Simplified turn-in

RB’s turn-in process starts with the essentials, then reveals additional steps as you progress through turn-in. Benefits of this process:

• Less errors: You won’t overlook important steps in turn-in due to information overload.
• Quicker turn-in: Less second-guessing the process since you are led through it automatically.
• Easier training: Process is less confusing to understand and master.

Time-saving turn-in features

The first step in turn-in, adding witnesses, includes these time-saving features:

• Witness email field: You do not have to go into a separate function to send witnesses their transcripts to read and sign.
• Look up resources by task: With RB’s task concept, one job can have multiple tasks with different resources. You can easily find assigned resources for all the parts of a job tied to a single witness (for example, reporter, videographer, and scopist) within the witness.
• Customizable witness list: If you have multiple witnesses/tasks for a job, you can enter the information in any order that’s convenient. Then you can easily shuffle the order of the witness list to change how it will appear on the invoice.

The next step, calculating invoices, speeds up your work process even more:

• Add multiple services to invoices at once: Use billing sets and client preferred services lists to add multiple service items at once. On jobs with multiple parties ordering the same services, copy services from one party to others.
• Set rates directly: Within an invoice, you can select billing and pay rates, plus select rush types, in a fly-out panel, instead of opening additional windows on top of the invoice that obscure the invoice’s details.
• Remove tasks from To-Do lists: When you create an invoice, RB first gives you the option to check off job-related assignments as completed. This keeps your resource work load reports (Tasks in Progress) accurate.
• Customizable service list: Just like with the witness list, if you have multiple service items for a job, you can enter them in any order, then shuffle their order to appear differently on the invoice.

Convenient production letters

RB9 comes with customizable form letters to contacts, witnesses, and others. Plus RB9 boasts several conveniences in the process of dealing with Read & Sign and sending packages to attorneys:

• Email option for all form letters: Email every form letter, including those related to transcripts. You can also choose to print most forms for standard delivery if desired.
• Include attachments: Attach and/or embed files from your RB9 repository to any form letter you send from RB9, so you can send attorneys complete email packages including letters, transcripts, and relevant files — no need to print out and deliver if everything is digital.
• Email to witnesses directly from Turn In: If you want to communicate directly with a witness and/or send them files, you can do that with the click of a button in RB9’s Turn In function.

Free PDF transcript creator

The PDF Transcript Creator is a function in RB9’s Production module that generates PDF versions of transcripts from ASCII files. They are customizable and can include linked exhibits, stamps, word lists, word indexes, and digital signatures.

You can access the PDF Transcript Creator directly in the Production module or from within the Turn In function. So depending on your company’s preferred production process, you can create RB-PDF Transcripts where it is most convenient to you.

Whether you use RB Connect to have reporters turn in transcripts online or your production staff uploads them to your repository, you can search for ASCII files by job number, job or upload date, witness, and/or business unit. Then with a single button click, you are in the function, customizing preferences, verifying ASCII, adding files, linking exhibits, etc., in a wizard-like app that pages you through the steps so you can easily and quickly produce transcripts.

Labels, envelopes, & shipping from within RB9

You can generate PDFs to print addresses on envelopes and print DYMO labels directly from RB9 using the Envelopes and Labels function. In the Shipping function, you can create UPS and FedEx labels and track these shipments without leaving RB9. You can also record shipments you sent using other methods, such as courier or USPS, so you can look up that information later.

Searchable shipping

If you use the Shipping function to generate FedEx/UPS labels and/or record other shipments, you can search for a shipment within RB9. Search by job or invoice number, shipping date, delivery method, and/or business unit to quickly locate a shipment to track or to create a new shipment with the same job, case, and invoice information.

Keep track of physical items

In RB9, you can record where production items are in your production cycle and physically in your office. You can set up your own system of Tracking Steps for tracking physical products you produce/are entrusted with, such as videos and exhibits, and where they are in your production cycle/office. Then use the Tracking module to update individual items’ progress/location.

You can also track the location of original transcripts, affidavits, and errata sheets that you send to clients or others. Use the Send Originals Out function to track where you sent items to, how they were shipped, when they were sent, who received them, and when they were returned to you.

Search all of your repositories for files

RB contains 10 repositories for organizing your files. For example, when you store a file in a case’s listing, it is saved in the case repository. Similarly, job files are stored in the job repository, firm files in the firm repository, etc. And when you look at an individual listing, all of its related files appear in its Repository pane.

Instead of searching for an individual listing to access its repository files — or if you are not sure where a file is stored — you can search the entire repository in the Production module. You can search for a file in all of the repositories or just one, and you can search by file type, name, job/invoice/order/upload date, who uploaded it, job number, invoice number, case, firm, contact, resource, and/or location.

Two repositories for resources

In addition to the Resource repository, where you store files related to individual resources, RB9 has an All-Resource Repository for files you want to share with all resources. Instead of loading generic files, such as blank billing sheets or notices, to each individual resource’s repository, you can upload the file once to the common All-Resource Repository for all resources to access.

Want to learn more about RB Production?

You can find out more about the Production module in ReporterBase 101, which contains lessons about every module, function, plug-in, and concept in RB9.

ReporterBase 101 comes in 2 versions: weekly email lessons and a website, the RB9 Primer, where all the lessons appear. You can sign up to have an RB lesson delivered to your inbox each week. And you can also look up anything on the website, where lessons are grouped by module or concept.