Plug-in #1
Online offices for clients, reporters, & more
RB Connect, formerly RB Web, is the optional RB plug-in that gives clients, reporters, and others online access to essential information in your office, like schedules, job locations, transcripts and other case files, and billing information.
With RB Connect, information is available instantly whenever your clients and resources want it with no effort on your part. And it’s always up to date because it comes directly from your RB9. Plus RB Connect reduces production and delivery costs because clients and resources can download information as needed.
In addition to looking up and downloading information, your clients can schedule jobs with you, order transcripts, pay invoices, and work with interactive transcripts. If you offer client loyalty awards, they can manage and redeem points. Your reporters and other resources can request & acknowledge jobs, turn in jobs online, and request time off.
Customize to meet your needs
Customize your RB Connect before opening it to your clients and resources. You can:
- Change the site’s content to communicate your message, share company news, provide extra help, etc.
- Change the site’s appearance (colors, logos) to match your company website.
- Choose which functions clients and resources can access.
- Set up lists of services clients and resources can select from.
- Customize automated emails clients and resources receive.
Because RB Connect is browser based, your clients and resources do not have to install anything on their computers or laptops to access your RB Connect. All they need is your RB Connect URL and their sign-in credentials. It works in all major browsers and on any operating system. They can customize some options in their individual RB Connect accounts, such as whether to view their job calendar as a list or wall calendar style.
Users can change their password themselves whenever they wish or if they forget their password. And you can offer social media sign-in as an option so they have one less password to remember.
Increase site security
You can incorporate one or more of these measures to make your RB Connect site more secure:
- Require users to periodically update their password. You choose how often they must reset their password and whether or not you allow them to reuse the same password.
- Lock user out of the account after x number of incorrect log-in attempts. You set the number of attempts you will allow, and the user must contact you to unlock their account.
- Require strong passwords.
- Add two-factor authentication (2FA), which requires that the user enter a verification code (received on their phone or in an email) along with their ID and password before accessing the site on a new device. The end user can choose to verify their device each time or recognize their device as a trusted browser.
RB Connect highlights:
Online case repositories
Give clients online access to their files. Win new clients by offering them the same service during the pre-discovery period. Reporters can download shared files, such as exhibits.
E-commerce
Clients can pay invoices, including CODs, online. Copy clients can pay online, then download transcripts.
Interactive transcript packages
Clients can view, highlight, and make notes on transcripts, plus view linked exhibits, video, and other files. They can export transcripts in a variety of formats.
Driving directions to locations
Clients and resources can get directions to a job’s location while on the road using either Google, Mapquest, or Bing maps.
Personalized dashboards
Upon sign-in, users are greeted by their dashboard which gives them direct access to top functions:
- Contact side: Top 10 Upcoming Scheduled Jobs, Top 10 Jobs with Recently Uploaded Files, and Total Accounts Payable.
- Resource side: Top 10 Upcoming Jobs, Top 10 Overdue Tasks, and Total Receivables.
Users can resize and rearrange the layout of the different panes in their dashboard, then save their personalized layout.
Client-side features
Depending on the access preferences you set, your clients can:
- Check their schedule and see at a glance the status of any job including which jobs have been canceled.
- View their job calendar as a list or wall calendar style (and customize the appearance of the calendar).
- Upload notices.
- Request jobs either by copying and updating existing jobs or from scratch. (They can also set some defaults to minimize time spent entering job information.)
- Reschedule or cancel jobs.
- Use search criteria, such as witness or who placed an order, to limit which jobs are displayed and/or find a specific entry.
- View any job’s details including driving directions.
- Download transcripts.
- Back order transcripts.
- View, search, highlight, and comment on transcripts designed to work in browsers.
- Designate highlight colors for different uses.
- Look up job, witness, and case information in an interactive transcript.
- Export their transcripts as AMICUS, full-size PDF (including PDF/A formats for archiving), condensed PDF (2 or 4 ASCII pages per page), word index, word list, highlights, and notes.
- Search their transcripts and case files by case name or number and other search criteria.
- Download job and case files.
- View streaming video.
- Download other files you maintain for them such as price lists and contracts.
- Look up outstanding and paid invoices. View invoice details including payment history and current outstanding amounts.
- Pay invoices. COD clients can download transcripts after paying online.
- Use search criteria such as case name, invoice date, and open
or paid invoices, to limit which listings are displayed and/or find a specific invoice. - If you offer reward points they can see their current points balance, pending amounts and history, and make requests to redeem or transfer points.
- Ask questions and track the resolution of their issues with the support ticket system.
- Look up information in the contextual User Guide.
- Update their contact information
- Set personal preferences such as how many rows to display in a single page of results.
Resource-side features
Depending on the access preferences you set, your resources can:
- Check their schedule. If they are a sales rep or have their own clients/assigned cases (Client Of) they can also see which jobs their clients have scheduled and jobs scheduled for their assigned cases.
- See at a glance the status of any job including which jobs have been canceled.
- View their job calendar as a list or wall calendar style (and customize the appearance of the calendar).
- Acknowledge new jobs.
- Use search criteria such as firm or scheduled date, to limit which listings are displayed and/or find a specific entry.
- View any listing’s details including driving directions or special notes about the job’s client.
- Check in at job locations which records the date and time for the task in both their RB Connect and your RB9.
- Turn in jobs and upload files.
- See which jobs have been invoiced and what they are owed.
- Look up invoices for a particular case, job date or witness.
- Find out what their next paycheck will include.
- View any invoice’s pay details.
- View and download current and past pay statements.
- Choose to see pay statements with invoice details or not.
- Check their To-Do list.
- View and download job files including shared case files such as word lists, dictionaries, and exhibits.
- Compile master word lists.
- Search their job files by case name, job date range, job number and other search criteria.
- View other files you maintain for them such as contracts.
- Look up information about clients, including phone numbers and map directions.
- View their work schedule and request time off.
- Ask questions and track the resolution of their issues with the support ticket system.
- Look up information in the contextual User Guide.
- Update their contact information.
- Set personal preferences such as how many rows to display in a single page of results.
Adding RB Connect to RB9
RB Connect is available by subscription, month-to-month contracts, no long-term obligations, and can be canceled anytime.
If you have RB9 set up and working, you are ready to add RB Connect. RB9 and RB Connect reside in the cloud, so you do not need any hardware or software except a computer, laptop, or mobile device connected to the Internet through one of the major browsers to run RB9 and RB Connect.
All anyone needs to access your RB Connect site is a computer, laptop, or mobile device with Internet access through a browser, and your RB Connect URL, which is similar to your RB9 URL. It will have the same base name, but end in “.contact” for your clients and “.resouce” for your reporters and other resources.
Extend your RB Connect services
You can add more options to your online offices with RB Connect plug-ins. Like RB Connect, these plug-ins are available on a monthly basis, and you can cancel them at anytime with no further obligation.
RB Connect Mobile
Add the RB Connect Mobile plug-in and meet your clients where they live: On their smart phones. RB Connect Mobile re- organizes your RB Connect online offices into a mobile-optimized layout so users can work with their information on the smaller screens of iPhones and other mobile devices.
Full-Text Search
Add the Full-Text Search plug-in to RB Connect, which gives your clients the ability to search for specific text in their RB Connect repositories and Transcript Packages, and get results in seconds.
NOTE: RB Connect is not available with RB Lite.
TL;DR: Online repository, calendar, and access to your office for clients and resources, including interactive transcripts, downloadable invoices and e-commerce for clients, and online turn-in, one-touch job acknowledgements, and downloadable pay statements for resources.
RB concepts in this lesson
Award Points: Used to encourage clients to book with your agency by rewarding them with points for different services.
Client Of: If resources bring in their own clients, you can assign client firms and/or individual contacts at the firms to their resource. You can also designate Client Of resources in cases. Use Client Of to pay reporters commissions on their clients’ or assigned cases’ jobs, whether the reporter handled the job themselves or not. You can also give reporters right of first refusal on their clients/cases’ jobs by displaying unassigned jobs from their clients/cases in the reporters’ online calendars in RB Connect.
Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with, such as attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, legal assistants, claim adjusters, and court clerks.
Full-Text Search: Clients can search for specific text in their RB Connect repositories and Transcript Packages, and get results in seconds with this plug-in. When they locate the right file in their repository, they can download it. More >
Job: Usually the reporting of a deposition, but can also be any kind of service you provide with your reporters or other resources. More >
RB Connect Mobile: Clients and resources can access your RB Connect on their smartphones and tablets in an interface optimized for mobile devices. More >
Resource: Person or thing that provides your business with a service, such as reporters, videographers, interpreters, scopists, proofreaders, account executives, other agencies that cover jobs for you, or a conference room.
Task: Service requested with a job, such as reporting, interpreting, or video, that require a separate resource (person, company, thing) to accomplish. More >
Transcript Package: Bundle containing interactive transcripts with all of their related files (exhibits, videos, RB-PDF transcripts, etc.) to be viewed in a browser through RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile. More >