Web front end fixed on savings plan

By synchronizing settings of the mainframe host and telecommunications equipment of its new record-keeping system, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board said it eliminated a major kink in Web services for the Thrift Savings Plan.

Sample data was sent to IBM Corp., where the problem was identified, said Larry Stiffler, the board's director of automated systems. Other bugs also were wiped out, and about 98 percent of standard transactions are working, he said.

The board launched the system in mid-July, and its Web interface suffered problems right away, as federal employees could not access the system via the Web or an automated phone system.