Access Solutions Business Continuity

Overview - Disruption to Federal Reserve Banks Access Solutions

The Federal Reserve provides depository institutions with several electronic options to access Federal Reserve Financial Services. Currently, the FedLine® platforms include:

  • FedLine Web®
  • FedLine Advantage®
  • FedLine Direct®

Other electronic access methods include:

  • Computer Interface
  • Bulkdata
  • FedMail®
  • FedPhone®

The Customer Contact Center (CCC) provides customer support for electronic access connections and services. The CCC will provide up-to-date information and estimated recovery times for disruptions in electronic access connections and services. In case of a contingency situation impacting the CCC, the CCC is equipped with backup and relocation sites in order to provide quick resumption and the least possible disruption to customers. If there is a change to your regular contact information during a Federal Reserve Bank contingency situation, you will be notified through a FedLine Home page alert or announcement, or a message on the phone system, for example.

Disruptions to Federal Reserve Banks’ electronic access connections, services and customer support will typically take two forms: network outage or building outage. Each facility supporting electronic access has a redundant backup system. In most cases, the Federal Reserve Banks would be able to recover from an outage with minimal service disruption.

Preparing for Electronic Access Disruptions

It is important that your staff become familiar with the information provided in this section of the National Business Continuity Guide, as well as the information provided for each of the electronic access business applications and services you use.

During Electronic Access Disruptions - What to Expect

During a contingency situation, you may be notified through, for example, a FedLine Home page alert or announcement, or a message on the phone system, that there is a change to the contact information.

Each facility supporting electronic access has a redundant backup system. In most cases, the Federal Reserve Banks would be able to recover from an outage with minimal service disruption.

During Electronic Access Disruptions - What You Should Do

During the outage:

  • If your organization uses the FedLine Web or FedLine Advantage access solutions via the Internet, first confirm whether or not your Internet Service Provider (ISP) is the cause of the service disruption. If the problem is not related to the ISP, call the Customer Contact Center for assistance.

    NOTE: FedLine Advantage via the Internet is configured to fail over to dial mode if the Internet connection is disrupted. Slower transmission times may be the result of a disruption in Internet service.
  • Customers using the FedLine Advantage access solution via a dial connection should first attempt to establish a connection. If this fails, call the Customer Contact Center for assistance.
  • FedLine Direct, Computer Interface, and Bulkdata customers with dedicated WAN connections should leave their terminal signed on, if possible, to receive broadcast or other messages that will indicate service has been restored, as well as pending messages and acknowledgments.
  • FedPhone customers should call the Customer Contact Center to confirm the status of FedPhone. If necessary, the Customer Contact Center will direct you to the appropriate business area to process your transactions off-line. If there is an identified global problem for a business area, a message will likely be added by that business line to its recording that will provide further information and/or directions.
  • FedMail customers should call the Customer Contact Center to confirm the status of FedMail. If necessary, the Customer Contact Center will direct you to the appropriate business area to process your request.
  • For additional information on electronic access application outages, refer to the specific product or service area within the National Business Continuity Guide.

After the outage:

Upon recovering from an outage, you may experience communication delays due to heavy volume.

  • FedLine Direct, Computer Interface, and Bulkdata customers with dedicated WAN connections should attempt to establish a connection to send and receive pending messages. If this fails, call the Customer Contact Center for assistance.
  • When service resumes, compare reports generated by the Federal Reserve Financial Services applications to your local terminal totals to check the transactions that were being processed at the time of the outage. Please verify that all messages have been delivered or received. Your comparison may identify lost or duplicate messages.
  • For additional information on electronic access application outages, refer to the specific business area continuity information within the National Business Continuity Guide.

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