Set up your inbound form

An inbound form gives your customers a secure web address for sending cases straight to your lab, without you sending them anything first. Submitted cases arrive in your Received list like any other transfer, and you are notified when one arrives.

How do I create the form?

1. Go to My account → Profile → Receive files from customers.
2. Enter a PIN of 4 to 8 digits and select Create form. Or select Create without PIN; see below.
3. Copy the Customer URL with Copy and share it with your customers.
4. Tell customers the PIN separately, for example by phone, never in the same email as the URL.

Screenshot placeholderhelp/img/inbound-settings.png

Should my form have a PIN?

We recommend it. With a PIN, only people you have told can submit. Without one, anyone who has the URL can open the form and submit cases, unwanted submissions arrive in Received, and every submitted case uses one unit of your allowance. The account page keeps a warning up while the form has no PIN.

• Replace PIN: choose a new PIN. Everyone using the form must enter the new one, including customers with saved access.
• Reveal PIN: shows the current PIN after you confirm your password.
• Remove PIN: opens the form to anyone with the URL. The old PIN cannot be restored; you can set a new one at any time, which signs out anyone who opened the form without a PIN.

Who can open my form without the PIN?

Customers enter the PIN each time they open the form, and again after an hour; their browser does not remember it. A customer who is signed in to Lab-Send-Go can tick Remember me on this form when they enter your PIN. After that they open the form without typing the PIN, until you change the PIN or refresh the URL. Customers who are not signed in, and anyone using a form embedded on your website, always enter the PIN.

Everyone with saved access is listed under Saved access in Receive files from customers, with their email, their organisation, when they first entered the PIN and when they last used the form. Select Remove to end one person's saved access; they will need the PIN on their next visit. To end everyone's, replace the PIN or refresh the URL.

How do I change the form's URL?

Select Refresh URL. If your form has a PIN, enter a PIN for the new URL, either the current one or a new one, and confirm. The old URL stops working straight away, so share the new one with your customers. Everyone with saved access has to enter the PIN again on their next visit, even if you keep the same PIN. If the form is embedded on your website, the embed also stops working until you replace its iframe code. Changing only the PIN does not change the URL.

How do I switch the form off?

Select Disable next to the form's status. Customers see that the form is unavailable. Select Enable to switch it back on with the same URL and PIN.

Which file types can customers upload?

The form accepts the same file types as the rest of Lab-Send-Go and blocks the same ones: programs and scripts such as .exe, .bat and .js. The list applies to every upload through the form, including files inside ZIP and RAR archives. It is set by Lab-Send-Go for every account, and a lab cannot add to it or allow a blocked type. See Which file types can I upload? for the full list.

Can I choose Simple or Expert for submissions?

Yes. Under My account → Profile → Transfer defaults, the Inbound portal setting chooses which mode the form opens in. It is separate from your own sending default. Submitters can still switch mode. Simple sends one case with the essentials; Expert sends a full work order and can include several cases. Under Transfer validation you can also choose which fields the inbound form requires, and under Inbound form layout the order of its sections.

How long are submitted files kept?

Choose a file-retention period for the form under Receive files from customers: 7, 30 or 90 days, or Never. Submitters are told the period before they submit. A submission that is started but never submitted is deleted, with its files, after 24 hours.

Can the form show my lab's branding?

On Enterprise, the form and its pages show your display name, accent colour and logo from My account → Profile → Branding.

What happens when a customer submits?

• Each case becomes a transfer addressed to your account's email and appears in Received, marked Inbound.
• Each submitted case uses one unit of your allowance. If there is not enough allowance for the whole submission, nothing is submitted.
• You receive an Inbound submission received email and a notification.
• The submitter is marked Verified if they were signed in, or Unverified if they typed their details in.
• You can download, confirm receipt and send a return transfer exactly as with any other case.
• When you download a case, the submitter is told, not you, just as the sender of any other transfer is told. Expiry warnings for an uncollected case also go to the submitter; you still get the recipient's reminder.

To see the form from your customer's side, read Submit a case through a lab's inbound form.