Tag Archives: RB Connect

Lesson #147

Connect – Connect Preferences function

RB Connect comes with default settings for the overall system and its different functions. Some cannot be altered, but generally you can customize RB Connect to fit your company by editing, adding, and deleting options. Connect Preferences is where you set options for difference features in your RB Connect. Preferences can be updated at any time.

If you have the RB Connect Mobile plug-in (which gives clients and resources access to your RB Connect on their smartphones and tablets in an interface optimized for mobile devices), preferences set here will also apply to your RB Connect Mobile.

What you can do in Connect Preferences:

• Customize the contents, look, and feel of your RB Connect.
• Set up systemwide defaults and function defaults.
• Turn access to different functions on or off.
• Customize emails to users from various functions.
• Set up online calendars and payment processing.
• Designate staff to handle various activities.
• Set options and restrictions for various activities.
• Look up and update your RB Connect information. (Not all information is editable, such as your site URLs.)

Connect Preferences sections

• Basics (both sides of your RB Connect)
• Contact side
• Resource side

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

TL;DR: Customize the experience for contacts and resources by setting RB Connect function preferences.

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.

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 >

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.

Lesson #146

Connect – Support Tickets function

Your clients and resources can get help and support within RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile (RBCM). They can look up information in the online user guide or they can contact you via support tickets to ask questions and get assistance, then track the resolution of their issues.

Manage RB Connect users’ questions and problems, and maintain a paper trail of their resolution in the Support Tickets function. You can provide support tickets to everyone who uses your RB Connect — or only your contacts or only your resources. You can also choose not to use support tickets at all and have your clients and resources rely on other methods such as phone calls, texts, and email to contact you about issues.

Set up your support tickets

To use support tickets in RB Connect/RBCM, first turn on access for your contacts and/or resources in Connect Preferences. Then set what your email responses to support requests say. You can set up different email responses for contacts and resources. You can make the email a generic alert that there is a response to their ticket in RB Connect; or include response information in the email.

You can insert RB9 data fields into the Subject and Message fields of the email so your responses automatically include relevant information. For example, you can include the data field that will insert the text of the latest reply so the user does not have to go to RB Connect to see your reply.

Designate who on your staff will be alerted when a support ticket comes in. The staff you list can use the Support Ticket function whenever they are alerted to a ticket or as fits their work process to handle support requests received online.

Managing support tickets

The default view in the Support Tickets function lists all requests awaiting your response from the most recent to the oldest. Each listing includes:

• Ticket number
• Current status
• Who initiated the ticket
• Subject line of the ticket
• When it was issued
• When it was last updated
• Any rating from the user

You can sort the list by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function, RB9 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 also view the list by:

• Client or resource tickets only.
• Tickets you are waiting for the user’s response to, tickets the user has closed and rated your response, and/or tickets you have resolved/closed (in addition to the default view of tickets awaiting your response).
• Tickets initiated during a specific date or date range.
• Tickets from a single firm, contact, or resource.

Click the hyperlinked ticket number of any ticket to read the message, view the message thread, and follow up. When you send your reply, the support ticket’s status automatically changes to Pending Customer Response, leaving it open while waiting for the user’s response unless you choose to close the ticket. If you close the ticket, you can include an explanation in your follow-up comment that is sent to the user.

When you reply — whether you are furthering the conversation or closing the ticket — RB9 updates the user’s support ticket log in their RB Connect and records your reply in the ticket’s thread so you have a paper trail.

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

TL;DR: Manage RB Connect/RB Connect Mobile users’ questions and problems, and keep a paper trail of their resolution. 

RB concepts in this lesson

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

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 >

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

Lesson #145

Connect – Activity Log function

RB9 tracks activities by contacts and resources on RB Connect. This interactive report lists firms and their contacts or your resources who use your RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile (RBCM), and how often they access your RB Connect site during a specified period.

Monitor user activity

Activity Log defaults to listing all of the firms whose contacts accessed your main RB Connect site during the current month to date. The results show the number of times each firm’s contacts accessed your site during the month, with additional columns for the current year and a grand total column. At the bottom of the list is a grand total row for how many times all of your clients accessed your RB Connect during the month.

You can click any firm name in the report to have it expand to list all of the firm’s contacts who accessed your site through either RB Connect or RBCM. And you can export the results as an Excel spreadsheet to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

You can change the Activity Log’s search criteria to view resource-side activity instead. You can also change the date range you want to view activity for. If you choose a longer date range, the initial results will be the year’s total, and you can drill down to see the month-by-month breakdown. If desired, you can have the interactive report break down the results by year, quarter, and month instead.

If you have additional RB Connect sites, you can view the same activity breakdowns for each of those sites.

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

TL;DR: See who is using your RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile and how often they access it.

RB concepts in this lesson

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

Firm: Company you do business with.

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 >

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

Lesson #144

Connect – Approve Time-Off function

If you allow it, resources can submit time-off requests through RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile (RBCM). Requests can be for any time frame, from a few hours for a doctor’s appointment, to a personal day, a long vacation, or a semester of classes that repeat at a specific time for a set period. Resources can provide all the details needed for you to make a decision in their requests. Use the Approve Time-Off function to manage these requests.

Give resources access to the Availability function in RB Connect; then set preferences for how soon in advance resources must make their requests, what your email responses to requests say, and who on your staff will be alerted when a time-off request comes in. The staff you list here can use this function whenever they are alerted to a request or as fits their work process to view and approve or deny time-off requests received online.

Manage online time-off requests

The default view is all outstanding requests, so you can quickly get to work resolving time-off requests. You can restrict the results to see requests pending from a single resource, and/or requests for a specific time period. You can also view requests with other statuses: Approved, Cancelled (by resource), and/or Denied.

The results list all requests that fit your search criteria. Each listing includes the resource’s name, the type of request, its current status, the date(s) and times the resource is requesting, the resource’s reason for the request and any further explanation, when the request was made, and who last acted on the request and at what time. 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 results as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, share, print, or use in other applications.

To grant a resource’s request, you click the resource’s hyperlinked name, then Approve. If there is a schedule conflict —you tried to approve a resource’s time-off request for a time when the resource has already been assigned a task — a warning window appears and RB9 does not allow you to approve the request. If no warning appears, the request is approved, RB9 updates the request’s status, and notifies the resource via email and in their RB Connect Availability window’s Time-Off panel.

If you select Deny instead — to turn down the resource’s request —RB9 requires you to enter a comment/explanation before you can complete the denial. Then RB9 updates the request’s status, and notifies the resource via email and in RB Connect.

The Approve Time-Off function is limited to viewing, approving, and denying time-off requests made through RB Connect/RBCM only. If you need to make any changes to a time-off schedule or want to manage/monitor all time-off requests, use Resource Availability. You can view any resource’s schedule and planned time off, and change their schedule — adding or reducing hours of availability and time off.

If you have RB Connect and allow resources to use it to request time off, Approve Time-Off is a faster way to approve/deny requests than Resource Availability because the resource has already entered all of the request details, plus RB9 will notify you as soon as a request is made.

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

TL;DR: When resources request time off through RB Connect or RB Connect Mobile, approve or deny their requests and have RB9 automatically notify them of their status through email and RB Connect/RBCM.

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 >

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

Lesson #143

Connect – Create Full-Text Search function

If you add the Full-Text Search plug-in to your RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile, your clients can search for specific text in their repositories and Transcript Packages, and get results in seconds. When they locate the right file in their repository, they can download it. When they find Transcript Packages that include the text, they can go directly to the first instance of the text in a transcript and click through to all subsequent instances.

Before your clients can use Full-Text Search in their RB Connect repositories, you must index the files. Use the Create Full-Text Search function to index files that contacts can search for specific words in their repositories. (The Full-Text Search plug-in gives the same functionality to Transcript Packages automatically — no need to set up an index first.)

You can index files from any or all client-related repositories (case, job, invoice, or witness). You can index most text-based files, with the exception of some proprietary file formats. Full-text indexes you create automatically upload to your repository.

You choose which files to index. We do not recommend indexing all files because the monthly charge for the Full-Text Search plug-in is based on the storage space used by the indexes. You can also delete old indexes in this function to manage your storage space usage.

Selecting files to index

To find files to index, you can leave the defaults selected of all repositories, all file types, and all cases, then enter a date/date range of when the files were uploaded to search. Or refine your search results by selecting:

• A single repository
• A single case
• One or more file types
• A file name or partial name
• A job or invoice number
• A different type of date range — either the job date or invoice date associated with the file(s)

Files that fit your search criteria will appear in the results along with:

• The repository they are stored in
• Their file type
• File size
• What type of user can access the file (files must have Contact access for your clients to see them)
• Whether they have been published to RB Connect (files must be published for your clients to access them),
• When they were uploaded and who uploaded them
• Whether they have already been indexed

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 results as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

Select the files in the results that you want to be text-searchable and create the index. If there are any problems, RB9 will stop the process and direct you to fix them. For example, if you selected an unpublished file, it will direct you to publish the file before attempting to index it. Or if a file contains no text to index, it will alert you so you can remove it from your indexing selections.

Managing indexes & files

You can update and publish files without leaving this function.

Click a file’s hyperlinked file name to:

• View its details
• Change its File Type
• Change its Access Type to include contacts
• Publish or un-publish it
• Make notes about the file
• Download the file
• View who has previously downloaded the file and when
• Delete the file from your central repository

After indexing files, a checkmark appears in each indexed file’s Full-Text Search column in the Create Full-Text Search results screen. When you no longer need a file indexed — for example a case was closed or a client is no longer active — you can de-index it to remove its Full-Text Search mark from the results screen and save on storage space.

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

TL;DR: Index client repository files so they can quickly search their repositories by content in the Full-Text Search plug-in.

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.

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. Requires RB Connect. More >

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 >

Transcript Package: Bundle containing interactive transcripts with all of their related files to be viewed in a browser through RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile. More >

Lesson #142

Connect – Transcript Packages function

Bundle transcripts with hyperlinked exhibits, video, PDF transcripts, and other related files, so your clients can view, highlight, and comment on transcripts and bundled files in browsers and on mobile devices. Your clients can also export different versions of the transcript and download the associated files.

RB9’s Transcript Packages are interactive transcripts clients can view in RB Connect in web browsers and RB Connect Mobile (RBCM) on mobile devices. Users can download/view attached files, view streaming video, comment on transcripts and exhibits, highlight text, and export transcripts in a variety of formats, including their highlights and comments.

The Transcript Packages function is included free in RB9, but requires RB Connect for your clients to use it. Transcript Packages are readable in RB Connect on desktop computers and laptops. If you add RBCM to your system, your clients can easily work with their Transcript Packages in an environment designed for the smaller screens of iPhones or other mobile devices — no pinching and zooming to read and interact with their transcripts.

Producing interactive transcripts vs PDF transcripts

If you already provide RB-PDF Transcripts to your clients, your production staff will find the process of creating Transcript Packages familiar yet faster. For example, Transcript Packages, like RB-PDF Transcripts, are created using the original ASCII file. And the linking process is exactly the same as exhibit linking in RB9’s PDF Transcript Creator.

Where it saves staff time is that they do not have to customize the appearance of transcripts. If your clients want their transcripts to look a certain way, your clients choose customization options when exporting files from Transcript Packages in a browser or on their mobile devices.

Like RB-PDF Transcripts, your production staff can preview Transcript Packages before releasing them. Then they notify clients automatically via email when their packages are available.

Unlike PDF transcripts, there is no physical file to deliver, and your clients do not need a third-party application like Adobe Acrobat to read and work with their transcripts. Your staff cannot apply digital signatures or transcript stamps to Transcript Packages, but they do offer end users export options for PDF, condensed PDF, Amicus-formatted ASCII, word lists, word indexes, highlights, and notes.

Assembling transcript packages

You can assemble a Transcript Package after uploading an ASCII transcript to a witness repository in RB9 and publishing it to RB Connect. (If you don’t want to make the ASCII file available to your client before you create the Transcript Package, you can wait to publish the ASCII until you have created the package and are ready to notify the client.)

To create a Transcript Package, use the search criteria in the Transcript Package function to find the right ASCII file. You can search by job number, job date or date range, witness name, and/or one/some/all of your business units.

In the returned results, files are listed by job number, job date, witness name, file name, case, and date the ASCII file was uploaded. 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). Export the list as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

Any Transcript Packages that were already created and fit your search criteria are also listed along with who created them and when. You can easily tell which is which because ASCII files are indicated by a radio button. Finished Transcript Packages do not have a button; instead the file name is hyperlinked to the package so you can manage the attached files, preview the package, and send the client a notice that the package is ready and waiting on their RB Connect.

When you create a Transcript Package, any exhibits, video, and other files that were uploaded to the related job’s witness repository are available to bundle with the interactive transcript. You choose which ones to include, and like the returned results list, you can export any of these sub-lists as Excel spreadsheets or CSV (comma-separated values) files to save, print, share, or use in other applications.

When you create a package that includes exhibits, you can have RB9 automatically add hyperlinks to the exhibits in the transcript the same way you link exhibits in RB-PDF Transcripts.

After generating the package, you can preview it to check for errors and missing attachments, and that any attached video streams correctly before sending an email notification to alert the client. The Transcript Package preview screen is the same as the Transcript Packages screen in RB Connect/RBCM (minus the ability to make or export highlights and comments), so you can be confident about sharing the final product.

Sharing transcript packages

Before sharing Transcript Packages with clients, customize your Connect preferences:

• Turn on Transcript Packages accessibility so your clients can see uploaded Transcript Packages.
• Select one of your RB-PDF Transcript templates as the default for your clients’ export specifications. Your clients cannot select a different template, but they can change some of the specs, including margins, borders, font, Q&A styling, timestamp location, and PDF format (regular PDF or one of the more restrictive PDF/A formats for archiving purposes), when exporting a transcript.
• Customize the contents and appearance of the email notifying clients that a package is available. You can edit the default contents and style the appearance of the body of the email with text formatting, images, color, hyperlinks, and tables.
• Insert contextual data fields into the email subject and body so RB9 will automatically insert relevant data into Transcript Package notification emails. You can have RB9 include the file name, case name and number, job date and number, and witness in the subject and body of emails, plus you can have the direct URL for the Transcript Package inserted into the email body so your clients only have to click the link to go directly to their package, instead of having to search for it in their RB Connect.

If you set the ASCII file to publish before creating the Transcript Package, the package will be automatically available on RB Connect for the client to work with as soon as you create it. If you didn’t set the ASCII to publish beforehand, RB9 will remind you when you attempt to send the notification email alerting the client to its availability on their RB Connect. Once you publish the ASCII file, RB9 will publish the Transcript Package as well and you can alert the client.

When you send the notification email, RB9 records the email sent in the Email Log function in Tools, so you can refer back to it later.

Managing transcript packages

Other things you can do in the Transcript Packages function:

• Download the original ASCII file of any package.
• Search for text in a transcript.
• Skip directly to any page of a transcript.
• Export an AMICUS version of a transcript.
• Export PDF versions of the full-size transcript, condensed transcript, word index, or word list.
• Delete any Transcript Package you no longer need.

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

TL;DR: Create interactive transcripts clients can work with in RB Connect in web browsers and RB Connect Mobile on mobile devices. Bundle related exhibits, videos, and other files with the transcripts, then automatically upload the packages and notify clients. 

RB concepts in this lesson

RB Connect: 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 Connect is an optional plug-in to RB9. More >

RB Connect Mobile: Clients and resources can access your RB Connect on their smartphones and tablets in an interface optimized for mobile devices. RB Connect Mobile is an optional plug-in to RB Connect. More >

RB-PDF Transcript: PDF version of a transcript with built-in transcript-specific features like hyperlinked exhibits, word lists/indexes, errata sheets, and enhanced headers/footers containing case and depo information from your RB9 database. It can be branded and customized extensively to match client requirements; and can include digital signatures, condensed transcripts, security restrictions, stamps, and archival formats for the courts. 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 >

Lesson #141

Connect – Fulfill Points Redemption Orders function

If you reward clients with points for booking depos with you and you have RB Connect, you can let them access their points online and send you requests to redeem points.

In RB9, award points are used to encourage clients to book with your agency by rewarding them with points for different services. Similar to frequent flyer programs, the RB9 reward points system is an optional service you can enable.

Before setting up reward points in RB9, check what your local laws and regulations allow and what you must provide participants with, such as terms and conditions and any legal agreements you must obtain before you enroll a client in your reward program. Some states do not allow these programs for court reporting firms, and OMTI makes no guarantees or assurances about these programs.

When setting up your reward points program, you choose:

• Which services earn points.
• What points can be redeemed for (such as cash or gift cards).
• Who on your staff manages the program (and gets alerted when a request is made).
• Which clients receive points.
• Which clients can access their points through RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile (RBCM).

View requests & redeem points

Use the Fulfill Points Redemption Orders function to grant requests clients make through RB Connect/RBCM for award point redemptions, plus look up previously redeemed point requests.

Fulfill Points Redemption Orders lists all outstanding redemption requests by default. Each request displays:

• Date and time a redemption was requested.
• Firm and contact making the request.
• Type of redemption requested.
• Number of points to redeem.
• Where the prize should be sent (office, home, or an address entered manually).
• Any additional instructions or remarks the client included.

You can sort the list by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function, RB9 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 also view a single contact or a single firm’s outstanding requests.

When you fulfill a request, you can add your own notes about the redemption. When you complete the fulfillment acknowledgement, the request disappears from the list, and your client’s RB Connect/RBCM display their request as completed so they know they can expect a delivery. RB9 also updates the current points available and the spent points balances in the contact’s listing.

View the point redemption histories

You can view previous point redemption activity for a range of dates for all clients or a single firm or contact. The default lists all redemption requests fulfilled today and includes the same information as the outstanding requests list, plus any notes you made about the redemption, the date and time the request was fulfilled, and who on your staff handled the request. Like the outstanding requests list, you can export the list to save, share, print, or use in other applications.

You can also view the list for a different date range, by the date requests were submitted instead of when they were fulfilled, and narrow the results listed to a single firm or contact.

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

TL;DR: Grant requests clients make through RB Connect/RB Connect Mobile for award point redemptions, plus look up previously redeemed point requests.

RB concepts in this lesson

Award Points: Used to encourage clients to book with your agency by rewarding them with points for different services.

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

Firm: Company you do business with.

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 >

Lesson #140

Connect – Publish COD Invoices function

If you allow clients to make payments via RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile (RBCM), your COD clients can also use them to pay invoices before downloading transcripts online and on smartphones and other mobile devices.

CODs are handled differently

COD (Cash on Delivery) clients are handled differently from other clients. Traditionally COD invoices require the client to pay the invoice when presented, typically along with the items listed on the invoice. Often agencies have difficulty getting paid by COD clients because they are not regular clients. By offering COD clients the option to pay online or mobily, you guarantee you get paid before they can access the transcript, and they can get their transcripts as soon as the transcripts are ready.

Because RB does not regard COD invoices as sales, they are not posted. (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.) Since COD invoices are not posted, as a default they do not appear in RB Connect/RBCM. Use the Publish COD Invoices function to allow clients to pay for and download transcripts that were billed COD.

Manually publish CODs online

To give clients the ability to pay for COD invoices online, you manually publish them to RB Connect in the Publish COD Invoices function. (When you publish an invoice to RB Connect, it will also appear in the client’s RBCM if you offer that service.) The default view shows all outstanding COD invoices. (Invoices are designated as COD in Turn In.) For any invoice listed, you can see at a glance the invoice date and amount, if it has already been published to RB Connect, when the invoice was sent to the client, the Bill To and Sold To clients, the job number and date, case name, and your assigned business unit.

You can narrow the list to invoices generated within a range of dates, a single invoice number, job number, case, Bill To firm, and/or one or more of your business units. You can sort the list 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 the list you can choose which invoices to publish to RB Connect. You can also select invoices that have already been published and unpublish them so that they no longer appear in clients’ RB Connect/RBCM.

Set up for online payment first

Before your clients can pay invoices online in RB9, you must set up a business/merchant account with PayPal or one of the other accepted online payment processing services, then enter your credentials in Connect Preferences.

The default setting for RB Connect is no online payments. If you want to offer online payment of invoices, including COD invoices, through RB Connect, you must first set up an account with one of these services:

• PayPal
• Authorize.net
• First Data (Payeezy)
• Square
• Stripe

PayPal is easy to set up and integrate with RB9, and is a good choice if your clients have their own PayPal accounts. The other options are payment gateways; their benefit is that your clients do not have to have accounts with them to make payments through them.

In addition to setting up a merchant account and entering your credentials into RB9, you must choose which users are alerted in RB9 when a contact makes a payment online. You can also customize the email subject and message for payment receipt notices to clients.

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

TL;DR: Because CODs are handled differently from sales, you must manually publish COD invoices to RB Connect so COD clients can pay online, then immediately download their transcripts.

RB concepts in this lesson

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

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.

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: 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 >

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

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

Users: You and your staff who directly access RB.

Lesson #139

Connect – Transcript Ordered function

If you allow your clients to order transcripts through RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile (RBCM), the Transcript Ordered function is where you confirm, process, and monitor the progress of those back orders.

Clients can request transcripts on previously billed jobs in RB Connect/RBCM’s Order Transcript function. You confirm the back orders and process them through RB9. Clients can track confirmed requests in RB Connect/RBCM. And you can monitor the current status and view order details in the Transcript Ordered function.

Customize the function

Before using the Transcript Ordered function, designate which staff members will be alerted when a back order request is received.

You can also customize the transcript order request form with your own fields for clients to use to provide instructions, such as turnaround time, delivery options, and other directions that will minimize the need for any client back-and-forth while fulfilling back orders.

You can update your choices and customizations at any time.

View new back order requests

When someone back orders a transcript through RB Connect/RBCM, RB9 sends a pop-up message to the screen of all RB9 users you designated during setup. Alerted users can click through the message directly to the order in the Transcript Ordered function to confirm the order and start the production process.

If you prefer to batch process orders, or just want to check that you haven’t overlooked anything, you can use the Transcript Ordered function’s default view to see all unconfirmed transcript requests sent by clients through RB Connect/RBCM.

The default lists shows each request’s order date and time, the contact ordering the transcript and their firm, plus the witness, case, job number, and job date. You can sort the list 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 details about any requested transcript’s associated job and previous invoice, along with client instructions for the back order. You confirm the back order job in this function by changing the job’s status to back order and generating a report that provides your staff with the information they need to process the order. You can export the report in a variety of formats, such as PDF or Excel, or print it to distribute to your staff.

Process & monitor back orders

Processing the order involves creating a task in the job for the transcript and assigning it to a resource (the task window lists previous resources associated with the case to help you select the appropriate resource), then notifying them about the assignment. As the order is produced and shipped, you update its status in the job.

On the client side in RB Connect, after they submitted a request, the job’s Request Order option disappears so they cannot accidentally back order more than one transcript for the job. They can review the details of their transcript order and monitor its progress.

You can also monitor a back order’s current status and view details using the Transcript Ordered function. You can search active back orders for a particular date range, a single order, a single job, a firm, and/or one or more of your business units.

In addition to the information listed above for unconfirmed requests, the results include who on your staff confirmed each request and when. From the results returned, you can view any transcript’s current status and order details.

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

TL;DR: Confirm, process, and monitor transcript back orders clients make through RB Connect and RB Connect Mobile.

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.

Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with, such as attorneys.

Firm: Company 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 >

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 >

Task: Service requested with a job, such as reporting, interpreting, or video, that require a separate resource (person, company, thing) to accomplish. Work performed in-house (such as creating condensed transcripts or shipping out finished products) is usually not considered a task in RB. More >

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 >