Data Collection - General Web Collection

On occasion, information needs to be obtained from Plan Sponsors that falls outside the scope of Annual Administration. In these cases, PensionPro offers General Web Collection, a type of Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink that can be used whenever it's needed. This type of Data Collection focuses on questionnaires and file upload/download.

Tier Availability: Business

Article Contents

• Overview of General Web Collection
• General Web Collection Preferences
• Creating a General Web Collection Template
• Launching & Using General Web Collection
  • Working With Collection Items & Deliverables

Overview of General Web Collection

Often used for amendment, restatements, or even surveys, General Web Collection can be employed as needed, and is much more flexible than Annual Data Collection, which is more focused in its intentions. General Web Collection is used in conjunction with a Project; the Project starts with Data Collection on PlanSponsorLink, followed by the remainder of the usual Project workflow, where the collected data can be processed and used as needed.

Unique to General Web Collection Projects are Collection Items and Deliverables, which represent documents that the TPA requests from the Plan Sponsor and files that the TPA wishes to provide to the Plan Sponsor, respectively. Contacts who complete the General Web Collection on PlanSponsorLink will be asked to upload/download any necessary Collection Items and Deliverables in addition to filling out a customized questionnaire.

General Web Collection is just one type of Data Collection that can be performed. For a list of all types of Data Collection, the steps that the Plan Sponsor will encounter, and instructions for using Data Collection in general, refer to the article Overview of Web Data Collection.

General Web Collection Preferences

Requires Security Rights: Maintenance

Prior to beginning General Web Collection, it is a good idea to review the firm's PlanSponsorLink and Data Collection preferences. Refer to the article PlanSponsorLink Preferences for more information.

In particular, ensure that the preferences in the following views are set as desired:

• General > General Web Collection – governs PSL behavior and wording of miscellaneous messages
• Web Steps > General Web Collection – customizes the wording of the instructions for each Data Collection step

Creating a General Web Collection Template

Requires Security Rights: Maintenance

In order to add General Web Collection to a Project, the Project Template must be set up accordingly. This section outlines the Template-level settings and workflow changes that will need to be made in order to turn a regular Project into a General Web Collection Project.

The instructions in this section assume familiarity with Project Template creation. For more information, refer to the article Project Templates.

Template Settings

Firstly, the Project Template for a General Web Collection Project requires specific settings be applied. This combination of settings informs PensionPro that this Project will use the General Web Collection functionality and should include the Data Collection element:

• Project Type must be set to General Web Collection.
• Require Web Data Collection must be set to True.

Workflow Settings

The below steps must be taken in order to add the appropriate Data Collection tasks to the Project workflow. Project Templates that do not meet these requirements cannot be used.

1. The first Task Grouping must be titled Data Collection.
2. The Data Collection Task Grouping must contain only the following Tasks, in this order:
   • Collection Request Notification
   • Questionnaire
   • File Collection
   • Approval and Submission
   • Review Submitted Information
3. The questions to be used for this Data Collection should be added as Task Items to the Questionnaire Task.
   • This will function the same as adding Task Items to any other Project. All Data Types are available, items can be marked as Required, and Project Fields can be added to report on answers. 

Some additional notes on the General Web Collection workflow:

• The Collection Request Notification Task should be assigned to an Employee Role/Worktray, as a PensionPro user will have to complete this step to make the Data Collection available on PlanSponsorLink.
• The remaining Data Collection Tasks will be completed as the Plan Sponsor performs each step. For this reason, it is better to assign them to a designated Worktray for monitoring, rather than an Employee Role.
• Following the Approval and Submission Task, create a new Task Grouping and continue the Project workflow like any other Project.

Collection Items

A Collection Item represents a file or document that the TPA is requesting from the Plan Sponsor. Although it is possible to add Collection Items after a Project is launched, if the Collection Items will be consistent across multiple Plans, it is more efficient to define them in the Project Template.

To manage Collection Items, navigate to Maintenance > Templates, open the desired General Web Collection Template, and select Collection Items from the Views list on the left. The grid in this view displays any Collection Items that have already been added to the Template; hovering over one displays the Edit and Delete options on the right-hand side.

To add a new Collection Item:

1. Select Add at the top-right of the grid. The corresponding window displays.
2. Enter a Display Name and an optional Description.
   • A Description is particularly helpful to instruct the Plan Sponsor exactly what information is being requested.
3. If this Collection Item is mandatory, select Required.
   • A file must be uploaded for each required Collection Item before the Data Collection can be completed.
4. Select Save.

Launching & Using General Web Collection

A General Web Collection Project is launched like any other Project as per the instructions in the article Launching & Managing Projects. The Project will start at the first Task, Collection Request Notification, which provides the TPA the opportunity to make preparations (such as adding Deliverables) before directing Plan Contacts to PlanSponsorLink. Data Collection is not available in PSL until this Task is completed.

Concepts common to all forms of Data Collection—such as sending requests via Blast Email and instructions for using each Data Collection step—are presented in the article Overview of Web Data Collection.

Working With Collection Items & Deliverables

One major portion of General Web Collection involves collecting files and documents from the Plan Sponsor, and providing files for download. These are referred to as Collection Items and Deliverables; in PensionPro, each has a dedicated view on the Project tab.

Any desired Collection Items are denoted on the Project Template, per the instructions in the section Creating a General Web Collection Template, above. Items added to the Template will be present on the Collect view of the Project tab; the presence of an entry in the File column will indicate if a Collection Item has been fulfilled. Use Add to define a new Collection Item for this Project, and once an entry is satisfied, double-click to download its file.

Deliverables work in reverse. Add any relevant files to the Deliver view of the Project tab, and they will be available for the Plan Sponsor to download when they reach the corresponding Data Collection step.