Tag Archives: email second round

Lesson #40

Inquiry – Client Analysis function

Use Client Analysis to get a snapshot of a client’s billing activity via what services they purchased. Compare totals by period to track your most important customers.

Client Analysis is similar to Client Activity, except in Client Activity you see information about a client’s invoices that fit your search criteria. In Client Analysis you see information about service items billed to the client.

You can view billed service item amounts for:

• Firms that scheduled the jobs that included the billed services or by the firms responsible for paying the invoices for the services (since they are not always the same firm).
• A firm’s parent company, not just the individual firm if they are part of a larger organization.
• All of the contacts at the firm, or a specific contact.

You can further refine your results by including a date or date range for the invoice(s), the job(s), or when the invoice(s) posted in RB9. You can view billed service items for paid or unpaid invoices, or all invoices that match the other search criteria.

You can find billed service item amounts for a single case. And you can view billed services by all, some, or a single business unitof your company.

If you don’t use any of the search filters, Client Analysis will list all of the selected client’s billed services with your company since their first invoice.

Interactive snapshot of billed services

Client Analysis displays a snapshot of billed service item amounts that meet the specified search condition(s), with each category broken down into number of units sold, billed rush charges, and total billed amounts’ year-to-date and all-time totals. It includes sales and court taxes as separate line items so amounts match Client Activity reports.

The results returned in Client Analysis are interactive, so you can drill down in the information by clicking on dates or service line items. You can see monthly and quarterly amounts for the main service categories, for subgroups within the main categories, and for individual service items. Category totals and subtotals appear on gray backgrounds with bold headers to differentiate them from individual line items. You can also see the details of all of the results at once with a click.

You can export the report in Excel format to save, share, use in other applications, or print.

NOTE: This is an RB9-only function. It is not included in RB Lite.

TL;DR: This interactive report summarizes a client’s billed activity, broken down by service item. Compare totals by period to track your most important customers.

RB concepts in this lesson

Bill To Firm: Firm responsible for paying the invoice for a job.

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately.

Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with.

Job: Usually the reporting of a deposition but can also be any kind of service you provide with your reporters or other resources. More >

Parent Firm: Headquarters of a multi-branch corporation.

Resource: Person or thing that provides your business with a service.

Sold To Firm: Firm responsible for a job with your company.

Lesson #39

Inquiry – Client Activity function

Look up a single client’s invoices using filters to focus your search so you can, for example search the client’s invoices by case to come up with a settlement amount for a particular case in seconds, no matter how long the case has been going on.

And if the client requests a copy of all the invoices for that case you can email them all of those invoices as a single PDF file with the click of a button.

Finding invoices

You can find invoices for a firm that scheduled the jobs billed or the firm responsible for paying the invoices (since they are not always the same firm). You can find invoices for a firm’s parent company — not just the individual firm if they are part of a larger organization. You can find invoices for all of the contacts at the firm, or a specific contact.

You can further refine your results by filtering for the date or date range of the invoice(s), the job(s), or when the invoice(s) posted in RB. You can find a firm’s invoices for all jobs or a single case. And you can find firms invoices billed by all, some, or a single business unit of your company.

The search results include all of the search categories (except the post date) plus invoice number and amount, balance, payment date, job number, and date voided. You can sort your results in the grid by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function RB will revert back to the default order).

You can export the results to save, share, use in other applications, or print as a report.

Email multiple invoices as single PDF

You can view all invoices or only paid or unpaid invoices — which is handy when you are looking for a client’s outstanding invoices. If viewing unpaid invoices you can email a single PDF of the invoices with “Past Due” automatically stamped on them.

If you don’t use any of the search filters RB will list all of the selected client’s financial activity with your company.

If you don’t want to send all the invoices listed in your search results you can select only the ones you want to include in the compiled PDF. You can also include other attachments with the email if desired. When you send invoices from Client Activity RB logs the event in the invoice’s Notes Log.

You can view any invoice’s details from the search results and see the same level of detail as in Invoice Inquiry.

Embedded in Aged A/R report

While you can access Client Activity from the main menu in RB, you can also access individual client’s activity directly from the interactive Aged A/R report in Receivables — saving you time when working on collections or just looking for answers about the client’s outstanding invoice amounts displayed in the Aged A/R report.

TL;DR: One use of Client Activity is to generate a settlement amount for a particular case in seconds — no matter how long the case has been going on. Plus you can send the client a single PDF of their related invoices. 

RB concepts in this lesson

Bill To Firm: Firm responsible for paying the invoice for a job.

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately.

Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with.

Job: Usually the reporting of a deposition — but can also be any kind of service you provide with your reporters or other resources. More >

Notes Log: Un-editable internal-use only notes entered either by a user or automatically by RB appear in chronological logs in the database record where they occurred — such as a case, job, invoice, or entity. More >

Parent Firm: Headquarters of a multi-branch corporation.

Sold To Firm: Firm responsible for a job with your company.

Lesson #38

Inquiry – Invoice Inquiry function

Search for posted invoices using a variety of criteria, such as invoice number, type, amount(s) and/or date(s). Find invoices for a particular job, location, case, claim number and/or client matter number. Limit your search to open or paid invoices. Send original or current invoices to clients. Export or print the results as a report. Get detailed information about the invoices including payment history.

Quickest way to find invoices

Invoice Inquiry will usually be the best function for finding invoices when you don’t have the invoice number because it has the most search filters. You can search for invoices using any one or combination of these filters:

• Invoice number
• Invoice date, job date, or invoice-posted date
• Date range
• Job number
• Open invoices, paid invoices, or both
• Case
• Claim number
• Client matter number
• Invoice total $ amount range
• Client’s reference number
• Resource’s reference number
• Type of invoice — such as its source, purpose, or function
• Job location city and/or state
• Business units

Invoice Inquiry lists posted invoices based on your set of search criteria as an exportable/printable report. The report includes information from the search categories as well as the amount outstanding, void date, Bill To client, and Sold To client so you can see most information about an invoice at a glance.

Invoice Inquiry displays an invoice’s original amount plus 2 current balance amounts:

1. The outstanding amount of the original invoice minus any payments appears in the Balance column.
2. The current balance for the invoice including all fees added since the original invoice was issued — such as late charges and finance charges — and minus any payments already made appears in the Balance+ column.

The report also includes a Totals line. You can export the grid as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV(comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

Customize how you view posted invoice lists

The grid in which you view posted invoices is customizable to your individual preference:

• Re-arrange the columns so the most important information is most prominent.
• Stick up to 10 columns to the left side of the grid so they do not scroll when you have a results grid wider than your screen.
• Stretch/shrink columns to fit the results.
• Hide columns you don’t need to see.
• Choose which column(s) to sort results by.
• If you select more than one column, choose in what column order to sort the list.
• Choose whether to sort info by ascending or descending order in each selected column.
• Save your custom grid as your default.

You can save your custom grid as your default. Your customizations do not affect other users, and you can restore the original RB grid layout anytime.

View, re-send, & edit any invoice listed

You can view, send, and update individual invoices listed. For example if you didn’t get a party’s e-billing information until you posted the invoice, you can enter it here. You can see information about the witness, service items, and billed amounts. Plus you can see what the resource was paid and when. You can also view an invoice’s detailed receivables transactions — including late fees, finance charges, and credit card processing fees — as well as download the invoice from the repository and read the invoice’s Notes Log.

You can email or print out the invoice you are viewing. You can choose the original or the current invoice that includes any finance or late charges added since the invoice was originally issued. If emailing you can include other attachments from your desktop or RB’s Witness-level Repository plus edit the email contents before sending. If you choose the print option, you can preview the invoice with details on or off, export the invoice in a variety of formats plus search for a word or phrase in the onscreen invoice. RB will highlight all instances of your searched word/phrase in the invoice and list them in a scroll box along with the page number where they occur.

NOTE: Because COD invoices are different from regular invoices and cannot be posted until paid, they are not included in Invoice Inquiry searches. To find COD invoices, use Billing > COD Invoices.

TL;DR: Search for posted invoices using a wide variety of criteria. Export or print your results as a report. Get detailed information about the invoices including payment history.

RB concepts in this lesson

Bill To client: Client responsible for paying the invoice for a job.

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately.

Job: Usually the reporting of a deposition but can also be any kind of service you provide with your reporters or other resources. More >

Notes Log: Un-editable internal-use only notes entered either by a user or automatically by RB appear in a chronological log.

Repository: RB has 9 repositories where you store files for safekeeping and quick retrieval, including a dedicated invoice repository.

Resource: Person or thing that provides your business with a service.

Sold To client: Client responsible for a job with your company.

Lesson #36

Billing – Export Invoices function

If you have clients that require LEDES-compliant electronic billing, first set up your RB9 LEDES preferences for service items and invoices. Then enter your clients’ codes — such as their Client Matter No. and Client ID — on the case party, job party, or invoice level. When you generate invoices for the related jobs, they will have the proper UTBMS codes and you can export them in LEDES 98B format, which is the most commonly used LEDES format, and email the text file to the client.

After posting invoices, search for a particular firm’s invoices in Export Invoices. The default is invoices generated yesterday but you can choose any date range. You can also search for a firm’s invoices by post date instead of invoice date. Restrict your search results further by filtering for a single case and/or your company’s business units.

Invoices in the results gird display their information in all of the search categories plus:

• Invoice number
• Invoice amount
• Bill To contacts and firms (clients)
• Sold To clients
• Job number
• Job date

You can sort your results in the grid by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function, RB will revert back to the default order). Export the list as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

You can view any individual invoice’s details, edit some of its information, upload/download/email/manage its repository files, and make notes in its Notes Log.

Export any or all invoices listed in Export Invoices results in LEDES 1998B format to your device as a .txt file, which you can then validate and email to your client from your device.

NOTE: This is an RB9-only function. It is not included in RB Lite.

TL;DR: Export invoices in LEDES 98B format for clients who require electronic billing that complies with LEDES standards.

RB concepts in this lesson

Bill To Contact/Firm: The contact/firm responsible for paying the invoice for a job.

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately.

Job: Usually the reporting of a deposition, but can also be any kind of service you provide with your reporters or other resources, such as realtime, videoconferencing, or read & sign. More >

Notes Logs: Un-editable internal-use only notes entered either by a user or automatically by RB appear in chronological logs in the database record where they occurred — such as a case, job, invoice, or entity.

Service items: Regular charges that you bill to your clients. Service items are listed on your invoices to provide itemized details for your clients and third-party payers. In-house, they provide information to help you analyze your revenue streams.

Sold To Contact/Firm: Contact/Firm that ordered the services on the invoice.

Lesson #34

Billing – Send Invoices function

After posting invoices to your RB ledger, send clients copies of their invoices and archive the invoices in the central repository.

You can access the Send Invoices function either directly from the main menu or when posting invoices. When you post invoices, RB gives you the choice to send/archive the invoices at the same time which automatically opens the Send Invoices window with the posted invoice(s) in the results pane.

In Send Invoices you have a lot of options for finding posted invoices  — and more options for what you want to do with them. You can find the invoice(s) for a single job or use other search filters to find invoices for a date/date range, a case, a Bill To firm, one or more invoice types, and/or one or more business units in your company.

Invoices in the results gird display their information in all of the search categories plus :

• Invoice amount
• Balance
• Date sent
• Method used to send the invoice
• Bill To clients
• Sold To clients
• Void date

You can sort your results in the grid by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function, RB will revert back to the default order). Export the list as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

You can preview original and current versions of posted invoices with service items details visible or not. Then email either version to ordering clients or print them to send via traditional delivery methods. You do not have to choose which method to use for each client here. Contacts’ preferred method of receiving invoices — email, print, or none — is stored in their RB database entry. The Send Invoices function will automatically send invoices via each contacts’ preferred method, but you can override it for individual invoices when sending.

Emailing invoices

If you send invoices from RB9 via email and you have RB Connect, you can automatically include a Pay Invoice link in the invoice emails so when your clients click the link they will go directly to the invoice in their RB Connect office to pay the invoice online.

When emailing invoices you can attach files from your desktop or your RB Witness-level Repository.

If you email invoices, RB9 records the emails sent in the Email Log function in Tools, so you can refer back to them later. It also makes an entry that includes the receiver’s email address in the Notes Log of the sent invoices.

You can archive original invoices to the Invoice-level repository here. With all options — send, print, or archive — you can select any or all invoices to process at the same time.

TL;DR: Send clients copies of their original or current posted invoices and archive the invoices in the central repository.

RB concepts in this lesson

Bill To Contact/Firm: Contact/Firm responsible for paying the invoice for a job.

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately.

Notes Logs: Un-editable internal-use only notes entered either by a user or automatically by RB appear in chronological logs in the database record where they occurred, such as a case, job, invoice, or entity. More >

RB Connect: Online repository, calendar, and access to your office for clients and resources. More >

Repository: RB has 9 repositories where you store files for safekeeping and quick retrieval. When you store files in a case, they are in RB’s Case Repository; when you store files in a job, they are in RB’s Job Repository; etc. If you have RB Connect, you can give clients and/or resources access to specific repository files.

Service items: Regular charges that you bill to your clients.

Sold To Contact/Firm: Contact/Firm that ordered the services on the invoice.

Lesson #33

Billing – COD Invoices function

Cash on Delivery (COD) invoices require the Bill To Firm to pay the invoice when presented — instead of having a grace period before the invoice is due. COD invoices are not included in sales so RB does not allow them to be posted or archived to the central repository. CODs are handled differently than sales to avoid overstating revenue and to minimize the number of voids that would occur to clear uncollectible CODs from your accounts receivable.

You designate an invoice as COD when generating it in Turn In. If you have designated a firm as a COD client in the firm’s listing, their invoices will automatically be COD unless you turn off the COD designation in their invoices manually.

RB handles COD invoices separately

If after calculating an invoice in Turn In the Post Invoices button is grayed out, the invoice is a COD invoice. Use the COD Invoices function to manage and send these COD invoices.

Because COD invoices are different from regular invoices and cannot be posted until paid, they are not included in Send Invoices or Invoice Inquiry searches. To find COD invoices use the COD Invoices function.

In the COD Invoices main window you can find all COD invoices at once — or restrict your results to a particular date range, case, Bill To Firm, job number, or selected business unit(s). You can also look up individual COD invoices.

Invoices in the results gird display their information in all of the search categories — plus invoice amount, when sent, Bill To Contacts and Sold To clients, and job date. You can sort your results in the grid by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function RB will revert back to the default order). Export the list as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

From this list you can edit, calculate, preview, email, and print individual COD invoices.

Manage COD invoices

You can use this function in combination with other functions for applying payments, purging invoices, and sharing associated files online:

• When you receive a payment for a COD invoice, use this function to remove the invoice’s COD flag and post the invoice. Then apply the payment in Receivables. COD invoices will not appear in Receivables’ outstanding invoices until you post them here.
• Use this function to find COD invoices older than a set date — such as 90 days old — then delete them in Turn In. Do this on a monthly basis — or whatever schedule works best for your organization.
• In addition to emailing and printing COD invoices you can use COD invoices with RB Connect. Since COD invoices are not posted in RB they do not appear in clients’ RB Connect online offices unless you manually publish them to RB Connect. This is better than other COD payment methods because the client has to pay the COD invoice online first before they can download the associated transcript.

TL;DR: Because COD invoices are not treated as sales until paid use this function to manage and send COD invoices.

RB concepts in this lesson

Bill To Firm: The firm responsible for paying the invoice for a job.

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers — or any entity in your business that you want to track separately.

RB Connect: Online repository, calendar, and access to your office for clients and resources. More >

Sold To Contact/Firm: Person/company that ordered the services on the invoice.

Lesson #32

Billing – Post Invoices function

Instead of posting invoices one at a time in Turn In, you can save time by posting in batches in Post Invoices. You can also archive the invoices to your repository as you post them.

Finding & reviewing invoices

You can view all unposted invoices or restrict your list to invoices in a specific date range and/or for selected business units. You can include COD invoices in your search. You can also look up individual invoices by job or invoice number.

Invoices in the results are color coded by job status plus you can see at a glance if you didn’t calculate an invoice in Turn In in the unposted invoices list, then calculate it here with the click of a button before posting. You can preview invoices from the list. Other information in the results grid includes:

• Invoice number
• Invoice date
• Invoice and pay amounts
• If the invoice is for originals
• If the invoice is COD
• If the invoice needs calculation
• Date sent
• Job number
• Job date
• Job status
• Business unit
• Case
• Sold To firm and contact
• Bill To firm and contact

You can sort your results in the grid by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function RB will revert back to the default order). Export the list as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

Posting invoices

Post any or all invoices at the same time — and archive them in your repository in the same process if desired. When posting you have the option to send invoices to the clients at the same time. RB will automatically open the Send Invoices function with the posted invoices selected. You can choose to email the original or current invoices — or print them for sending via other methods.

To reduce errors you can turn on an RB option in System Preferences that will alert you when an invoice does not have a pay rate applied to it — or the total pay amount is 0 — and you attempt to post it.

Before posting, you can:

• Preview invoices. If you styled the text in invoice messages and third-party direct billing notes (such as bolding text or adding color), your styling will appear on the invoices.
• View any invoice’s details.
• Edit some invoice information, such as the date, message, and insurance/e-billing information.
• Upload/download/manage files in the invoice’s repository.
• Monitor repository activity. See which clients can access a file in the repository, who has downloaded it, and when.
• Look up and make notes in the invoice’s Notes Log.

After posting an invoice, it will appear in Receivables and RB financial reports. Once posted, an invoice cannot be deleted.

TL;DR: Save time by posting invoices in batches. You can archive and send them at the same time.

RB concepts in this lesson

Bill To Contact/Firm: The contact/firm responsible for paying the invoice for a job.

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately.

Notes Logs: Un-editable internal-use only notes entered either by a user or automatically by RB appear in chronological logs in the database record where they occurred such as a case, job, invoice, or entity.

Sold To Contact/Firm: Contact/Firm that ordered the services on the invoice.

Lesson #30

Production – Link Exhibits function

Instead of delivering a PDF transcript and its related exhibits as separate files, provide your client with a single PDF document with hyperlinked exhibits embedded inside the transcript. RB9 can automatically add hyperlinks in RB-PDF Transcripts to related exhibits so your clients can view exhibits in context by clicking the links in the transcript.

You can link exhibits to RB-PDF Transcripts as you create the transcripts or add them later in the separate Link Exhibits function. Link Exhibits also includes the ability to apply reporter and agency digital signatures (using the free ReporterBase Digital Signature Proxy) to finish the transcript.

When your clients open the PDF they can view/download any exhibit image by clicking a hyperlinked reference to it in the PDF. They do not have to maintain any additional files or file structure to access the exhibits.

Hyperlinks in RB-PDF Transcripts are called aliases and can be either words or phrases used to reference the exhibits. You set which words/phrases identify which exhibits and RB9 automatically inserts the hyperlinks into the transcript when it encounters those words/phrases.

Use naming conventions to speed the process

If you name exhibit files and transcript references according to a pattern — for example you name files EX01, EX02, etc., and transcript references Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2, etc. — you can save production time by setting up those patterns before producing hyperlinked transcripts so RB9 can link all exhibits at once to a transcript.

Link Exhibits includes a default list of commonly used exhibit file names with their transcript aliases which you can edit, delete, and add to, and you can have as many alias patterns as you want to cover all the ways you label exhibits and how they are referenced in transcripts. Exhibit file names and transcript references are case-sensitive so you should take that into account too when setting up alias patterns.

If a transcript has a unique alias pattern you can set it up in the transcript as a one-time thing on the fly when creating the PDF transcript following the same conventions as in Link Exhibits. You don’t have to learn another way or add links manually in another application. The pattern won’t be saved after the one use though.

Finding, linking, & monitoring transcripts

In the separate Link Exhibits function, you can search for RB-PDF Transcripts to automatically link exhibits in by job number, witness name, upload date/date range, and/or business unit.

The results list any RB-PDF Transcripts that match your search criteria. Each listing includes its information from the search categories (except business units) plus the job date, file name, file type, last exhibit marked, and case.

You can sort your results in the grid by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function RB9 will revert back to the default order). You can export the grid as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV(comma-separated values) file to save, share, print, or use in other applications.

While the results list all relevant RB-PDF Transcripts you can only link exhibits to transcripts that don’t already have linked exhibits. The already linked RB-PDF Transcripts are listed so you can monitor what has already been done plus you can download any file listed and view who else has downloaded the file and when.

When you select which alias pattern(s) you want to apply to a transcript RB9 will tell you if there are no matches in either file names or aliases in the text so you can make corrections as needed.

(The Link Exhibits function only works for RB-PDF Transcripts. Exhibits can also be hyperlinked to Transcript Packages in the Connect module following the same conventions.)

NOTE: This is an RB9-only function. It is not included in RB Lite.

TL;DR: Automatically add hyperlinks in RB-PDF Transcripts to related exhibits so your clients can view exhibits in context by clicking the links in the transcript.

RB concepts in this lesson

RB Connect: Online repository, calendar, and access to your office for clients and 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 >

RB-PDF Transcript: PDF version of a transcript with built-in transcript-specific features. More >

ReporterBase Digital Signature Proxy (RB-DSP): Apply reporters’ and your agency’s free digital signatures to RB-PDF Transcripts through the normal production process. More >

Transcript Package: Interactive transcript that includes related files, including video and PDF transcripts, and can be used by your clients through RB Connect on their computers or through RB Connect Mobile on their mobile devices. Users can highlight text, make notes, view hyperlinked exhibits and other files, and export the transcript in a variety of formats, including condensed or word list only. More >

Lesson #28

Production – PDF Transcripts function

Use the included PDF transcript creator to generate PDF transcripts (including condensed versions) that automatically include job and case information from your RB9 database. You can also:

• Customize the look of transcripts and create transcript profiles to match client, court, and other requirements.
• Attach original ASCII and AMICUS files automatically.
• Add word lists and word indexes, either as attachments, appended to the transcript or as separate files. Customize their appearance.
• Include a word index as PDF bookmarks for easy navigation.
• Hyperlink exhibits in the transcript.
• Apply your own stamps such as “original” or “certified copy.”
• Add custom cover pages. Create cover page templates for different clients or other purposes.
• Attach errata sheets. Create templates for different uses.
• Set security restrictions such as passwords and what actions users are allowed.
• Digitally sign transcripts with reporter and agency signatures.
• Generate PDF/A transcripts for archival purposes.
• Duplicate, rename, or delete PDF transcript files.

RB-PDF Transcripts are PDF versions of your reporters’ ASCII transcripts. As PDFs they retain the appearance of the original document and can be easily shared with others because PDF is a universal format.

What you can do

You generate RB-PDF Transcripts from “page image” ASCII files or any ASCII file which includes line numbers, page numbers, and page breaks — as generated by most CAT systems and word processing applications. While the transcripts mimic the look of the original ASCII transcript, you can apply a variety of customizations to satisfy client requests, court requirements, and other restrictions.

Set up different transcript profiles to cover different transcript requirements and save time when creating RB-PDF Transcripts by selecting a specific profile. You can override any of the preferences in a profile when creating individual transcripts.

You define the appearance and basic options of transcripts in transcript profiles with specifications for:

• Paper size including custom sizes
• Margins
• Border appearance: how many, thickness, location
• Line number treatments
• Text treatments including separate options for Q&A bolding)
• Attachments such as the original ASCII
• PDF format(including PDF/A for archival purposes

You can tailor header and footer content and appearance — including logos — in transcript profiles. Transcripts can automatically include job and case information — like the case name, job number, and witness name — in headers, footers, cover pages, and errata sheets.

If clients want condensed transcripts you can create  2- or 4-pages/sheet condensed transcripts which are exact replicas of full-sized transcripts but reduced in size so that 2 or 4 transcript pages fit on one sheet of paper. Like full-sized transcripts you can customize the look and options of condensed transcripts.

You can create and apply stamps to RB-PDF Transcripts without leaving RB9. Set up stamps that say “original” or “certified copy,” then when generating transcripts select and place stamps wherever you want in the document. You can apply stamps to full-sized and condensed transcripts as well as word lists and word indexes if you create them as separate documents. You can apply as many stamps to a document as you want.

You can have RB9 automatically add hyperlinks in RB-PDF Transcripts to related exhibits so your clients can view exhibits in context by clicking the links in the transcript. You designate which file name patterns link to which text patterns in the transcript (e.g., Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2, etc. in transcript refer to file names EX01, EX02, etc.) either by selecting these alias patterns from your default list (set in Link Exhibits Patterns) or entering linking patterns manually in the transcript. (You can also perform this task in the stand-alone Link Exhibits function.)

If desired you can set security restrictions to limit access to an RB-PDF Transcript. Set passwords and restrict certain features — such as printing, editing, copying, and commenting — on any transcript when finalizing it in RB9.

Apply reporters’ free digital signatures to RB-PDF Transcripts through ReporterBase Digital Signature Proxy (RB-DSP) which makes the production process easy while maintaining the reporters’ control of their own signatures. Your production staff clicks on the transcript where they want to apply a signature and RB9 automatically applies the correct signature. You can also create your agency’s digital signature in System Preferences, then apply it to transcripts the same way you apply reporters’ signatures.

If you require a different PDF format for archival reasons you can create RB-PDF Transcripts in PDF/A formats which include limited features.

You can duplicate, rename, or delete the PDF transcript RB automatically generated according to your preferences. If you select to have word lists, word indexes, and/or condensed transcripts generated as separate documents when the PDF transcript is created, you can also duplicate, rename, or delete any of them.

How it works

The RB-PDF Transcript creator is a separate function in RB9 but can also be accessed directly from jobs in Turn In. If you do not use RB Connect to have reporters turn in transcripts online, your production staff can access the PDF Transcript Creator from within Turn In as they add witnesses and upload ASCII files and exhibits so they can create RB-PDF Transcripts without going to a separate function.

In the separate PDF Transcripts function you can search for ASCII transcripts to turn into PDF transcripts by job number, job or upload date, witness name, and/or business unit.

Listing in the results include both ASCII transcripts and any RB-PDF Transcripts already created including condensed transcripts, word lists, and word indexes. Each listing includes its information from the search categories — except business units — plus the file name, number of pages in the transcript, file type, whether it has been published on RB Connect, who can access it, file description, ordering client, and case.

You can sort your results in the grid by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function, RB9 will revert back to the default order). From the results grid you can view and update details about any listed job, witness, or transcript, and export the grid as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV(comma-separated values) file to save, share, print, or use in other applications.

While the results list all related transcript files you can only create RB- PDF Transcripts from the ASCII files listed. The already created RB-PDF Transcripts are listed so you can monitor what has already been done plus you can download any file listed and view who else has downloaded the file and when.

The function works like a wizard app, paging you through the steps so you can easily and quickly produce transcripts without missing anything.

If you offer RB Connect you can also create interactive Transcript Packages in RB9, that are similar to RB-PDF Transcripts but designed to work in browsers and on mobile devices. With these bundles of an interactive transcript and attached files — such as exhibits and video — users can highlight and make notes on the transcript plus export it in various formats including RB-PDF Transcripts.

NOTE: This is an RB9-only function. It is not included in RB Lite.

TL;DR: Use the built-in PDF transcript creator to create PDF versions of transcripts (including condensed versions) with transcript-specific features, such as hyperlinked exhibits, digital signatures, word lists/indexes, and errata sheets, and that automatically include case and depo information.

RB concepts in this lesson

Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately.

RB Connect: Online repository, calendar, and access to your office for clients and resources. More >

ReporterBase Digital Signature Proxy (RB-DSP): Free digital signatures for reporters and agencies that agencies apply to RB-PDF Transcripts. Reporters retain control of their signatures while agencies are able to apply the signatures through their normal production process. More >

Transcript Package: Interactive transcript that includes related files, including video and PDF transcripts, and can be used by your clients through RB Connect on their computers or through RB Connect Mobile on their mobile devices. Users can highlight text, make notes, view hyperlinked exhibits and other files, and export the transcript in a variety of formats, including condensed or word list only. More >

Lesson #27

Production – Repository function

In RB you can store documents linked to a case, job, task, witness, invoice, firm, contact, location, resource, or all resources in their related repository.

In the Repository function you can:

• Search for files in a single repository or across all repositories.
• Search for files by name, file type(s), job/invoice/order/upload date(s), who uploaded the file, job/ invoice number, case, and/or related firm/contact/resource/location.
• Classify files for proper user access and availability.
• Download files for viewing, archiving, or emailing.
• View who has downloaded a file and when.
• Delete files you no longer need to store.
• Upload files to the All-Resource repository to share with your resources.
• Customize how the Repository results grid looks.
• Save your custom grid as your default. Your customizations do not affect other users and you can restore the original RB grid layout anytime.
• Export the list of repository files as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV(comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

Classify files

In the Repository function you can classify individual files for proper user access and availability. Set what types of users can access a file (office, client, resource, or some combination), in which functions the file will be accessible, what kind of file it is, and if access via RB Connect is permitted. If multiple files will have the same file type and/or RB Connect access, you can set them all at once.

Give resources access to same files

In addition to the Resource repository where files uploaded to individual resources’ repositories are stored, RB has an All-Resource repository for files you want to share with all resources. Instead of loading generic files — such as blank billing sheets, copy order forms, and instructions — to each individual resource’s repository or each job, you can upload the file(s) once to the common All-Resource repository for all resources to access.

If you want to include certain generic files with Assignment Notifications, upload the files to the All-Resource repository and set their file type so they will attach automatically to each Assignment Notification you send out, without having to upload each file to each job.

Customize how you view your Repository

The grid in which you view Repository listings is customizable to your individual preference. You can:

• Re-arrange the order of the columns so you can have the information most important to you in the most prominent place.
• Designate up to 10 columns as “sticky,” meaning they do not move when you scroll across a long grid so they are always visible.
• Stretch or shrink the width of columns to better fit the information presented.
• Hide any columns you don’t want to see in the results.
•  Choose which column(s) to sort results by. If you select more than one column, choose in what column order to sort the list and in ascending or descending order in each selected column.

When you have arranged your Repository the way you want it to look, you can save your layout so RB will display it this way each time you access it. You can always change or refine your layout, or return it to the default RB layout.

TL;DR: Manage files in the central repository.

RB concepts in this lesson

Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with — such as attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, legal assistants, claim adjusters, and court clerks.

Firm: Business you provide services to — usually law firms — but can also be other court reporting firms, vendors, insurance companies, corporate clients, and courts.

Job: Usually the reporting of a deposition but can also be any kind of service you provide with your reporters or other resources. More >

Location: Place where jobs occur — such as court rooms, hospitals, schools, doctors’ offices, or private residences.

Resource: Person or thing that provides your business with a service — such as reporters, videographers, interpreters, scopists, 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 >