Switch to Updated ECFS System Expected in Early December
The switch to the new FCC Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) (see 1510090048) should be in early December, with a "hard" cutover rather than a soft one because of the difficulty in keeping the old and new systems synched, said Stephen Vong, systems modernization adviser to FCC Chief Information Officer David Bray. A beta version of ECFS was demonstrated Monday to FCBA members. The beta has been changed markedly in recent months after feedback from users, said Jason Rademacher of Cooley, co-chairman of the FCBA Access to Government Committee.
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The changes between current ECFS and new are numerous, from going to a cloud-based architecture to incorporating "elastic search" for speeding search results, said Dustin Laun, also an FCC CIO systems adviser. Among changes being made to the beta site in response to user criticisms is restoring the advanced search function, he said. The FCC also is working to ensure legacy links and bookmarks still work when the agency moves to the new system completely, Laun said. And instead of not accepting PDF submissions -- a notion that received major criticism -- the agency will still accept PDFs, but also suggest submissions be in DocX because that allows better searchability inside the document, Laun said. The FCC hopes for more feedback while it continues to tweak the system before the December launch, Vong said. The agency also plans webinars later this month and early November for further feedback, said Sarah Millican, senior digital strategy adviser to Bray.
Most of the data on the FCC's current site has been imported into the beta site, at least through early August, Vong said. "Everything will be there once we go live." However, he added, "This is a test system. Anything you put in here is not going to go in the public record."
The home page of that beta version is cleaner than ECFS today, with far less text and far more buttons for filtering filing searches by bureau, by type -- comments, replies, notices of prehearing conferences, and so on -- and by date. The centerpiece of the beta landing page is a list of some of the most popular proceedings of the past 30 days. The updated ECFS search function includes a series of filters for searching, for example, for every submission in a particular docket made by a particular company. Users also will be able to do Boolean searches in a docket, looking for all submissions where particular wording was used. Docket searches also include color-coded tabs on each submission: lime green for a comment, olive green for a letter, dark purple for a reply comment, etc. Searches by default are descending by date, but can be sorted by a variety of means, including by bureau, filer or filing type. There will be at least a two-hour lag between the time something is submitted and its being posted, Vong said. The new site also will include an email confirmation option for when filings are submitted.
Some changes still are coming. Currently, the beta system has two boxes for uploading submissions -- one for the main document and one for any attachments. Those will be collapsed into one, Vong said. While mobile browser support hasn't been a priority, Vong said, the agency will look into improving that functionality.
Updating ECFS has been in the works for months, in large part due to increased public traffic from some high-profile regulatory matters, such as the net neutrality order, straining its capacity (see 1505110042). ECFS originally was designed as a complaint filing system, with more functionality added to it since then, Millican said.