Lesson #124
Setup – Tracking Steps function
If you want to monitor jobs as they move through your production workflow — including the location of physical media such as DVDs — RB9 has a tracking function. Set up tracking items to match your production workflow, then define the steps each item goes through in your process. Once you have your tracking steps set up in this function, you can use Tracking to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.
Tracking is a stand-alone function in RB9 so you have complete freedom in whether you use it or how you use it. If you want to track the status of service items like transcripts, exhibits, and video, you must first customize the module to fit into your workflow.
Set up tracking parameters
There are 6 steps in setting up tracking. The first step is to create categories of service items that your office produces and wants to track (such as DVD, Editing, Exhibit, Scanning, Synching, and Transcript). Set up tracking item types in Lists.
After setting up item types to be tracked, the second task is to create steps that each item type goes through in the production workflow. Use the Tracking Steps function to define the steps each item goes through in your production workflow so you can track jobs as they move through the process. If an item passes through different departments or staffers as it is produced and completed, you can add alerts to specific steps to automatically notify people when the item is their responsibility.
The Tracking Steps window lists all of the tracking item types you have set up. When you select an item to add steps or modify a step, any previously set-up steps are displayed. You can:
- Add steps.
- Edit or delete any step.
- Change the order of steps to match your workflow.
- Export the list of steps to an Excel or CSV file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.
When adding a new tracking step, only the step name is required. We recommend giving each step a descriptive label so users can easily understand what each step means. You can also designate:
- Default turn-around time for the step.
- Whether the step is active (meaning it will appear in the Tracking function).
- Which staff member(s) RB9 should alert when a service item reaches the step.
For steps that involve handing work off to another person/department or that additional staff need to know a milestone has been achieved, set up alerts that RB9 will send to their RB9 inbox when the milestone is reached. You can notify multiple users about any step and add or delete users from the notification list for a step at any time.
Finish tracking setup
After setting up tracking steps, return to the Lists function to complete steps 3–6 of setting up your Tracking function by specifying codes for different areas in tracking:
- Archival Status codes describe the current archival status of original media, such as video tapes.
- Media Classification codes specify who has rights to view/handle the media.
- Media Format codes specify the types of media you produce, such as DVD or audio tape.
- Priority codes specify order of importance or urgency.
Once you have finished your tracking setup, you can start tracking jobs through your workflow in the Tracking function.
NOTE: This is an RB9-only function. It is not included in RB Lite.
TL;DR: Define the steps each service item goes through in your production workflow so you can track jobs as they move through the process.
RB concepts in this lesson
Job: Usually the reporting of a deposition, but can also be any kind of service you provide with your reporters or other resources. More >
Service items: Regular charges that you bill to your clients.
