General

BICS users are given free software with which they can receive water level information and shipping reports on a daily basis with the help of the BICS communication module. The software from the Berichten Ontvangst Service [notice reception service] provides a nice new abbreviation -BOS - and, above all, makes valuable information accessible on board.

As well as (international) shipping reports, the user can look up the water levels in a number of European river basins. This service is free to Dutch ships (also outside the Netherlands). The link to the BICS server on which the reports are stored is established via an "800" telephone number. BOS was made possible by the cooperation of two Rijkswaterstaat services. The Infocentrum Binnenwateren [inland waterways information centre] of the RIZA [government institute for the purification of wastewater] collects and distributes the reports, while the Zeeland Directorate, as the owner of BICS, makes the communications network available.

The choice of reports that can be received is still limited, but in future the Berichten Ontvangst Service will supply more made-to-measure information.

How does it work?

When you apply for BICS you can also indicate whether or not you want to use BOS. You can also indicate what sort of water levels you wish to receive. The user can choose to receive only the shipping reports or only the water levels from one or more river basins, or he can choose a combination of these. At present the Berichten Ontvangst Service offers four options: shipping reports, and the water levels in the river basins and tributaries of the Rhine, Maas and Danube. After the software for the Berichten Ontvangst Service on the onboard computer has been activated and a period of time agreed with the help desk has elapsed, the chosen reports can be daily downloaded automatically or by pressing a button.

Automatic download

Ships that report in electronically every day need take no further steps. When they establish contact with the BICS server, the BOS reports are downloaded automatically to the hard disk.

Manual download

During voyages of several days it is advisable to download the BOS reports manually every day. How? Just press the "sync-link" button - with the green telephone - on the BICS screen and select (outside the Netherlands) the correct GSM network. In BICS this is shown with the choice for the country in which the ship is located. The reports are then downloaded to the correct place in the computer. In this way you can receive the BOS reports even when you have no report to send to BICS.

Do not prepare BICS messages in advance

Users who are in the habit of preparing their BICS message in advance of their departure will have to change their working procedure. As soon as the "sync-link" button is pressed the prepared message will be transmitted automatically. Users who also access BOS should therefore prepare their BICS messages shortly before they need to be transmitted.

Example of a BOS screen

Water levels and shipping reports can be looked at from within in the BICS program as soon as they have been downloaded. A special BOS screen appears. This screen resembles the Windows Explorer screen.

The information is organized in a logical and clear manner by navigation area or sub-area. The user does not need to search through a whole report for the information that is importance for him; he can simply open a folder with the sub-area information. New reports are marked by a yellow flag. Old reports can be kept for any length of time, i.e. an archive can be built up. Reports can also be selected, merged and printed, and reports or complete folders (in fact geographic regions) can be deleted.

The BOS manual explains everything in detail. It is on the BICS CD.

Establish contact every day!

Once the report service is activated, it is important to establish contact with the BICS server every day to download the reports. Even when the ship is stationary. If this is not done the reports pile up on the server and, when the ship does log on, they are all "pumped over" in one session. After a three-week vacation this can be a lot of reports and their transmission may be time consuming and - certainly if it is carried out via a GSM mobile telephone - costly.

The BICS help desk can solve these problems but prevention is always better than cure. If a skipper knows in advance that he will not be able to download his BOS reports for a long period of time, he can contact the BICS help desk and temporarily cancel the transmission of BOS reports. Alternatively, the BICS site contains forms to modify the reception of reports.

Changes in the choice of reports to be received

If you want to receive another set of BOS reports you can inform the BICS-help desk of this by telephone. Alternatively you can fill in the BOS-wijzigingsformulier (BOS change form) on this site. With the BOS change form you can also temporarily cancel the transmission of BOS reports.