It verifies that a customer received a message intact and that a deliverable requirement has been met. The EDI Functional Acknowledgment transaction set 997 actually performs this receipt notification. In an EDI environment, the user can trace a message throughout its journey from one point to another. Passwords and other features help ensure that only authorized people have access to the information. All EDI messages are archived in the event it is necessary to re-create a transmission.
Backups can be a key factor if a contract dispute arises between the contractor and the government.
Complements other EC tools. EDI also works well with EC tools. When the contract data must be extracted or delivered electronically to the customer, EDI provides industry and government with a standard method of transfer. In the world of EDI, the electronic documents exchanged are referred to as transactions sets. They are assigned a name and reference number in the ANSI ASC X12 environment.