This article is the eighth in a series of updates on USAC’s new online E-rate portal system, the “E-rate Productivity Center” or “EPC.” We expect that this will be an ongoing series, so we have decided to stop numbering our EPC articles from this point on.
The highlight last week was the USAC webinar “Introducing EPC, the E-rate Productivity Center.” The basic presentation outline was:
- Introduction
- Why move to a portal
- Advantages of a portal
- How to log in (with demo)
- How to create a new user (with demo)
- How to add a consultant (with demo)
- How to modify an Account Administrator (with demo)
- Where to go for help
A recording of last week’s webinar is available online (registration required). The video demos used in the webinar, as well as other EPC guides and tutorials, are available separately in USAC’s EPC resource center).
For existing EPC users, the webinar provides a useful review. For applicants who have no experience with EPC, the webinar provides a basic introduction. More importantly, it serves as a warning to new users that establishing an EPC account takes some work — and that navigating through the portal is not always intuitive.
One symbol discussed in the webinar that will not be intuitive for many users is: 
The webinar refers to this symbol as the “ellipsis and arrow” (“…↓”) — or, as we prefer, “????.” In some web portals, now including EPC, this symbol means “more information.” So far, we have seen “????” used only once in EPC, and only on the main “Organization Details” screen available to Account Administrators.
For applicant Account Administrators, the symbol appears as one of four action buttons in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Three buttons are labeled to Create a New User, Remove Existing User, or Manage User Permission. The fourth button is the “????” for more actions, including:
- Manage Organization
- Modify Account Administrator
- Create a Customer Service Case
- Manage General Contact
- Manage Organization Relationships
For consultant Account Administrators, there are also four action buttons in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. The three labeled buttons can be used to Create a New User, Manage Organization, or Modify Account Administrator. The fourth “????” button is again for more actions, including only:
- Manage General Contact
- Create a Customer Service Case
Note that these functions — with the exception of “Create a Customer Service Case” — are currently available only to the Account Administrator. The applicant “Manage Organization” function, controlling entity and NSLP data, will become increasingly important during the Form 471 application process.
Initially, the Account Administrator is the person who first set up the EPC account — who may not be the person who will be most involved in day-to-day E-rate activities. EPC permits an Account Administrator to create new account users, and then transfer the administrative role to another user. Currently, however, the Account Administrator designation cannot be assigned to non-applicant personnel. This restriction is a serious drawback for applicants using consultants, and who would normally expect their consultants to assume most of the work associated with managing their EPC accounts. USAC is expected to expand EPC account management ability of other users, including consultants, hopefully by October. Until that time, the best consultants can do is to provide an advisory role in EPC account management.