1 Release of beA Desk Version 1.9
beA Desk is available as an update in Version 1.9 with many enhancements.
If you have any questions, please contact our support:
WINSOLVENZ
Phone: +49 721 / 828 15 - 600
Email: support@stp-online.de
DMS
Phone: +49 721 / 828 15 - 600
Email: support@stp-online.de
We wish you much success and enjoyment in working with the STP beA Desk.
2 General Information
Below are important notes to consider during the initial setup and use of the beA Desk.
2.1 Before the First Start/Setting Up Mailboxes
Before a mailbox can be set up and activated in the beA Desk for a mailbox owner and other users, check whether there are still messages in the inbox of the mailbox owner in the beA Web Client. You can move these messages to a separate subfolder before using the mailbox with beA Desk. If you do not move the messages still in the inbox, they will be retrieved by the beA Desk and appear in the inbox there.
The same applies to the “Sent” folder in the beA Web Client, which is monitored by the beA Desk. This folder should also be empty before the first use of a mailbox. You can create a subfolder and move the messages there.
Important: The user from the STP User Management assigned to the mailbox as the mailbox owner cannot be changed after saving. Please ensure that this user is correctly assigned.
2.2 The Signature Folder
With the beA Desk, you can sign multiple message drafts, including attachments marked as “documents” or electronic acknowledgment of receipt (eEBs), in a single operation (batch signature) using the so-called signature folder. The available interfaces for signature components are: SecSigner from SecCommerce and beA Desk Signer from STP GmbH.
2.3 User and Role Management
To log in to the beA Desk, first create the user in the central STP User Management and assign them to the appropriate groups listed below. If you change a user’s group membership, it may take up to 5 minutes for this change to become available in the beA Desk. The subgroups of the main group “beA” simultaneously represent the professional roles of users in the STP beA Desk. Please assign your users to the respective groups according to their professional activities.
Description of Professional Roles:
- Group beA-OfficeManager: Office Managers are authorized to set up mailboxes and assign permissions to mailboxes.
- Group beA-Rechtsanwalt: This group is authorized to create message drafts in mailboxes they have access to and, depending on permissions set by BRAK, send and receive messages.
- Group beA-Sachbearbeiter: This group is authorized to create message drafts in mailboxes they have access to and, depending on permissions set by BRAK, send and receive messages.
- Group beA-Sekretariat: This group is authorized to create message drafts in mailboxes they have access to and, depending on permissions set by BRAK, send and receive messages.
Note: When you hover the mouse over the username of the user logged into the beA Desk, a tooltip will appear showing all currently active roles for the user.
2.4 Setting Permissions for beA Mailboxes in the Web Client at BRAK
The assignment and authorization of users for beA login at BRAK are managed via certificates and access cards and through rights assignment in the beA Web Client. After granting the necessary permissions there, the corresponding users can be authorized for the mailboxes created in the beA Desk via the “gear” icon in the settings. This division allows users in the beA Desk to create message drafts and prepare them for sending, even if they do not have access (e.g., their own employee card) to the beA portal. Whether a user is fundamentally authorized to access a mailbox in the beA Web Client is indicated in the beA Desk by the green online icon behind the mailbox name; clicking the icon opens the dialog.
2.5 Handling Messages Marked as “Confidential”
The beA Desk, similar to the previous beA Connect, can retrieve messages marked as “Confidential” and display them in the inbox. However, this depends on the permissions of the authenticated certificate.
The messages are marked with a red confidential badge; the message content is readable.
2.6 Support for the New XJustiz Version 3.5.1
beA Desk 1.9 supports the processing and creation of XJustiz 3.5.1 structured data sets. During the transition period, beA Desk 1.9 is still capable of processing older structured data sets of Version 3.4.1.
Additionally, the dynamic XJustiz 3.5.1 code lists are supported and automatically updated by the beA Desk when available.
2.7 Differences Between beA Desk and beA Web Client
XJustiz Structured Data Set and Recipient Case Number
If you want to send a message to a court and the checkbox for an XJustiz structured data set is checked, enter the recipient’s case number before sending. If you send the message without a structured data set or recipient case number, a sending error will occur. In the beA Web Client, sending is also possible without entering a case number, but in this case, an empty case number is inserted into the structured data set and transmitted to the recipient. Please observe the requirements of the respective courts regarding general procedures and their specific needs.
2.8 beA Desk Is Not an Archiving System
Please note that the beA Desk is not an archive. The messages received and sent there should always be exported and archived, similar to the procedure in the beA Web Client of BRAK. Processed messages can first be moved to the trash and later permanently deleted. The beA Desk itself does not move messages to the trash.
3 Product Integration
3.1 Integration with Winsolvenz
Starting from Winsolvenz Version 10.8 in combination with the beA Desk, it is possible to create a new message draft with court table file for sending to the court via “beA Transfer” in the “Table/Creditors” section.
Starting from Winsolvenz Version 10.10 in combination with DMS and the beA Desk, it is possible to transmit the insolvency table with the documents linked in DMS to the courts, enabling document transfer.
Starting from Winsolvenz Version 10.15, ranks are now considered during document transfer.
We recommend using the latest Winsolvenz version.
3.2 Integration with Documents (DMS)
The complete extensions of Documents 7.4 FP1 & FP2 / 7.5 can be found in the product release notes. A brief excerpt relevant for beA processing is listed here:
- Direct transfer of documents from Documents to the beA Desk, including automatic conversion to PDF/A (a TOCR license within Documents is required for searchable full text).
- Export of beA messages from the beA Desk as an archive with individual attachments (optional) to Documents from the folders “Inbox,” “Sent,” and “Send Errors.”
- Direct linking of the beA message archive (.beamsg) within Documents with the individual attachments and corresponding display.
- Already exported messages are marked with a “blue dot” in the list views in the beA Desk. This allows users across the system to see which messages have already been exported.
- For message export, the (usually) already configured “DMS Collector Configurations” can be reused. The beA Desk uses the new interface of Documents (file system storage is no longer performed).
3.3 Integration with Input Management
If you use Input Management, you can directly transfer beA messages from the inbox for automatic processing to Input Management.
3.4 Integration with Legal Workspace (FLOW)
For customers using Legal Workspace (FLOW), it is possible to automatically transfer beA messages created there directly to the beA Desk.
4 beA Desk Uses the BRAK KSW Interface
The communication between the BRAK beA network and the beA Desk uses the KSW interface provided by BRAK. The functionalities provided by the beA Desk are subject to the current technical capabilities and scope of this interface. Please note the points and instructions listed below.
Suggestions for improvements to the functionality and stability of the KSW interface are reported by us to BRAK support and will be incorporated into future versions of the beA Desk as new releases of the KSW interface become available.
4.1 Current Notifications About the beA Network
Receiving and retrieving beA messages via the beA Desk requires that the BRAK beA system is accessible. You can check the current notifications with hints or disruptions to the beA network at the following link:
https://portal.beasupport.de/verfuegbarkeit
4.2 Terminal Server
To log in to the BRAK beA Web Client, it is currently necessary to install the beA Client Security. This is not mandatory for using the beA Desk. The beA Desk can also be fully utilized on terminal servers.
4.3 Automatic Receipt and Sending of Messages with Authentication
The beA Desk regularly checks for new messages in authenticated beA mailboxes that can be retrieved.
When new incoming messages are available, they are transferred to the beA Desk and, in the respective beA mailbox – if successful – moved to the subfolder “STP beA Desk Inbox” of the inbox in the beA Web Client.
Similarly, messages in the outbox of the beA Desk are only moved to the “Sent Folder” when a corresponding acknowledgment has been received from the KSW interface and the message appears in the “Sent Folder” of the beA mailbox. In this case, successfully sent messages can be found in the beA Web Client in the subfolder “STP beA Desk Sent.”
The automatic synchronization between the beA mailboxes occurs in the beA Desk by default every 10 minutes. This may result in delays between the display in the beA Web Client and the beA Desk.
Please note that permissions for retrieving messages must be set accordingly in the beA Web Client. This also applies to the automatic creation of the aforementioned subfolders.
4.4 Memory Usage
When messages are sent or new messages are retrieved by the beA Desk, the memory usage of the KSW interface increases depending on the number of attachments in the messages. Generally, an additional memory usage of approximately 700 MB per user should be expected for the KSW interface. This can increase to over 1 GB. It is therefore important to provide sufficient memory for individual users.
4.5 Sending Protocol/Receipt Confirmation
When sending messages to a court, you can find the sending protocol in the “Sent” folder in the right detail area of the beA Desk. Its content should be checked for successful delivery (“request executed”). In the beA Web Client, this is displayed at the bottom of the message in a single line.
4.6 Messages with Error “F001”
Messages that are sent are moved to the “Outbox” folder in the beA Desk. These messages are directly transmitted to the BRAK beA network via the KSW interface; the storage of the message on the BRAK server can be identified by the assigned Message ID.
In individual cases, there may be an error in transmission between the BRAK server and the judicial intermediary within the beA network (e.g., transmission code “F001” – The message could not be delivered to the recipient’s intermediary), which causes the message to be moved to the “Send Errors” folder in the beA Desk. In this case, the beA Desk offers the user the option to copy the message from the “Send Errors” folder to the “Drafts” folder and resend it.
In the BRAK Web Client, however, the undeliverable message remains in the outbox and must be manually deleted there, as this message will otherwise generate an error message in the beA Desk during each synchronization run.
4.7 Address Search in the beA Network Directory
The beA Desk provides users with the ability to search directly in the BRAK address book for recipients and import them. Since Version 1.7, it is possible to save addresses as local address favorites.
4.8 Marking “Read” for Incoming Messages in beA Mailboxes
The beA Desk displays incoming messages for a user as “Unread” until the user selects the message for a short time. This marking is not to be confused with the “Read Marking” in the beA Web Client. Currently, there is no way via the BRAK KSW interface to automatically mark messages there as “Read” after retrieval if the mailbox owner has read them. Incoming messages thus remain marked as “Unread” even after being moved to the folder “STP beA Desk Inbox.”
4.9 Message Export as “.beamsg” Archive File to Documents (DMS) 7.4 FP1/FP2 / 7.5
When transferring messages from the beA Desk to Documents, all available elements of the message are transferred. However, this message archive does not correspond 1:1 to the “Message Export” function from the beA Web Client. A complete export of the beA message analogous to the beA Web Client is currently not possible via the BRAK KSW interface.
5 Integration of Signature Components
The beA Desk supports the SecCommerce SecSigner for document signing (https://seccommerce.com/secsigner/) as an external component that must be installed on the same system. This allows batch signatures of up to 30 documents with a single PIN entry via the beA Desk.
Additionally, you can license the beA Desk Signer component from us and activate its use per user. The beA Desk Signer supports mass signatures for 100 documents with a single PIN entry.
6 Installation and Update
Details on installation and updates can be found in our separate guide “beA Desk - Installation Guide and Technical Fundamentals.”