The Federal Court is introducing a new noticing technology by which certain bankruptcy noticing information is transmitted electronically to creditors who have requested the service. EBN is operated by the Bankruptcy Noticing Center (BNC) under the direction of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and provides enhanced public service while reducing costs:

• Creditors receive notices days faster
• Creditors reduce their processing expenses by replacing manual processes with automated procedures, and
• BNC provides free technical support for creditors.

Bankruptcy Rule 9036, which authorizes electronic noticing, requires participants to sign an agreement with each bankruptcy court. Creditors can sign up from among three methods to receive electronic noticing:

• Internet e-mail - For recipients who want the speed and convenience of receiving notices on-line. The BNC sends PDF file attachments by e-mail to creditors. Users must have an account with an e-mail provider that has "electronic delivery service notification" capability and have Adobe's free Acrobat Reader Version 4.0 or higher installed on their system.
  
• Fax - For recipients who do not want to set up Internet e-mail accounts but who want to eliminate slower noticing by U.S. mail.
  
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - For high-volume recipients (200 or more notices a week) who want to process data through computer-to-computer transfers.

Visit the EBN Web page at http://www.EBNuscourts.com. The Web page includes a list of companies that sell and support EDI software that can be used for bankruptcy noticing. The cost of the EDI software varies greatly depending on the creditor's computer architecture. Technical questions posed by creditors interested in, or already receiving EDI notices will be answered by the BNC staff by calling: 1-800-262-5055.