With in-network translation, you can also take advantage of EDI without the investment of time, money, and personnel to enable and run translation software on your system.  With in-network translation, you let GXS take care of translating the electronic data between formats and delivering it to your trading partner's mailbox.

In-network translation can translate electronic data to and from EDI standard data formats (the standards supported are ANSI X12, ODETTE, UN/EDIFACT, and UN/TDI) as well as translating from one type of application data to another (including Web application formats). The following table illustrates a variety of ways that in-network translation delivers data translation services:

In-network translation works with Information Exchange, the mailbox feature of EDI Services, or with an equivalent mailbox service offered by another EDI provider and supported by EDI VAN Interconnect. EDI VAN Interconnect supports trading relationships between customers of more than 25 EDI value-added networks (VANs). Information Exchange users can have their EDI transactions translated into EDI format as they arrive from trading partners, or have their application data translated into EDI transactions when sent to trading partners. To receive the translated data, your trading partners can be using Information Exchange, an equivalent mailbox service, or another feature of EDI Services.

You can access in-network translation by using one or more of the following features of EDI Services:

• Information Exchange communications clients and access methods:
   
• Expedite and Expedite Base licensed programs
• TCP/IP FTP gateway for the Internet
  

You can also access in-network translation with a mailbox service equivalent to Information Exchange but offered by another EDI provider and supported by EDI VAN Interconnect.

An implementation guide is a document that lists your EDI or application mapping requirements and relates the fields in an application format to the required EDI segments.

A translation map is an in-network translation document that defines how each field or parameter in one format relates to a corresponding field or parameter in another format. GXS creates the translation map based on your translation needs, as described in your implementation guide.  

Probably not. In-network translation can send translated data to any of the following mailboxes:

• Information Exchange
• EDI VAN Interconnect

In-network translation can send e-mail notes and translation reports to most e-mail systems or to:

• Information Exchange

If I am using my own translation software for translating some EDI documents, and using in-network translation to translate other documents, can I use the same Information Exchange mailbox for both?

If you are using your own EDI translation software to translate some of the EDI documents you receive, but you are using in-network translation to translate other documents, you will need two Information Exchange mailboxes.

One mailbox corresponds to an EDI receiver ID for your own translation software; the other corresponds to an EDI receiver ID for in-network translation. You should inform your trading partners which of these mailboxes to send their EDI documents to.

Information Exchange , which is the mailbox feature of EDI Services, is one example of an EDI mailbox. An EDI mailbox is simply an electronic mailbox that can send and receive EDI data. Information Exchange can send and receive both EDI and non-EDI data. You can have multiple mailboxes on Information Exchange.