A proprietary system, fileTRUST was created by Fleet in conjunction with Microsoft Consulting Storage and in partnership with EMC2, Compaq, Plural, and StorageNetworks.

fileTRUST is initially aimed at home offices and small business professionals such as lawyers, certified public accountants and doctors who typically do not own costly backup file servers but who need to ensure the safety and integrity of their files and records. Users may rent space at fileTRUST and, with a personal identification number and password, upload or download their files via the Web 24 hours day. Document storage enables a business owner to expand memory capacity without having to upgrade hardware and guarantees that files will be protected from deadly viruses, computer damage or system failure.

Fleet plans to initially test fileTRUST with a select group of Fleet Small Business Services clients and eventually make it available to any individual or company in need of secure document storage. Larger companies will use fileTRUST to simplify internal processes and create efficient communications with their customers, says the bank. Consumers also will be able to use fileTRUST directly to store their personal documents.

Blaise Heltai, managing director, global Internet strategy at FleetBoston Financial, says: " As users of fileTRUST ourselves, we offer a compelling case for the value of the service."

At its simplest, users can view fileTRUST as another disk drive in their Windows file viewer or as a Web location in their browser. Along with general document storage, fileTRUST allows users to designate guest access to view specific files in their secure area. In this way, fileTRUST serves as the cornerstone for other strategic applications such as document certification, project management, and workflow-facilitation across businesses.

Russ Stockdale, vice president of the knowledge worker solutions group at Microsoft says the service is an early example of software developed for Microsoft's .NET platform.

Winner of the Microsoft Exchange and Collaboration (MEC) 2000 Solutions Award for Most Innovative Use of the Exchange 2000 Web Storage System, fileTRUST online data storage was produced as part of the e-Catalyst effort within Fleet, a corporate-wide initiative for creating top-tier Web-enabled services for customers and employees.