Tag Archives: Send Assignment Notifications/Cancellations

Notify resources of assignments & cancellations in batches

Save time notifying resources by emailing or texting a day’s worth of notifications at once …

Lesson #11
Calendar – Send Assignment Notifications/Cancellations function

Instead of notifying resources of assignments as soon as you enter them in RB, do a day’s worth all at the same time. This will save your time if you have a lot of notices to send on a daily basis. Or maybe you prefer to wait to notify resources until after setting all assignments.

(You can also notify resources of cancellations the same way, but most likely you will do those individually as they occur to let your resources know ASAP that their jobs have been canceled.)

Notifications are sent via email or text or both. You can also print out notifications to hand out or fax.

Automatic attachments

Assignment notification emails automatically include the reporter worksheet for the task. You can customize the default worksheet — for example you can add the scheduling client’s email address — and create additional ones in Form Templates.

Before sending notifications use System Preferences to customize the subject line, the message and whether the worksheet is included in the body of the email, as an attachment, or both. You can include any text you wish, embed contextual RB data fields such as job location and witness name, add images, and style the text with fonts, text treatments, sizes, and colors. You can also customize the subject line and contents of text messages with your own text and contextual data fields.

Emailed assignment notifications can automatically include other attachments such as the relevant job notice or a shared word list, or you can attach files individually as you are sending an email (but RB will not send files over 20MB). In addition to setting up which file types will be attached (in System Preferences) you can also designate which types of tasks will receive these automatic attachments (in Lists). For example you probably don’t need to send word lists to resources handling your conference room.

You can also automatically include an iCalendar file with emailed assignment notifications that the resource can import into their own calendar. You can customize its subject line and description.

You can do the same customizations for assignment cancellations with the exceptions of no file attachments beyond the notice and no iCalendar file.

Emailing notifications

In Send Assignment Notifications/Cancellations, you can email assignments by day scheduled or job date (if you assign jobs the day before they should occur). Cancellation confirmations are selected and sent by cancelled date. If desired, you can refine your notification list to:

  • A specific date or date range
  • A single job number
  • One or more job types
  • One or more tasks
  • One or more resource types
  • One or more business units

The notification list displays each job’s number, date, task, start time, status, witness, resource, notified date, acknowledged date, ordering client, business unit, job type, and job location. Canceled assignments results also list the date each job was canceled.

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.

When sending notifications you have the option to attach additional files from either your desktop or RB’s Job-level Repository.

RB records emails sent in the Email Log function in Tools (RB9 only), so you can refer back to them later.

TL;DR: Instead of notifying resources one at a time, save time by emailing or texting a day’s worth of notifications at once.

RB9 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, such as branch offices, other companies you own, affiliates, and profit-sharing operations.

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

Job Status: Stage a job is in, e.g., New or Cancelled.

Job Type: Categories of jobs requested by clients, such as Deposition or Real-Time.

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.

Resource Type: Profession (such as Scopist, Proofreader, or Interpreter) and other categories of resources.

Task: Service requested with a job, such as reporting, interpreting, or video, that require a separate resource (person, company, thing) to accomplish. More >

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Drag and drop to assign work quickly

In Quick Assignments you can quickly assign resources to tomorrow’s job and see if any of those jobs are not confirmed yet, so you can follow up with the client …

Lesson #9
Calendar – Quick Assignments function

If there are too many jobs or too many changes in a day to assign tasks one at a time within each job, save time by printing out your upcoming calendar, writing your resources on your calendar, then using Quick Assignments to:

  • Apply your assignments to your job calendar in RB9.
  • Send resources notifications of their assignments.

Even if you don’t have so many assignments but just prefer to assign all of a day’s resources at one time, use Quick Assignments after confirming tomorrow’s jobs to drag and drop resources to related tasks, or select someone from a list of resources that have previously worked on jobs for the same case.

You can also use Quick Assignments to easily enter assignments made on past jobs that you didn’t get a chance to enter into RB9 before the job occurred.

Assign then notify in one function

Quick Assignments defaults to tomorrow’s tasks when you open the function so you can immediately start assigning resources and checking who has already been assigned. You can change the date to view, narrow the list to one or more tasks and/or business unit (BU), and assign resources to a different date.

In addition to dragging and dropping resources, there are 2 shortcut methods: Previous resources and preferred resources.

As the name implies, previous resources are any resources that were assigned to tasks in jobs on the same case. You can assign a resource from a list of previous resources with a click instead of searching for a resource to drag and drop.

If you maintain preferred/blocked resources lists for firms and contacts you can view those lists in Quick Assignments, so you can:

  • Avoid attempting to assign a blocked resource.
  • Assign an ordering firm’s or ordering contact’s preferred resource to a task with a click.

Whether you select a previous resource/preferred resource from a list or drag and drop a resource to a task RB9 records it in the related job’s Notes Log and asks if you want to notify the resource. (If you try to assign a blocked resource to a task, RB will alert you and not allow the assignment.) You can send the notification by either email or text message or both without leaving the function, or you can wait to send all of the day’s notifications in a batch using the Send Assignment Notifications/Cancellations function.

Notifications can be sent via text or email or both. Notification emails automatically include the reporter worksheet for the task. You can customize both the message and whether the worksheet is included in the body of the email, as an attachment, or both. You can include other attachments as you are sending the email. You can also send an iCalendar file that the resource can import into their own calendar.

Tasks listed in Quick Assignments include information such as job number/type/status/date/time/location, task times (if different from job times), assigned resource, client, witness, BU, and any notes you’ve made about the task. If you use the Notation field in jobs for your own custom codes to describe jobs (such as “RT” for Real Time), these codes appear here too to help you choose appropriate resources.

Tasks are color coded by job status, so if any job hasn’t been confirmed yet it’s easy to see and follow up with the client. And the list makes it easy to see all unassigned tasks at a glance so you won’t overlook any when applying resources to assignments.

Customize how you view assignment lists

The grid in which you view assignment lists 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.

In addition to assigning tasks you can view and update any listed job’s details, remove assigned 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.

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

TL;DR: In Quick Assignments you can quickly assign resources to tomorrow’s jobs and see if any of those jobs are not confirmed yet so you can follow up with the client.

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, such as branch offices, other companies you own, affiliates, and profit-sharing operations.

Blocked Resource: Resource that a particular firm or contact does not want assigned to tasks on jobs they schedule or order from you.

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

Job Status: Stage a job is in, e.g., New or Cancelled.

Notation: Short codes (up to 24 characters) you create yourself to give key information about a job (such as “V” for video, “RT” (for realtime), “1 of 2,” or “Daily”) in a results grid, so you don’t have to click into a job’s detail window.

Notes Logs: Un-editable internal-use only notes entered either by a user or automatically by RB9 appear in chronological logs in the database record where they occurred, such as a case, job, invoice, or entity. More >

Preferred Resource: Resource that a particular firm or contact wants you to assign to tasks on jobs they schedule or order from you.

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 >

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Calendar

Calendar is one of the largest functions in RB with many features to speed up scheduling while minimizing errors …

Lesson #2
Most important module in RB?

Maybe the most important module in RB is the Calendar. It is where you schedule and manage jobs (e.g., depos), set up and manage cases, assign tasks to reporters and other resources, and manage assignments.

It is one of the largest modules with 16 functions, all related to your job calendar. What you can do with those functions includes:

  • Start a job with as little information as ordering client, date, and time.
  • Start a new job by copying an existing job and updating it.
  • Automatically import job information clients include in job requests made via RB Connect.
  • Include jobs in cases so they automatically share case parties and information.
  • Use the job wizard to set up multiple related jobs including their shared information at once.
  • Create linked jobs that share information but can be billed separately and canceled independently of each other.
  • Include complete information about cases and individual jobs, including parties, requirements, location, and LEDES e-billing information.
  • Grant parties access to jobs and related files online through RB Connect.
  • View jobs as a list, a monthly calendar, or week by week.
  • Search jobs by multiple criteria including job location, client, and witness.
  • Update, confirm, reschedule, and cancel jobs.
  • Notify clients when their requests for services are received.
  • Send clients their upcoming job calendars.
  • Email clients job confirmations as you set jobs or send a batch at a time.
  • View tasks as a list or a monthly calendar.
  • Assign, notify, and confirm reporters and other resources to job tasks.
  • Assign resources to job tasks before or after job confirmations.
  • Assign resources on the fly or print out your job calendar to make your list, then assign and notify resources in batches.
  • Include worksheets and other files in assignment notifications.
  • Send assignments via email, text, or printout.
  • Send email and text blasts to resources about last-minute jobs.
  • Update, confirm, and cancel job tasks.
  • Schedule conference rooms.
  • Log resources’ acknowledgements.
  • Audit new and canceled jobs for errors.
  • Analyze jobs by client to see how many jobs they are ordering.
  • Analyze jobs by resource so you can distribute work better.
  • View and update outstanding tasks as they progress.
  • Give resources To-Do lists.
  • Initiate a job’s turn-in.
  • Award redeemable points to contacts.
  • Upload case-, job-, and task-level files, such as notices, to the repository.
  • Maintain log of job milestones and client interactions.
  • Make hard copies of your future calendar.
  • Update and track resource’s time off.

Calendar functions by name

Calendar functions are where you will probably first see how RB’s automated processes save time and reduce errors:

  • Information entered anywhere in the system — whether by your staff entering job information in RB, a client requesting a depo through RB Connect or RB Connect Mobile, or a reporter acknowledging a job online  — automatically flows to where it’s needed. No re-keying.
  • Information and processes are easier to access than in previous versions. For example, instead of remembering shortcut keystrokes or dealing with drop-down menus, there is a New Job button in Calendar. In addition, the New Job window opens with a fly-out panel for selecting the Ordering Firm. Not a single click required to get to the first thing you will probably know when contacted about a job. Enter a few keystrokes to find the firm or add a new firm right there in the job.
  • Enter a job location’s zip code, and RB will automatically populate the city and state fields correctly.
  • RB prompts you to do certain tasks, like send notifications after scheduling a job, so nothing gets overlooked. And if you prefer, it also offers batch options for things like notifications, so you can do a day’s worth at once.
  • RB automatically enters log entries for certain activities to help you maintain a paper trail, so you know who did what when in RB9. Sometimes, it includes other information too, such as when you send a job confirmation email, RB makes an entry that includes the receiver’s email address.

TL;DR: If you schedule depos or other services, you can maintain complete details about everything in your RB calendar easily and error-free.

RB concepts in this lesson

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

Linked Jobs: Jobs, such as video done by a third party of a depo, that are listed separately on the calendar and billed separately, but because they are tied together, you will be notified when one is canceled that there is a linked job, so you can cancel that job too and notify the resource.

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 one-touch job acknowledgements, online turn-in, and downloadable pay statements for resources.

RB Connect Mobile: Clients and resources can access your RB Connect on their smart phones and tablets in an interface optimized for mobile devices.

Repository: RB has 9 repositories where you store files for safekeeping and quick retrieval. When you store files in a case, they are in R9’s Case Repository; when you store files in a job, they are in RB’s Job Repository; etc.

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.

Tasks: Service requested with a job, such as reporting, interpreting, or video.

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