Contacts are people who work for firms you do business with.<\/strong> Examples of contacts are attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, legal assistants, claim adjusters, and court clerks.<\/p>\n Maintain a deep database of your contacts\u00a0in RB in the Contacts function. If there is something you want to remember about a contact \u2014 whether\u00a0it\u2019s their\u00a0contact info, standing orders, anniversaries, or anything else \u2014 store it in their RB profile.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You can:<\/p>\n Before entering a contact 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 contact. If there are duplicate entries, you can merge them \u2014 however not all data will carry over from the contact that is being merged. The only information that will be saved from the merged entry is from the Notification Email, Tags, Preferred Services, Anniversaries, Award Points<\/a>, Repository, and Notes Log panes.<\/p>\n To find contacts in your RB database you can use the search criteria, singly or in combination:<\/p>\n Each listing displayed in the results shows all of this info except any tags \u2014 and includes the main address of the contact\u2019s firm, the type of firm, whether the firm is currently active, and any warnings about the contact and firm.<\/p>\n The grid in which you view contact listings is customizable to your individual preference:<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n From the Contacts results grid you can view and update any listed contact\u2019s details, add new contacts, and export the grid as an Excel<\/em> spreadsheet or\u00a0a CSV(comma-separated values) file to save, share, print, or use in other applications.<\/p>\n When entering a contact in RB, the first, most important information is their firm. If you are entering a new contact without starting from their firm, RB will automatically open the firm panel so you can select the firm before entering other contact information. If the contact\u2019s firm is not in your RB database, you can add it here on the fly.<\/p>\n Once you have designated which firm the contact belongs to, you can proceed to enter the contact\u2019s information. Some fields will auto-fill with the firm\u2019s information \u2014 such as phone numbers and billing information \u2014 which you can override in the contact listing. Until you save the contact you can change which firm the contact is tied to. After saving a new contact you can view maps of the firm\u2019s location, get directions to the location, and view\/update firm details from the contact\u2019s detail screen.<\/p>\n In addition to which firm the contact works for, the only other required information about a contact is their full name.<\/strong> When entering the contact\u2019s name we recommend 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. (You can also select options that include their preferred salutation and middle initial.) This way you can use the First Name\/Last Name filters when searching for contacts in the main Contacts window.<\/p>\n You can save time entering contacts\u2019 full names by setting up Autofill in System Preferences<\/a>. You select which name parts are included \u2014 first name, last name, salutation, middle initial \u2014 and in what order. RB will automatically fill out the Full Name field for you as you enter the individual name fields.<\/p>\n In addition to the contact\u2019s name the General pane of their listing contains their contact information, other basic information, and any warnings.<\/p>\n If you enter the contact\u2019s primary email address in the General pane, you can email the contact directly from within their RB listing by clicking the button next to the email field.<\/p>\n If you have information about a contact that your staff should know when scheduling or invoicing jobs, enter those notes in the Warning field. This information appears in red under Contact Warning in ordering clients and parties in jobs, cases, and in the Invoice panel in Turn In<\/a>.<\/p>\n If a\u00a0contact is no longer scheduling jobs with you and you do not need to contact them anymore, you can deactivate their listing instead of deleting it so you retain all of your historical data about the contact but they will no longer appear in searches for active contacts anymore.<\/p>\n Store the client\u2019s preferences for receiving invoices and statements (email, print, don\u2019t send) in the Additional pane. You can also enter their federal ID number if it\u2019s different from their firm\u2019s, and unlimited notes about the contact for your calendaring and production\/billing departments. Style the text with different options \u2014 such as bold face, italic, text sizes, and colors \u2014 to enhance the readability of your notes.<\/p>\n If you have RB Connect<\/a>, this is where you set up the contact\u2019s login credentials. After saving the new contact this is also where you:<\/p>\n Use the Marketing pane to specify what type of contact the entity is for marketing and billing purposes plus enter personal information about the contact, including their home address. Some of the billing information will automatically populate from the contact\u2019s firm listing \u2014 such as default billing rates<\/a> \u2014 but you can change it for the contact.<\/p>\n You can also designate which resource receives commissions on this client\u2019s jobs. If a reporter brought in this contact set them as the Client Of. If an account manager or sales representative got this client for you set them as the Sales Rep. This information will be used for allocating sales commissions and to generate Sales Commission Reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Use the Client Of feature in RB to attract and retain highly talented reporters who can bring attorney clients to your business. By designating resources responsible for clients you can track the amount of the business being generated from those attorneys \u2014 and pay incentive bonuses based on the new business generated, in addition to commissions on existing accounts.<\/p>\n Once you save a contact in RB additional panes, fields, and functions become available. You can:<\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to go into the Contacts function to update a contact. Most RB functions that include a Contact field allow you to directly access that contact\u2019s listing to view and edit details.<\/p>\n Also if you have multiple contacts that you need to update the same information for \u2014 such as assigning a new sales rep or changing the billing rate \u2014 you can use Bulk Update<\/a> to change them all at once.<\/p>\n If a contact moves to another firm you cannot change the firm in the contact\u2019s listing. Instead you have to de-active the current listing and set up a new listing for the contact at their new firm. You can use RB\u2019s Merge To sub-function to save some of the contact\u2019s historical data from the original listing in the new contact listing.<\/p>\n Additional panes in saved contact listings include:<\/p>\n If a contact has more than one email address or has someone else on staff who should receive their emails, you can designate which one(s) to use for:<\/p>\n If you entered an email address in the General pane it will automatically populate each of these notification email slots. You can change, delete, and add email addresses for any of these email types.<\/p>\n If you use tags (keywords or phrases) to monitor and market to contacts, you add tags to contact listings, either by keying in tags or selecting them from the tag list you made in Lists<\/a>. Each contact can have an unlimited number of tags, and you can delete tags from a contact when they no longer apply. (You can also use the Tag Manager<\/a> to add or remove tags quickly from multiple contacts at once.) Label entities with tags (keywords or phrases) to mark them as part of specific groups, which you can use for different purposes, such as monitoring or marketing.<\/p>\n In RB, jobs and invoices are tied to the Ordering Contact (attorney). So by default if you have RB Connect, related information is accessible by that contact only. But in real life the attorney isn\u2019t the one who will be accessing RB Connect and scheduling jobs, paying invoices, or downloading the repository files. Instead it is paralegals or secretaries that take care of that work on behalf of the Ordering Contact.<\/p>\n In Grant Access To you select contacts at the same firm who can access this contact\u2019s information on RB Connect. In addition to giving access to paralegals and secretaries who work for this contact and to the attorney\u2019s senior(s) at the firm, you can also grant access to contacts at other firms.<\/p>\n Similar to Grant Access To use Have Access To to grant this contact access to other contacts\u2019 RB Connect \u2014 including contacts at other firms. Use Have Access To when you want to give one contact access to multiple other contacts\u2019 RB Connect accounts instead of going into each of the other contacts\u2019 listings and granting access one by one.<\/p>\n Any contact that you give access to this contact\u2019s RB Connect will automatically list the contact in their Have Access To pane.<\/p>\n Add your clients\u2019 standing orders to their contact profiles. Then you can use Prefill Services<\/a> on a case, job, or invoice to easily select all of the service items a client expects.<\/p>\n When listing which service items are included in a contact\u2019s standing orders you can also include relevant details \u2014 such as how many units of an item they usually order, how many business days the order is due in (RB will calculate the due date for a specific job excluding weekends and holidays), the delivery method, their preference on rush deliveries, and any additional instructions for the service item. Any information entered here will appear as the default for jobs ordered by the contact and can be overridden in individual jobs.<\/p>\n Add important personal dates to contact profiles and set reminders so you never forget those dates. Important anniversaries could be birthdays or the anniversary of when they became your client. When setting reminders you determine how many days and at what time of day to send an alert and which staff member(s) the alert should be sent to.<\/p>\n You can use Anniversary Inquiry<\/a> to print labels for cards to send to clients celebrating upcoming anniversaries based on these saved dates.<\/p>\n If a contact has resources they prefer assigned to their jobs, you can keep a list of those resources in the contact\u2019s listing. When assigning resources to tasks on jobs the contact scheduled or ordered, preferred resources will appear at the top of the list.<\/p>\n If there are resources a contact does not want assigned to their jobs, you can keep a list of those resources in the contact\u2019s listing. When assigning resources to tasks on jobs the contact scheduled or ordered RB will alert you and not allow the assignment.<\/p>\n Award Points are used to encourage clients to book with your agency by rewarding them with points for different services. If you have RB Connect you can allow contacts to request point redemptions online. You set up your own rewards \u2014such as cash or gift certificates \u2014 plus designate what services earn points.<\/p>\n If your state does not allow reward programs, use points to track your clients’ order history and see who your best customers are by which contact\u2019s calls generate the most revenue instead of by firm only.<\/p>\n If you reward contacts with points, you can monitor a contact\u2019s points in the Award Points pane plus view their points history \u2014 which includes which services earned how many points on which invoices, current status of those points, how they were redeemed, and any notes about the points.<\/p>\n You can also designate which contact(s) within a firm will receive points earned by this contact \u2014 and allow the contact to view and redeem their points online via RB Connect.<\/p>\n You can boost a contact\u2019s points-earning ability by automatically multiplying their points. For example if this is one of your best clients, you might want to award them double-points for every point-eligible service you offer. Or award extra points for special promotions that are limited in time then revert back to the original point scheme afterwards.<\/p>\n Keep files related to a contact \u2014 such as signed contracts \u2014 in their RB listing. When viewing the contact\u2019s listing you can see information about uploaded files \u2014 including their description \u2014 in the Repository pane without having to click into each file\u2019s details. You can upload, download, or delete files here, and update file information \u2014 such as which groups can access the file.<\/p>\n If you have RB Connect you can give contacts access to specific files in their repository. You can also view the download history of each file in the repository \u2014 including when it was downloaded and by which contact at the firm.<\/p>\n The system enters some notes about contacts automatically in their individual Notes Logs<\/a>, and you can also enter notes yourself\u00a0about a contact in their Notes Log for internal purposes. Some examples of automatic Notes Log entries are notes recording when a sales rep has been assigned, when statements are sent to the client, and if the client information was updated using the Bulk Update tool.<\/p>\n When you add a note to the Notes Log you can include what type of note it is, how you communicated with the contact, details about what occurred \u2014 and if needed, designate who should follow up and set a date and time for a reminder to be sent to them via RB\u2019s message system<\/a>.<\/p>\n In these additional panes you can export the information as Excel<\/em> spreadsheets or CSV(comma-separated values) files to save, share, print, or use in other applications.<\/p>\n In a contact\u2019s Account Overview, highlights of their financial and job activity history, future projections, and trends are displayed visually. A table displays the contact\u2019s total receivables since they became your client and upcoming scheduled jobs. One line graph displays revenue generated, a second line graph displays\u00a0jobs scheduled\/canceled, and a third line graph displays jobs that have occurred.<\/p>\n The line graphs are interactive. Hovering over a point in a line on a graph displays that month\u2019s total $ amount or number. The line graphs default to the contact\u2019s trends over the last six months. You can also view the contact\u2019s trends over a year or 2 years.<\/p>\n TL;DR: Maintain a deep database of your contacts in RB, including contact, billing, and personal information, files related to the contact, notes about the contact, and more. View interactive graphs of their financial and job activity trends.<\/strong><\/p>\n Award Points: <\/strong>Used to encourage clients to book with your\u00a0agency by rewarding them with points for different services.<\/p>\n Client Of:<\/strong>\u00a0Resource that receives a commission for jobs their clients scheduled or that are part of a case the resource was designated as the Client Of resource. You can also give reporters right of first refusal on their clients\/cases\u2019 jobs by displaying unassigned jobs from their clients\/cases in Resource-side online calendars in RB Connect.<\/p>\n Firm:<\/strong> Business you provide services to \u2014 usually law firms, but can also be other court reporting firms, vendors, insurance companies, corporate clients, and courts.<\/p>\n Ordering Contact:\u00a0<\/b>Contact at the firm that is\u00a0responsible for a job with your company. Can be different from the contact who scheduled the job.<\/p>\n RB Connect:<\/b> Online repository, calendar, and access to your office for clients and resources. More ><\/a><\/p>\n Resource:<\/strong> Person or thing that provides your business with a service \u2014 such as a reporter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Add contacts to your database<\/h2>\n
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Search for contacts<\/h2>\n
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Customize how you view contact listings<\/h2>\n
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Contacts are tied to firms<\/h2>\n
Basic contact information<\/h2>\n
Other General information tips<\/h3>\n
Additional\u00a0information<\/h3>\n
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Marketing<\/h3>\n
After initial setup add more information<\/h2>\n
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Notification Email<\/h3>\n
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Tags<\/h3>\n
Grant Access To<\/h3>\n
Have Access To<\/h3>\n
Preferred Services<\/h3>\n
Anniversaries<\/h3>\n
Preferred Resources<\/h3>\n
Blocked Resources<\/h3>\n
Award Points<\/h3>\n
Repository<\/h3>\n
Notes Log<\/h3>\n
Export contact data for other uses<\/h2>\n
View financial\/job trends<\/h2>\n
RB concepts in this lesson<\/h4>\n