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Data Collection - User Guide

This user guide provides basic instructions on how to use the features of the web-based data collection system.

My CRTC Account | Welcome page | Site navigation | Registration form | Correspondence | Manage forms | Respondents | Survey forms | Submit completed forms

My CRTC Account

Submit your documents to the CRTC securely and easily using My CRTC Account.

If this is your first submission to DCS, create My CRTC Account in three steps:

  1. Obtain an activation code from DCS. To request an activation code, call the DCS help desk Monday to Friday (except holidays) from 07:00 to 19:00, Eastern Time at 819-997-4597.
  2. Select the DCS Submissions Cover Page.
  3. Follow the prompts for logging in with a user ID and password.

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Welcome page

Once you log on, you are taken to the Welcome area's front page. This Welcome page is your central status screen. It includes any news bulletins that CRTC staff has published recently regarding this process.

The main Welcome page also shows actions needing attention and a list of new contacts. Actions needing attention are targeted messages to the Response Manager, usually regarding data submissions from the Reporting Entity selected. Contacts are members of your organization to whom your Response Manager has provided an account.

Selecting reporting entities

CRTC staff may have associated more than one reporting entity with your user account. It is only possible to enter data for one Reporting Entity at a time, however: use the drop-down menu titled “Select Reporting Entity” to select the reporting entity whose data you wish to enter. (To associate additional Reporting Entities with your account, please contact CRTC staff.)

Customized welcome-page information

Once a Reporting Entity has been selected, you will note that a “Current Address” appears below it. Response Managers may change that address as part of the Registration submission.

Reading news articles

From time to time, CRTC staff will publish system-wide news articles regarding a particular data collection process. They are sorted by date, although you may reorder them by title by clicking on "Title".

To view a particular news article, simply click on it. To return to the main Welcome page, click "Back".

Forms requiring attention

The Welcome page's list of Forms Requiring Attention is a concise to-do list. For each form that is to be submitted by the reporting entity selected, the list shows its:

  • form number;
  • current status (issued, completed, or submitted); and
  • due date.

Data may be entered for a form which has been issued. This status changes to completed only after a respondent with authority to work on that form has selected the “Completed” option, a tracking feature for use by the Response Manager. Once the form has been marked completed, it can be verified and submitted only by the Response Manager. Once the form is submitted, it will be removed from the list of Forms Requiring Attention.

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Site navigation

Welcome page

The Data Collection system always includes a navigation menu on the left-hand side of your screen. The navigation menu will vary according to where in the system you are located. At the central Welcome page, the navigation menu links you to one or more of the following seven areas:

  • Reporting entity profile
  • Correspondence
  • Manage forms
  • Respondents
  • Survey forms
  • Submit completed forms

Navigation menus – Other areas

A different left-hand-side navigation menu appears in each of the areas listed above. These menu items help you move through the pages included in each area. In the Reporting Entity Profile area, for example, navigation menu items appear for verifying the Response Manager details, designating an Executive Sponsor, providing mailing address and background information, and so forth.

Each area is connected back to the Welcome page. It is always possible to return to the Welcome page – simply click on the "Back to Welcome" link which appears at the top of every page.

Navigating lists

A number of the Data Collection System functions organize items into lists—for example, the list of news bulletins that appears on the main Welcome page. The list usually includes a heading row shown in black, and then rows of entries shown in grey underneath.

To sort list items by column, click on the column heading at the top of the list. To open one of the list items, click on that item to open it as a separate screen; then click on the "Back" button to return to the list.

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Completing the reporting entity profile

Reporting Entity Profiles provide basic information about the entity whose data you are entering. A separate Form Guide and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list provide guidance on the nature of the information required; the following are some tips on navigating the Reporting Entity Profile area itself.

Introduction

On entering the Registration form, you land on the Introduction page, the first of a series of pages.

Registration form navigation menu

The Registration pages are organized in sequence. On each page of the Registration form, you will notice four buttons at the bottom of the Registration Introduction page: Back, Next, Save, and Submit.

Back and Next allow you to navigate through the pages in sequence. On the other hand, you may instead to choose to fill these pages out in another order, as you gather the information required. To do so, use the left-hand-side Navigation Menu. It provides a list of all pages in this area, and allows you to move around them.

Saving your information

To save the information you have entered, click the Save button at the bottom of the screen. The Save button is similar to the Save command used in word-processing and spreadsheet applications: it ensures that the data you have entered is stored.

Information cannot be saved in any other way. If you leave the Registration form without clicking Save then your information will be lost. Please remember to save!

Submitting the registration form

As you move around the Registration pages, you will notice one of two icons which begin to appear next to Navigation Menu items: a checkmark, and a red exclamation mark. The exclamation mark means that information is missing.

Registration form pages cannot be submitted individually: the Registration form is composed of all of the Registration pages. It cannot be submitted until all exclamation marks have been turned into checkmarks. A checkmark does not necessarily mean the information is correct, however. Please ensure that each Registration page has been looked at and verified before submission.

Finally, when you are ready to submit, click the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

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Correspondence

This area allows you to write a message to the appropriate CRTC staff member. This may include two types of relationship: Responsible Analyst, and Prime Analyst.

Every Reporting Entity is assigned one Responsible Analyst. Responsible Analysts work with you to answer any questions you may have about the Reporting Entity Profile Form or about data submission issues generally; when you submit your Registration form, the Responsible Analyst will be responsible for verifying it.

In addition, every data collection activity is assigned one or more Prime Analysts. Some Prime Analysts are responsible for industry sectors, or bundles of markets – like Internet access or long-distance voice services – in the context of the Monitoring activity. Other Prime Analysts are assigned to activities such as Contribution, Telecommunications Fees, International Licenses, and CRTC Registration Lists.

The Correspondence area allows you to correspond with any of the analysts assigned to your activities. To send correspondence, simply select the appropriate analyst from the drop-down menu; add a subject and message; and click on Send.

Manage forms

The Manage Forms area is accessed from the Welcome page. It provides a summary view of all forms issued to the reporting entity selected. Unlike the to-do list posted under Forms Requiring Attention on the Welcome page, however, this is a complete control panel. In addition to the information provided on the Welcome page – form number, status, and due date – the Manage Forms area also shows:

  • each form's sector;
  • category of multi-part forms (e.g. province, geographic market);
  • current status of the form (Issued, Completed, Submitted);
  • the number of audit warnings currently active for that form;
  • due date of the form; and
  • the Form Respondent(s) to whom the form has been assigned and their associated privileges.

All forms are by default assigned to the Response Manager. For another Form Respondent's name to appear opposite a form number:

  • the Response Manager must have created an account for her or him;
  • the CRTC must have activated that account; and
  • the Response Manager must have assigned the form to that account.

By clicking on the Modify link for a given form, Response Managers can reassign forms – either to other Form Respondents or, if the already-assigned Form Respondent has marked a form “completed”, to assign it back to them for further work.

Form status

When a form is issued to the Reporting Entity, it starts with a status of Issued. After a Response Manager or Form Respondent has clicked the Complete button on a form, the status is changed to Completed. The form cannot be modified by Form Respondents unless the Response Manager sets the status back to Issued using the Form Status drop-down menu. Once the form has been submitted to the CRTC, the status of the form changes to Submitted and cannot be altered by any Reporting Entity users.

To authorize further changes to a submitted form, please contact the Prime Analyst associated with the sector to request a new version.

Form privileges

For a given form, the Response Manager can assign the following rights to any of the Form Respondents:

  • No Access – the default setting is to disallow any access to Form Respondents;
  • Read (R) – the Form Respondent is permitted to view the form but not make any changes;
  • Read/Write (RW) – the Form Respondent is permitted to both view the form and to save changes; and
  • Submit – the Form Respondent is permitted to view the form, save changes, and submit it to the CRTC.

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Respondents

The Respondents area is accessed from the Welcome page. It allows Response Managers to add or delete Form Respondents or to update their account details.

For every reporting entity that has submitted a Reporting Entity Profile (Registration) form, at least two accounts are shown here. One is the Response Manager's account. The other is the Executive Sponsor's account. If the Response Manager and the Executive Sponsor are the same person, then that person's name will appear for both roles. Any other Form Respondents created by the Response Manager will also appear here.

To change a Form Respondent's contact details, the Response Manager clicks on the Respondent's name, edits as required, and clicks on Submit. The Form Respondent can also be deleted through this page.

There are two options for adding a new Form Respondent to the Reporting Entity:

  • Add New Respondent – use this option to request a new person to be added to DCS; or
  • Add Existing Inactive Respondent – use this option to activate an existing Form Respondent from one of the other Reporting Entities for which you are responsible.

Add new respondent

To add a new Survey Respondent account, the Response Manager clicks on Add New Respondent, completes the form provided, and clicks on Submit. The new Survey Respondent's name will immediately appear in the list of respondents, with the designation “Inactive”. By adding a new Survey Respondent account, a request is automatically sent to the CRTC to activate that account and issue an activation code for My CRTC Account as required. When the account is activated, its status on the Respondents screen changes to “Active”.

Add existing inactive respondent

When you click Add Existing Inactive Respondent, a list appears of Form Respondents from all the other Reporting Entities for which you are the designated Response Manager. Select the Form Respondent(s) you wish to activate by clicking the check box next to their name. Click Activate to make these people active for the current Reporting Entity.

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Survey forms

The Survey Forms area is accessed from the Welcome page. It contains the forms to be completed; each form has a confidentiality checkbox at the top. Form data appears in green cells and in white cells. Only the green cells may be filled in; the data entered into them generates the information shown in the white cells.

At the bottom of each form are two choices: Save and Recalculate, and Completed. Remember to Save and Recalculate often – when you navigate away from the form, any changes you did not Save will be lost. To mark the form ready for submission, click on Completed – the Response Manager cannot submit a form until it has been marked in this way.

A left-hand-side navigation menu points to all active forms to which you have access. (Response Managers also have a drop-down box allowing them to restrict their view to individual Form Respondents' responsibilities.) Beside each form's menu entry is an icon showing its current status.

To hide the items in the left-hand-side navigation menu, click on the toggle icon (<<). Show them again by clicking on the toggle icon again (>>); they will reappear automatically when you return to the Welcome page.

Variable-length forms

Some forms involve inputting lists whose length may vary from each reporting entity to the next. To add another row to these forms:

  • click “Add Row”;
  • enter values in the row you have added;
  • save the row by clicking the check mark;
  • repeat as necessary.

Any row may be edited or deleted once it has been saved. To edit a row, click on the pencil icon. To delete a row, click on the X icon.

All rows in which values has been entered must be saved prior to Saving & Recalculating the form.

Multi-part forms

Some forms must be filled out in multiple parts: for each region in which the entity operates – either provinces and territories, or larger regional areas. The Response Manager can tailor the forms issued to include only those which reflect the reporting entity's operating territory. Once this is completed, only those forms which reflect the reporting entity's operating territory will be included.

Uploading file attachments

Some forms ask you to attach data in a separate file (e.g. graphic images, maps) to supplement data entered on the form itself. To upload a file in this way, there are two steps.

  1. First select the file from your own hard disk: click the Browse button; select the file you wish to upload; and click Open. The directory and name of the file to be uploaded should now appear in the on-screen window, under the words “File to attach”.
  2. The second step is to click the Upload button, which initiates the file transfer. After the file has transferred, its name appears under the heading “File(s) already uploaded”; to transfer additional files, return to step one and repeat the process.

Like any other information you provide, the uploaded file(s) are not submitted to the CRTC until the Response Manager submits them. They may be viewed by clicking on their names and, until they are submitted, deleted by clicking on the “X” symbol immediately next to them.

Working with forms off-line

Sometimes you may want to download a form to complete at your convenience off-line from the system, or to distribute for review to a group of people without registering them as Form Respondents. DCS provides a feature for exporting and importing data forms in Microsoft Excel XML format.

To export a form in XML format:

  • click the Export to XML near the top of the form;
  • in the File Download dialog box, click Save;
  • in the Save As dialog box, select the name and location where you want to save the document (keeping the .xls extension), and click Save.

NOTE: for Multi-Part forms, you will have to export XML for each category you with to complete. The suggested filename will contain the name of the category (e.g. 223-Alberta.xls).

The spreadsheet can be opened with Microsoft Excel. It contains a Welcome tab with basic instructions, and a tab for the data. If the form includes a variable-length section then an additional tab will be provided to enter the details.

The form includes shaded and non-shaded areas. Please provide the data requested in the shaded areas only: do not alter the form by adding, deleting, merging, or otherwise manipulating individual cells. Any changes to the form will prevent the DCS from loading it accurately.

Once you are satisfied with the form you can upload the data into the DCS:

  • click Import from XML near the top of the form;
  • click the Browse … button, select the file you wish to upload in the Choose File dialog, and click Open;
  • finally, press the Upload button.

The value in the spreadsheet file will be loaded into the form and displayed for you to review. You can revise the contents of the external file and upload it as often as you like. No values are committed to the database until you click Save and Recalculate.

Further information.

Further information on individual form requirements is available from the Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQ) and Glossary. Both are accessed through the top-of-screen menu.

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Submit completed forms

The Submit Completed Forms area is accessed from the Welcome page, and is available only to Response Managers. Each form marked Completed in the Survey Forms area is shown here in the left-hand-side navigation menu, next to an icon indicating its status. Response Managers may use this menu to enter and Save and Calculate final changes to forms prior to submission.

After choosing to Submit a completed form, however, it is officially submitted to the CRTC. Forms must be issued one at a time. The only way to change a submitted form is to contact the CRTC and have it reissued.

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