Lesson #108
Entities – Resources function
Resources provide your business with a service or support. For example reporters, videographers, interpreters, transcriptionists, scopists, and account executives (sales reps) are resources. Basically any independent contractors you hire are resources in RB.
Resources do not have to be individuals. They can also be other reporting agencies that cover jobs for your firm, or your conference rooms. You add your conference rooms to RB as resources so that you can schedule them like you do reporters and other resources.
Maintain a deep database of all of these assets in RB in the Resource function. If there is something you want to remember about a resource — whether it’s contact info, financial history, professional details, availability, or anything else — chances are there is a slot for it in their RB profile.
Add resources to your database
You can enter resources from scratch in this function, import them from other applications, or add them on the fly during turn-in. If you have an existing database of resources in another application you can import the data into RB from an Excel spreadsheet in the Bulk Import function.
Before entering a resource into RB check to see if they are already there to avoid duplicate entries. RB does not prevent you from adding multiple instances of the same resource. If there are duplicate entries, you can merge them, however not all data will carry over from the resource that is being merged. The only information that will be saved from the merged entry is from the Notification Email, Tags, Specialties, Certifications, Repository, and Notes Log panes, and their assignment availability.
Search for resources
To find resources in your RB database you can use the search criteria, singly or in combination:
- Full Name, First Name, Last Name, or a/k/a (their preferred nickname or business name if they are independent contractors)
- City
- State (single, several, or all)
- Zip code
- Resource Type (single, several, or all)
- Specialty (single, several, or all)
- Priority Level (single, several, or all)
- Pay Rate Group (single, several, or all)
- Tag
- Active resources only or all
- Email address
- Resource number
- Mobile phone number
Each listing displayed in the results shows all of this info except any specialties or tags, and includes the resource’s street address, zip code, main phone number, and any warnings about the resource.
Customize how you view resource listings
The grid in which you view resource listings 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.
From the Resource results grid, you can view and update any listed resource’s details, add new resources, and export the grid as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV(comma-separated values) file to save, share, print, or use in other applications.
Basic resource information
Whether you are viewing an existing resource listing or adding a new resource, the detail window is broken up into a series of panes that contain related fields. The first pane, General, contains contact information, other basic information, and any warnings.
With 25 fields and options in the General information pane alone, it might seem overwhelming to enter resources into RB. However when entering a new resource, the only required information is their full name. We recommend when entering individuals’ names that instead of entering the name in the Full Name field, you enter names in the separate first and last name fields, then select which order you want the names (first name first, or last name, then first) to appear in the Full Name field. This way you can use the First Name/Last Name filters when searching for resources in the main Resources window.
You can save time entering resources’ full names by setting up Autofill in System Preferences. You select which name parts are included (first name, last name, salutation, middle initial) and in what order. RB will automatically fill out the Full Name field for you as you enter the individual name fields.
You can also enter resources’ nicknames or business names if they are independent contractors in the a/k/a field. This information will appear in parenthesis after the resources’ full names in fields and lists.
We also recommend entering resources’ email addresses so you can email resources directly from within RB. And we recommend designating the Resource Type so when assigning tasks, you assign reporters to reporting tasks, interpreters to interpreting tasks, etc.
Other General information tips
After entering the resource’s street address or P.O. box number, skip the other fields and enter the zip code. RB will fill in the city, state, and country for you. If a resource has a different business address from their home address you can include both addresses in their listing.
If you have entered resource addresses you can view maps and directions to those addresses in RB. You can also add your own directions to the resource’s listing. Any instructions entered here will appear in the Directions field of a job if the job will be at the resource’s location.
If you have information about a resource that users should know when scheduling jobs enter those notes in the Warning field. They will appear when assigning resources to assist the user in assigning the correct resource.
If a resource is no longer active you can deactivate their listing instead of deleting it so you retain all of your historical data about the resource but they will no longer appear as available for assignments anymore.
Additional information
In the Additional pane you can enter dates related to the resource, such as date of birth (only month and day are required) and date of employment, and credentials for RB Connect, ReporterBase Digital Signature Proxy (RB-DSP), and Certified Shorthand Reporters.
Your resources’ RB Connect login names and passwords are stored here. Resources can reset their password any time in RB Connect and you can also reset their login name and password here. This is also where you can unlock their account if they tried to log in too many times with the incorrect credentials and RB Connect locked them out.
If you use RB-DSP to apply reporters’ digital signatures to RB-PDF Transcripts this is where you store their reporterbase.com credentials so you can use their digital signatures.
If you store resources’ Certified Shorthand Reporter certification numbers here you can include their certification on RB-PDF Transcripts by customizing transcript templates to include this number in headers or footers.
Pay information
Important pay information to include are the resource’s:
- Priority Level which gives you an order of preference when assigning tasks, such as staff and overflow.
- Pay Group which designates how often the resource is paid, e.g., weekly, monthly, bi-weekly.
Other info to enter here includes:
- Pay rate — if you pay the resource the same rate for all jobs, select that here instead of having to do it every time you bill a job they worked on.
- Federal tax ID number if this is a resource that you will issue 1099s for. You can also indicate that you will print their 1099s from within RB9.
- Number of days until you pay the resource for originals and copies. These default to your system-wide preferences, but you can change them here for a resource that you pay differently.
- Commission rates if you pay the resource commissions. If the resource is a reporter with their own clients, you can set different commissions for their clients’ jobs they work and for their clients’ jobs that other reporters cover.
- Resource’s banking information if you do direct deposit from RB9.
- Any recurring payments or deductions (for example, the resource is paying back an advance in installments).
You can set a resource as “do not pay,” if they are a conference room or an owner of your business who does not receive a paycheck, so they won’t appear in your pay process.
Work schedule
Resources’ availability for assignments is generated by the system using the work schedule set up for each resource. When assigning resources to tasks only resources who are available during the scheduled time will appear in the list of resources.
You can customize individual resources’ work schedules from the default schedule of Monday–Friday, 9am–6pm to match their actual availability. Setting an individual’s schedule is simple: You click and drag the beginning and end marks on each day-of-the-week to change the resource’s default availability for that day.
You can override resources’ availabilities manually to handle exceptions in other functions — for example if you want to assign a resource to a job outside their normal work hours, or to give a resource additional time off for a vacation, doctor’s appointment, or other exception. (Tasks and Resource Availability)
But wait, there’s more
Once you have a resource in RB, you can:
- Enter more information.
- Update existing information.
- View the resource’s financial & job trends.
- Merge resources if you find duplicates using RB’s Merge To sub-function to save some of the resource’s historical data from the duplicate listing.
You don’t have to go into the Resources function to update a resource. Most RB functions that include a Resource field allow you to directly access that resource’s listing to view and edit.
Also if you have multiple resources that you need to update the same information for, such as their commission rates or original and copy terms, you can use Bulk Update to change them all at once.
Additional panes in saved resource listings include:
Notification email
If a resource has more than one email address you can designate which one(s) should receive email notices from RB related to jobs they are involved with and which one(s) to use for payroll information.
Tags
If you use tags (keywords or phrases) to monitor and choose resources to bulk email or snail mail letters and packages you add tags to resource listings — either by keying in tags or selecting them from the tag list you made in Lists. Each resource can have an unlimited number of tags and you can delete tags from a resource when they no longer apply. (You can also use the Tag Manager to add or remove tags quickly from multiple resources at once.)
Specialties
If a resource has specific expertise add that specialty to their RB listing. Then when you have a task that requires that specialty, the resource will be included in the list of available resources so you can assign resources more accurately.
Certifications
If a resource has been certified for a particular skill/knowledge add that certification, when it was achieved, and if it is still active to their RB listing as reference for evaluating resources. You can also include certification expiration dates and set reminders so resources don’t let their certifications lapse.
Repository
Keep files related to a resource in their RB listing. When viewing the resource’s listing you can see information about uploaded files including their description in the Repository pane without having to click into each file’s details. You can upload, download, or delete files here, and update file information, such as which groups can access the file.
If you have RB Connect you can give resources access to specific files in their repository. You can also view the download history of each file in the repository, including when it was downloaded and by who.
Notes Log
The system enters some notes about resources automatically in their individual Notes Logs and you can also enter notes yourself about a resource in their Notes Log for internal purposes. An example of automatic Notes Log entries would be what changed when the resource’s information was updated using the Bulk Update tool.
When you add a note to the Notes Log you can include what type of note it is, how you communicated with the resource, details about what occurred, and if needed, designate who should follow up and set a date/time for a reminder to be sent to them via RB’s message system.
Export resource data for other uses
In these additional panes you can export the information as Excel spreadsheets or CSV(comma-separated values) files to save, share, print, or use in other applications.
View financial/job trends
In a resource’s Account Overview, highlights of their financial and job activity history, future projections, and trends are displayed visually. A table displays the resource’s total outstanding payables, upcoming tasks, and tasks not turned in yet. A line graph displays monthly earnings and a second line graph displays the resource’s assigned and canceled tasks.
The line graphs are interactive. Hovering over a point in a line on a graph displays that month’s total $ amount or number. The line graphs default to the resource’s trends over the last six months. You can also view the resource’s trends over a year or 2 years.
TL;DR: Maintain a deep database of your resources in RB including contact, pay, personal, and business/
RB concepts in this lesson
Job: Usually the reporting of a deposition. 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. More >
RB Connect: Online repository, calendar, and access to your office for clients and resources. More >
RB-PDF Transcript: Customizable PDF version of a transcript with built-in transcript-specific features like hyperlinked exhibits, word lists/indexes, errata sheets, and headers/footers containing case and depo information from your RB database. 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 >
Repository: Where you store files in RB for safekeeping and quick retrieval.
Task: Service requested with a job, such as reporting, interpreting, or video, that require a separate resource (person, company, thing) to accomplish. More >
