Registering Phone and Email Addresses

And Sending in Receipt Images

Wednesday, May 5, 2013

 

Registering a Phone or Email Address

 

ESS allows receipt images to be attached to reports. Receipt Images can be:

 

1.      Uploaded from a PC via the ESS application.

2.      Sent to the ESS server from a phone via a text message.

3.      Sent to the ESS server from an email account.

 

Receipt images are attached to a report with the menu’s Receipt option.  This option allows you to upload an image file from your PC to the server and/or attach a file that was received by the ESS server via email or text message.  These files can then be viewed by your manager and expense unit to validate the entries on your report.

 

While your expense login will let you upload image files from your PC, to send files via your phone or email, you need to register the devices email/text address or email account’s address prior to using it.  Registering an address is accomplished by sending a registration message and then acknowledging the message during the ESS login process. The following direction should help you do this:

 

  1. Address an email message or text message to the email account used by your ESS server.  This will probably be something like expense@yourcompany.com or ess@yourcompany.com. (note: expenseservice.com test machine uses expense@expenseservices.com)
  2. You should enter “ESS” in the subject line.
  3. In the body of the message type in the word register followed by your personnel number from ESS.  If your personnel number is 9999, you’d type:

 

Register 9999

 

  1. Next time you log into ESS, you will be prompted to confirm the device.  You cannot send in receipt images until the device has been confirmed.
  2. You’ll also receive an email message when an address is registered to your account.  Make sure that the address is really yours.  ESS will not accept receipts until the address is registered, however, since anyone can send in a registration message ESS sends an informative message to the email address in your ESS profile.  If you think that someone is trying to register an address that doesn’t belong to you, contact support and do not accept the address during your login to ESS.
  3. A text address from a phone will have an email domain from your carrier attached to your phone number.  This is normal.

 

Currently there is a limit to the number of receipt files that can be attached to a single report.  ESS defaults this limit to 20, put your installation may be different.

 

Sending and Attaching Image Files to a Report

 

There are several ways to deliver receipts to ESS.  An image can be sent in as an attachment to an email message once that address has been registered completely.  Images can also be sent in from a phone via the text message process.  In both cases the message will be addressed to the expense email address (e.g., expense@yourcompany.com or ess@yourcompany.com). 

 

In both email and your phone, you can add a message to your receipt that will help you identify which report to attach the scan to when you are doing that in ESS.   It will also help your manager and auditor in reviewing the receipts.  The suggested format is expense type followed by amount by a very short description.  Here are some examples:

 

Tolls 5.00 San Jose trip

Lunch 12.55 Bob Jones

Hotel 120.00 Cleveland

 

In email, the subject line should be ‘ESS’.

 

The third way is to use the ESS Receipts menu option to upload an image file to a report by selecting a file to upload through the screen.

 

Once an image file has been sent to ESS, you need to attach it to a report.  Uploaded files are attached as part of the upload process.  To attach an image file that has been sent in via phone or email, use the Receipts menu option.  Make sure to select the report at the top of the screen to attach to the correct report.

 

The Receipts option will only appear on the menu after a report has been selected to view.

 

Starting the Receipt Scan Conduit

 

Before users can register and send in receipt scans via their phones and email accounts, the conduit that takes files from an email account and transfers them to ESS must be started.  There are two ways to start the conduit.

 

  1. A system admin can setup Tomcat to start the conduit automatically every time Tomcat is started.   This is accomplished by utilizing a Tomcat listener.  To set up the listener, consult the webFullVersion.xml file that is found in the ess/applications/webapps/ess-app/WEB-INF folder.  Copy the ess.ReceiptConduitLaunch listener to the web.xml file and restart Tomcat.
  2. If the conduit is not running, anyone with full access to the Audit and Administration menu can launch the conduit by selecting the option from the menu.  It is located under the System Admin section as the Receipt Conduit.