier viewing of the search results, click the [-] minus sign next to Search Criteria to hide the criteria. To reopen the search section, click the [+] plus sign.

3. Review the award details.

To view the details of a specific award, click the hyperlink under the award title to go to the award summary page.

On the award summary page, an overview of the award can be found in the left column.

The actual award and all attachments are available in the Documentation section in the right column. To view the form or attachments, click the document title.

4. Join the Team.

To see all information concerning the award, click Join.

5. Acknowledge the award.

Click the Acknowledge button. If someone from your company has already acknowledged the award, the button does not display.

Later, if modifications are issued for the award, they automatically display in the

Documentation section. To acknowledge these new documents, select the check box next to the title and click Acknowledge.

Sending and Receiving Messages

An agency can respond publicly to any message you send, so be sure not to include any proprietary information.

The main message center offers a delete option to make it more manageable and easier to find things.

Messages deleted from the main message center are not actually deleted from the document record. They just don’t display in your main message center any longer.

However, they are still available for viewing within the summary of the related opportunity or award. The only exceptions to this are draft messages that have not yet been sent. When you click the delete option for a draft message, it permanently removes it from FedConnect.

To restore a deleted message, go to the main message center’s Deleted folder and click the restore button.

The message is returned to the folder from which it was originally deleted.

When you review an opportunity, work on a response, or manage an award, you might have questions or need to discuss something with the agency. FedConnect provides a dedicated, secure channel for that communication and automatically captures it in a permanent record. When you use FedConnect, there is no risk that you or the agency will lose any important information.

FedConnect’s message center works much like a standard email program. Many of the concepts such as creating a new message, replying, or adding attachments will feel familiar.

What is different is that everything sent through FedConnect is secure, recorded, and automatically associated with the related opportunity or award.

When you first sign in to FedConnect, the Message Center page displays. Therein you will see a compilation of all messages, both those directed to you, and those sent publicly. Any time you open an opportunity or award to view the details, you will also find a condensed version of the message center where the content is limited to only the communication sent or received for that specific document.

Overview

The message center contains different folders to organize your messages. Depending upon where you are in FedConnect, or the context of the page you are viewing, the available folders might differ. The actions available to you depend upon the folder you are currently viewing and your access level. To move between folders, click the folder icons on the left side of the message center.

Here are the folders that might display and what they include:

Inbox – Public or directed messages sent to you Drafts – Messages you previously saved but have not yet sent Outbox – Messages awaiting pickup by the agency Sent – Messages you sent that the agency has picked up Deleted – Messages you deleted from the main message center view

To send a new message...

2. Go to the Opportunity or Award summary page.

Since all new messages must be associated with a particular opportunity or award, the ability to create a new message is available only on the opportunity and award summary pages. If the message is about an opportunity, click Opportunities on the menu bar. If the message concerns an award, click Awards. Find the opportunity or award in the list and click the hyperlink under the title to open the summary.

3. Click the New button on the message center.

Write your message. To add attachments, click Attach File and follow the prompts.

4. Click Send.

To reply to a message...

2. Find the message you wish to reply to in the message center.

You can also go directly to the opportunity or award summary pages for a particular document and locate the message in the document-specific message center. See instructions for sending a new message (above) or how to open the summary page.

3. Click the Reply icon at the right end of the message’s row.

Write your message. To add attachments, click Attach File and follow the prompts.

4. Click Send.

The message center displays on the summary page of an opportunity only if you have registered interest or joined the response team. It displays on an award’s summary page after you join the team.

All information, including messages, is retrieved electronically from

FedConnect by the agency’s contract management system. For security reasons, FedConnect cannot directly insert any data into the agency’s internal systems. Therefore there might be a time delay between when you click

Send and when the agency actually picks up the message. During this time, the message is held in the

Outbox folder. Once the agency picks up the message, it will be moved to the Sent folder.

Managing Users

Your company can have an unlimited number of

FedConnect user accounts.

Each of your company’s users should have his or her own account in FedConnect and should not share the password. This allows

FedConnect to keep a complete audit log of who did what and when.

Your company profile and user accounts can be accessed by an administrator by clicking the Company

Profile link at the top of most pages.

Your company has complete control over its FedConnect account and which employees have access. Employees who have been designated as administrators can add new users and activate users who have submitted registration requests.

Administrators can also perform such tasks as changing a user’s role designation and access levels, and resetting passwords.

Adding More Users to Your FedConnect Account

You can have an unlimited number of company representatives using your FedConnect account. Each additional representative must create a personal account associated with your company’s master account. There are two ways this can be done—each person can register on his or her own, or if you are an administrator for your company’s FedConnect account, then you can add them.

For employees who are going to register on their own, refer them to the instructions in the “Registering” section of this guide, starting on page 2.

If you are an administrator and want to add a user, here’s how:

1. Sign in to FedConnect.

2. Click the Company Profile link at the top of the page.

3. Click Users on the horizontal menu bar.

4. Click Add at the top of the user list.

Fill in the required fields and click Return to User List.

A new account has been created for the user. By default, the user is a representative. An email with a system-generated password is sent to the email address you entered for the user when you created the new account. The new user can change the password at any time by updating his or her personal profile. See “Managing Your Profile” on page 4.

Managing Your User Accounts

If you are an administrator for your company’s FedConnect account, you have the ability to control a variety of things concerning a particular user. For example, you could change someone’s role (administrator/representative), activate or deactivate his or her account, specify access rights, and reset his or her password.

You can also manage the personal details of your own account. You cannot, however, deactivate yourself or change your role designation. Another administrator must assist you.

To access the administrative tools for a particular user:

2. Click the Company Profile link at the top of the page.

3. Click Users on the horizontal menu bar.

4. Select the user by clicking the hyperlink under the name.

5. Click Admin Tools on the horizontal menu.

There are two types of users: administrators and representatives. Page displays are controlled by this role designation.

Here are the differences between the two roles:

Representative Access to:

- Opportunities

- Responses

- Awards

- Communication tools

- His or her personal profile

Administrator All access rights available to the representative, plus...

- Full access to the company profile

- Full access to all user profiles for your company.

NOTE: Although an administrator has access to another user’s profile the Administrator cannot see that user’s password.

Quick Answers

I’ve forgotten my password and locked my account, what do I do?

Contact your FedConnect administrator. You can find the list of FedConnect administrator’s for your company at https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/Contact.aspx.

My account has been deactivated, what do I do?

Each company manages its own users and who has access. If your account has been deactivated, contact your company’s FedConnect administrator.

https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/Contact.aspx

Are there limits to the types of files that can be included as an attachment to a response or message?

Yes, there are certain file types that cannot be uploaded.

We’ve followed Microsoft’s lead and use the list they’ve developed for excluding files with extensions that are considered high risk. For a complete list of these files, please visit, http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=883260.

What if I accidentally submit a response before I meant to?

If the due date and time have not passed, you can simply withdraw the response. After the due date and time, depending upon the type of opportunity and the FAR rules governing it, you might be able to submit a withdrawal request. It would then be up to the agency to decide whether or not to allow the withdrawal. For more details, see page 9.

Initially my company submitted a No Bid type of response, but now we changed our minds and want to submit a proposal. How do we start over?

If the due date and time have not passed, you can simply withdraw the No Bid response and then create a new response for submission.

I’ve submitted my response, but the confirmation page says that it is queued awaiting agency pickup. What does this mean and will it still be counted as having been submitted on time?

Due to agency security requirements, FedConnect can never upload data into an agency’s database. Instead, it is up to each agency to retrieve the information from FedConnect. This retrieval is an automatic process that happens on a schedule determined by each individual participating agency.

When you submit your response, the time of submission is captured and recorded. This is the official time of submission to be used in determining whether it was on time. It does not matter if the agency picks it up a minute later or the next day.

Their pickup time is not used to calculate whether you met the deadline. For some types of opportunities, the agency cannot pick up until after the official due date and time.

How do I know when the agency picks up my response?

You can see the exact date/time of pickup by opening the response and going to the Confirmation page.

I’m working on a response and I’ve noticed that some of my work has been changed. How can that happen?

Anyone on the Response Team has access to the In Progress response and can make changes. To see who has changed what, click the History link within the Responses section of the opportunity’s summary page. The history contains a complete audit of who did what and when.

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