Tag Archives: Tasks (Monthly View)

Monitor tasks in a calendar format

Use the Tasks (Monthly View) function to monitor and manage tasks in a calendar page layout …

Lesson #161
Calendar – Tasks (Monthly View) function

Similar to Jobs (Monthly View), in Tasks (Monthly View) you can view tasks as items on an interactive calendar page. The other view, Tasks (List View), displays tasks in a grid. You can use either Tasks function to monitor and manage tasks.

Monitor tasks

See if tasks have been designated, assigned, and acknowledged. Monthly View displays jobs with tasks in a calendar page format so you can see your work schedule at a glance. If your browser window isn’t large enough to display the whole month, the calendar will scroll so the current week is visible as the default view.

Monthly View only displays jobs that have tasks. Due to size constraints Monthly View displays limited information about the jobs on the calendar page. You choose in System Preferences which information you want to see (either job number or task/job start time and either resource assigned or task name) and how many tasks per day (up to 10) are listed in each day’s square.

Jobs listed are color coded by job status and canceled jobs are also designated with a strikethrough. RB comes with default sets of job statuses and task types, which you can customize by adding, editing, and deleting entries. You can also choose which colors represent different job statuses, including different colors for light or dark mode displays, in System Preferences.

The default calendar displays the current month by default. You can page back and forth to other months or jump to any month using the navigation bar.

Monthly View resizes dynamically to your browser window size but if the window is too small vertically for the minimum size calendar page, the calendar page will scroll so the current week is visible as the default view. You can scroll the page and the top navigation bar will always remain accessible so you know which month you are in and can navigate to other months or back to today’s date.

Use search criteria to change the jobs shown. Search criteria in Monthly View includes:

  • Job date or order date
  • Task status and type
  • Assigned resource
  • Job’s priority level
  • Type of resource required
  • Job status and type
  • Your company’s business unit
  • Related case
  • Include canceled tasks or not

Rolling over a job number in the calendar pops up basic information about the task, job, and case. Clicking the bar in a day’s box displays all tasks for that day in a list similar to List View.

Manage tasks

Clicking a hyperlink in Monthly View opens the job detail screen with the View Task panel already open so you can see complete task details and edit if needed. You can do everything from Monthly View as you can from List View:

  • Add an overlooked task to a job.
  • Enter start and end times for a task that are different from its related job.
  • Assign a resource to a task which RB records in the task’s Notes Log. If the scheduling client has preferred resources they appear at the top of the resource list. If the scheduling client has a list of blocked resources RB will alert you if you attempt to assign one and not allow the assignment. When a resource is assigned any warning about them appears beneath their name in the Task panel.
  • Notify resources when they are assigned.
  • Remind resources of assignments by resending notifications.
  • Automatically record the current date and time when a task was acknowledged by a resource.
  • Remove a task’s acknowledged date and time with one click if a mistake was made.
  • Update the related job’s information including notes, contact information, location, and parties.
  • Remove a resource from a task which RB records in the task’s Notes Log.
  • Upload task-related files to a task’s repository for assigned resources to download.
  • Update a task, such as setting resource acknowledgements’ date and time manually or entering page estimates. If you change a task’s start or end time RB will record the details in the related job’s Notes Log.
  • Delete a task if no resource has been assigned.
  • Cancel a task if a resource has been assigned.
  • Reactive a canceled task and assign a new resource (you can cancel and reactive a task in one click if you are reassigning resources).
  • Begin production turn-in.

When you cancel a task the assigned resource is automatically added back to your available resources list for new assignments and RB prompts you to alert the resource of the cancellation. In addition RB keeps track of when tasks were canceled. This will be helpful in cases where there is a cost incurred in late cancellations such as a hotel’s conference room: You will have a paper trail to back up any cancellation fees charged to your client.

TL;DR: Use the Tasks (Monthly View) function to monitor and manage tasks in a calendar page layout.

RB concepts in this lesson

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

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. You can designate your own job statuses in RB.

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

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 >

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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