Messaging

Messaging Vendors · Message vendors from My Projects, My Vendors or The Blue Book.

Messaging From My Projects

· Messaging Categories

· Messaging Vendors

· Messaging Project Principals

· Messaging Project Plan Room/Reprographers

Messaging Requests For Information (RFI)

Messaging From My Vendors

Messaging From The Blue Book

Message Wizard

Messaging From My Projects · Message your vendors.

Click on Active Projects, and then click Main. You will be placed in the Main screen where you will see the current project.

If the current project is not the one you wish to message, then display the desired project…

Display a project…

Highlight the desired project title.

Click Display.

Once you have selected the project, you will see a list of categories assigned to that project at the bottom of the screen.

	Project Category
	Click on this button to message selected categories.
	Click on this button to select all categories for messaging.
q	Click in the box next to the category to select or deselect single categories for messaging.
Category	The project categories.
Bids Due	The bid due date.
Total Invited	The number of vendors invited to bid.
Total Bidding	The number of vendors bidding on the project.
Total Bids Received	The total number of bids received.
Low Bid	The dollar amount of the lowest bid.
High Bid	The dollar amount of the highest bid.
	Click on this button to delete the selected categories.
q	Click in the box next to the category to select or deselect single categories to be deleted.

To message categories…

1. Click on to select all categories for messaging – OR – Click in the box at the beginning of the line for the category you wish to message. A checkmark will display. Continue clicking on the boxes until you have selected all desired categories.

Screen Tips

To deselect a name, click on the checkmark in the box.

2. Click at the top of the column.
3. You will be placed in the “Message Wizard”.

To message vendors…

1. Click on the category and the vendors for that category will be displayed.
2. Click in the box at the beginning of the line for the vendor you wish to message. A checkmark will display. Continue clicking on the boxes until you have selected all desired vendors.

Screen Tips

To deselect a name, click on the checkmark in the box.

3. Click at the top of the column.
4. You will be placed in the “Message Wizard”.

To message project principals…

1. Click on the Principals tab and the project principals will be displayed.
2. Click in the box at the beginning of the line for the principal you wish to message. A checkmark will display. Continue clicking on the boxes until you have selected all desired principals.

Screen Tips

To deselect a name, click on the checkmark in the box.

3. Click at the top of the column. You will be placed in the “Message Wizard”.
4. Enter the “Respond by Date.” You may modify the subject. Enter your message.
5. Click Cancel to return to the Principals screen – OR – Click Next to proceed with messaging.

To message project plan room/reprographers…

1. Click on the Plans/Specs tab.
2. Click the button or use scroll bar to view the location of plans.
3. Click in the box at the beginning of the line for the name you wish to message. A checkmark will display. Continue clicking on the boxes until you have selected all desired names.

Screen Tips

To deselect a name, click on the checkmark in the box.

6. Click at the top of the column. You will be placed in the “Message Wizard”.
7. Enter the “Respond by Date.” You may modify the subject. Enter your message.
8. Click Cancel to return to the Plans/Specs screen – OR – Click Next to proceed with messaging.

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Messaging Requests For Information (RFI) · When you receive and “Invitation to Bid” or a “Request for Quote”, you can communicate RFI’s to the message sender by moving the project from your “In-Box” to your “My Projects” tab.

To access your In-Box Messages:

· Click the In-Box tab. You will be placed on the New Messages screen.

The New Messages screen is where you view and respond to your project messages.

Your messages will be listed in decending order by the date received.

· Click on the “Subject” of your selected message.

· Click Full Message View.

Screen Tips

You may use the scroll bar or arrows to the right of the screen to scroll through the message.

· Click on Interested - Show Details.

You will see…

· You just let the message sender know that you are interested in bidding.

· This project’s important dates have been entered under your “Calendar” tab.

· This project has been re-created under your “My Projects” tab so you can view additional project information (that may include plans, specifications, and/or bid documents) and RFI the message sender before committing to bid.

· Click OK to go to this project.

OK Cancel

· Click OK to continue.

By clicking OK, your message has been moved from New Messages to Saved Messages and you will be brought to your My Projects tab.

My Projects

The My Projects tab is where you can view complete project information, communicate RFI’s to the message sender, prepare your bid by messaging “Invitations to Bid” and/or “Requests for Quote” to your vendors, and submit your bid.

· From the Main screen, select your project and click Display.

· In the center of the screen, below your project’s main information, you will see the category(s) that you were invited to bid.

·

Screen Tips

To see if you have been invited to bid on additional categories, click on the arrow to the right of the category.

· To view category specific information, uploaded attachments, and the bid entry form, click Bid Package View.

· To view and order plans, specifications, and bid documents online or identify the physical locations where they can be viewed, picked-up, and/or purchased, click on the Plans/Specs tab.

· To view additional project information, click on the General, Details and Principals tabs.

Send a “Request for Information”

To communicate RFI’s to the message sender...

· Click (the envelope) next to the company’s name located above the yellow tabs. Follow the screen prompts.

To Submit Your Bid:

You must be on the Main screen under the My Projects tab to submit your bid.

· Click Bid Package View located in the center of the screen.

Scroll down to the “Bid Entry” frame, enter your bid proposal’s dollar amount and description, and click Submit Bid.

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Messaging From My Vendors · Message your vendors.

Once you have selected your search criteria in “Search My Vendors” and clicked the Search button, a list of names in your vendor list will be displayed at the bottom of the screen…

	Project Category
	Click on this button to message selected categories.
ð	Click in the box next to the category to select or deselect single categories for messaging.
Category	The project categories.
Bids Due	The bid due date.
Total Invited	The number of vendors invited to bid.
Total Bidding	The number of vendors bidding on the project.
Total Bids Received	The total number of bids received.
Low Bid	The dollar amount of the lowest bid.
High Bid	The dollar amount of the highest bid.
Delete	Click on this button to delete the selected categories.
ð	Click in the box next to the category to select or deselect single categories to be deleted.

To message categories…

1. Click in the box at the beginning of the line; a checkmark will display. Continue clicking on the boxes until you have selected all desired names.

Screen Tips

To deselect a name, click on the checkmark in the box.

2. Click at the top of the column.
3. You will be placed in the “Message Wizard”.

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Messaging From The Blue Book · Select your search criteria and submit your request. The Blue Book database will be searched for matching data. Once a match is found a list of names will be displayed. You may add any of these names to your vendor list.

After you have selected your search criteria and submitted your request you will see a list of names…

	Blue Book Search Results
	Means the company is a Blue Book advertiser.
q	Click in the box next to the category to select or deselect single categories for messaging.
	Click on this button to message selected categories.
Name	The company name.
City/State	The city and state where the company is located.
Primary Phone	The primary phone number of the company.
Show	· Click on Contact to display the contact name for this company. · Click on Category to display the categories where this company is listed.
	· Click in the box to add this name to your preferred vendor list.

To message categories…

1. Click on to select all categories for messaging – OR - Click in the box at the beginning of the line, a checkmark will display. Continue clicking on the boxes until you have selected all desired names.

Screen Tips

To deselect a name, click on the checkmark in the box.

2. Click at the top of the column.
3. You will be placed in the “Message Wizard”.

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Message Wizard · The message wizard steps you through messaging your vendors.

The new message type screen is where you select the type of message you wish to send.

New Message Type

ITB – Invitation to Bid - Long Form

ITB – Invitation to Bid – Limited Form (Free-No Fax Charges)

ITB – Invitation to Bid - Short Form

RFQ – Request For Quotation

RFP – Request For Proposal

QUAL – Request For Qualification

RFI – Request For Information

MEET – Notice of Pre-Bid Meeting

NOA – Notice of Addendum

RTB – Reminder to Bid

AWRD – Notice of Award

PRCD – Notice to Proceed

MISC – Memo-Miscellaneous

Screen Tips

q You may need to use the scroll bar or arrows to the right of the window to view the entire list of message forms available.

q You may select an existing message to resend by clicking in the drop down menu.