Frequently Asked Questions
Please review the answers to some frequently asked questions. If you have a question that is not answered here, contact us directly.
1. Do I have to install software, have any technical skills or programming knowledge to use ePly Services?
No, we have designed the service to run on our server, which means you are not required to purchase or install software, make any changes to your system or do any programming. In fact, you don’t even need a web site to use the system. The only requirement for clients is a connection to the Internet in order to access reports.
2. How do I access the information collected by the online form?
ePly Services’ clients access information collected by the online form by logging into the ePly Services web site using the internet with an ID and password we assign. A demonstration form and database is available on our web site.
3. What if someone does not have access to the internet?
If an event or survey participant does not have internet access, they can contact the event planner or survey administrator by phone, fax or mailed information can be entered directly into the database.
4. Which geographical areas do you serve?
The head office of ePly Services is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, but we can, and do, work with clients across the globe.
5. Is the information in your database secure?
Keeping information secure is our top priority. Only ePly Services clients are given passwords to access collected information. ePly Services does not store any credit card information on our server as the payments are processed in real time.
We also adhere to a strict privacy policy and never sell or distribute the information to any party other than our client.
6. Who owns the information in the database?
ePly clients have full access to all of the registration data for their events. Our clients own all of the data collected via their online forms. This data is never rented out, shared, or sold to any third parties. Visit our Privacy Policy page for more information.
ePly employees also have access to this data as part of their job. However, all of our employees have agreed to stringent privacy, confidentiality and technology usage policies before employment at ePly. Our Sales and Marketing staff have very limited access to registration data unless the project they are working on requires access to the database. ePly’s owners are the only ones with administrator level access to the live servers.
7. How secure is my data at ePly?
ePly uses SSL encryption on all registrations and when reports are accessed. This is the same technology that is used with online banking. You can verify ePly’s SSL certificate by double clicking the lock symbol in your browser.
ePly does not store credit card numbers of any kind on our servers. All of our servers are located in Canada and thereby do not fall under the scrutiny of the U.S. Patriot Act.
Technical Specifications for ePly
Data Center
- Brand new, state-of-the-art facilities located in a AAA-rated building.
- Dual electrical grid connections from independent substations.
- Internally redundant, bypassable 250 kVA UPS systems.
- Dedicated backup generator with manual bypass to second non-dedicated backup generator in the event of generator failure.
- Fault-tolerant 600V air conditioning system with humidity regulation.
- Air conditioning units and pumps connected to generator power for unlimited runtime in the event of utility power failure.
- Stratified air flow design for increased cooling efficiency and reduced energy costs.
- Non-service-affecting FM-200(r) Fire Suppression System with multiple zones, central control, and connectivity to the building fire system.
- Dedicated backup generator with manual bypass to second non-dedicated backup generator in the event of generator failure.
- Infrastructure built to comply with seismic code.
All of the data is mirrored to a separate hard drive within the server. If one drive was to fail, the system will remain running without interruption while the damaged drive is replaced. Also, all data is backed up to tape everyday and stored off site. The transfer of the tape back ups to the storage vault is handled by a bonded company that also handles data for banks and other financial companies.
Network
- Fully redundant core switches, routers, and load balancers, utilizing 802.1w rapid spanning tree protocol (RSTP) for split-second failover and high availability.
- Multiple GigE backbone trunks for fast network performance and traffic spike tolerance.
- 100% uptime guarantee (with specific SLA).
- 24 x 7 environment and network monitoring and response.
- Multiple, fault-tolerant upstream fiber connections.
- Burstable and uncapped bandwidth to every customer, at a minimum connection speed of 100 Mbps.
- Broadcast and internal (non-Internet) traffic is unmetered!
- Multi-homed network with BGP-advertised address space and connections to multiple Tier-1 providers:2 x GigE (Big Pipe, Level 3)
1 x OC-12 (MCI)
1 x 100 Mbps (VAIX) - Latency-optimized routing with excellent connectivity to Canada, U.S., and Europe.
Security
- 24 x 7 building security monitoring and engineering response.
- Elevator, office, and server room doors monitored for unauthorized or forced entry with local and building security response.
- “Mantrap” entry with key card and biometric access authentication.
- Segmented colocation and main server rooms.
- 24 x 7 CCTV (closed circuit television) surveillance and recording.
- Closed wiring conduits for all wire and fiber outside of the server room and within the colocation room.
- Limited staff access to server rooms.
- Access logging on all key card doors.
- Rotated off-site backups.
Server Specifications and Scalability
Anytime that ePly does server maintenance it is scheduled for late night and is only for a 10 to 15 minute period usually not more than once per month. If anyone attempts to access a registration form during this time they will see a message saying that we are working on the server and to try again in 15 minutes.
In the very unlikely event that the servers were destroyed and we needed to start fresh with a new server, we have, in practice, been able to rebuild the server, restore the database and be fully operation in less than 12 hours. If the entire data center was out of service, ePly would restore a backed up version of the database to a server already running in ePly’s office until a server in another datacenter could be arranged.
While this work was taking place, people attempting to register for an event could be directed to call our toll free phone number to register. Our staff would take registrations by phone and then enter the data into the system once it was restored.
The ePly software and the current server configuration are designed to handle a very high volume of registrations per hour. As greater capacity is needed the system will be scaled to meet the demand with no interruption of service.
8. What is your pricing?
ePly offers an easy and straightforward pricing model, where you only pay when someone completes a registration on your form.
There are no set-up fees, no monthly or annual fees, no contracts and no minimums. See our detailed pricing page for more information.
