The Portcast platform is a powerful integrated shipment tracking platform. By default, Portcast customers can use our proprietary platform to upload and track their shipments, or their customers’ shipments. This is done by accessing our default Web Application at app.portcast.io.

However, for customers handling and managing container tracking for 3rd party customers - like Freight Forwarders, or 3PL/4PL companies - Portcast also offers the possibility of seamlessly integrating into our customers 3rd party platform in a way that goes beyond single container tracker embedding, via our set of whitelabeling features.

What is whitelabeling in the Portcast platform?

The process of whitelabeling includes a number of different features that allow Portcast entreprise customers to provide a full featured tracking platform, directly integrated into their customer facing platforms - typically, their website, customer platform, or intranet.

This allows Portcast customers to offer a fully native experience without the need for expensive internal API integrations, and front and backend development time and cost. All while maintaining customer branding and staying inside existing ecosystems.

What features and components are part of the whitelabeling range of features inside the Portcast platform?

There are multiple features built-in by default onto the Portcast platform that allow you to kickstart your shipment tracking implementation:

1. Web-based delivery: allows you to simply integrate onto any web page in a simple and standards-compliant way, using simple HTML techniques such as iframe embedding.
2. API or Web-based uploads: depending on the available skills and budget of your organization, as well as your implementation timeline, it is possible to upload and manage your customer’s shipments using the method of your choice: if you want to integrate with external systems and maximize automation and scalability, you can use our set of APIs; otherwise, for maximum ease of use and time to value, you can also use our Web Application and upload via manual input, or in bulk file upload methods. All uploads will be available across all delivery methods.
3. Master Org and Sub-Org structuration: if you handle a portfolio of different customers, and have a need to serve specific shipments to specific customers, while maintaining a simple centralized access for your own team, Portcast’s Org features allow you to achieve that using a Master org. This is a unified view that condenses all Sub-Orgs’ shipments under one single view, and allows you not to switch between customers’ Orgs. When uploading, you can still choose which Sub-Orgs to upload to via API or UI. And customer users will only have access to the shipments that are assigned to the Orgs that they are users of.
4. Custom branding and subdomain: for entreprise customers looking for a totally branded experience, Portcast also offers the possibility of serving the Portcast platform via a branded subdomain. For example, if your company is called “ABCD Services”, Portcast can deliver the platform via abcdservices.portcast.io, and include items like your logo and company name across the platform. This ensures consistent branding and uniformized experience inside your platform.
5. Integrated Air and Ocean tracking: Contrary to the individual embedding of container or MAWB trackers, the whitelabeled solution maintains sidebar navigation and allows you and your customers to navigate between air and ocean tracking seamlessly, without having to handle embedding and navigation separately.

How can I start integrating a fully whitelabeled Portcast experience onto my platform?

You can follow the next steps to get started with a whitelabeled Portcast experience:

1. Define your Sub-Orgs and which users need access. Typically, one Sub-Org corresponds to one of your customers; however, for specific use cases, you might want to create team-specific, or project-specific Sub-Orgs for easier separation of shipment contexts or access restrictions. Reach out to our customer success team at [email protected] for information on how to get your Sub-Orgs set-up easily and quickly.

2. Upload shipments to the relevant Sub-Orgs. This is done via the Web App using any of the relevant upload methods; or, if you are integrating via the API, just use each of the Sub-Orgs’ API keys and the shipments uploaded using this method will be automatically assigned to each Sub-Org’s list of tracked shipments.

3. Obtain your custom branded subdomain. Reach out to the Portcast team with your desired subdomain, logo and name, and we will deploy it for you.

4. Embed the platform onto your customer portal or platform. Once you have your custom subdomain, this is an easy HTML integration, possible with any platform that supports iframe integration. Here’s an example of what that would look like in your platform’s source code:

   <iframe src="<https://abcdservices.portcast.io>" width="100%" height="800" style="border:0;width:100%;height:100vh;" allowfullscreen="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write"></iframe>
   

   That’s it! Note the src domain in the above code, pointing the iframe to your branded subdomain. This will deliver your customized tracking platform; you can also adjust additional items like size, height, or responsive behavior via standard CSS. This method of integration allows you to keep all required web page components that are part of your platform, like header, logos, footer, and more.