Ask the Collective

What are the known reliability issues with EMCS and ATWD systems, and what workarounds are members using?

Members report persistent downtime and poor user experience with both EMCS and ATWD systems. **Reliability issues:** - EMCS frequently goes down on critical business days, forcing members to use fallback procedures (some members reported having to execute 2 fallback submissions in a single day) - ATWD requires repeated page reloads and navigation workarounds to access reliably - The broader website hosting these systems is unstable **User experience problems with the updated EMCS:** - The newer version, while offering helpful improvements (dropdown codes for easier selection), has significantly worse UX with excessive button clicks and too many pages to complete data entry - Members report it now takes longer to complete submissions than the previous system **Workarounds:** - Keep fallback submission procedures ready and practiced - When EMCS is down, have ATWD as an alternative (though it's also unreliable) - Plan shipment timing with system downtime risk in mind — members noted having to delay underbond shipments into Local Control of Betting (LCB) due to EMCS failures **Caveat:** While members universally agree the systems are problematic, no formal alternative routing or vendor solutions were discussed. The consensus is these are systemic issues requiring tolerance and workarounds rather than replacement.