For court reporting agencies and other litigation support firms
ReporterBase > Services > RB9 > Cloud computing

RB9 resides in the cloud

Instead of hosting RB9 in-house at your office, it’s on Microsoft Azure Cloud Services. This network of remote servers stores, manages, and processes RB9 data in an environment that is always up and always on — no worries about server crashes. In fact, Microsoft guarantees 99.95% uptime. And over 90% of Fortune 500 companies rely on Azure.

RB9 cloud based computing

Benefits of cloud computing

Check out these 9 ways moving your office to the cloud can save you time, money, and hassles, and give your clients more benefits too.

  1. No server to maintain  

    RB9 Standard and RB9 Lite are hosted in the cloud, eliminating the need for your own server, data storage, and IT staff.

    Instead, RB9 runs on Microsoft Azure Cloud Services downloadable PDF file. This network of remote servers hosted on the internet stores, manages, and processes RB9 data, instead of using your server or personal computer. It’s always up and always on — no worries about server crashes. And no need to buy and maintain server hardware, move your RB9 Server to new servers, or upgrade to the latest version of SQL Server software.

    And because we maintain your RB9 system, you always have the latest version. You don’t have to do any RB9 updates yourself.

  2. Better disaster recovery  

    RB9 is protected by Microsoft Azure’s high availability and redundancy processes, which means your RB9 data is duplicated on multiple servers in real time. If the active server should go down, another server takes over with no loss of data.

    This is better than a back-up system, which only saves data up to a specific point in time, so any data entered since the last back-up is lost if something happens to the primary server. With RB9, the most you will have to do is re-log in and keep working.

  3. Repository storage included  

    Your repository is in the cloud too, so you don’t have to worry about those files either. No need to maintain your own data storage facilities or use a 3rd-party data storage site. It’s all part of RB9.

  4. More secure  

    RB9 is more secure than an in-house system in many ways. One way is open port security: If you're trying to log in remotely without a secure connection, you do not need to keep the well-known default SQL port open; nor do you need to keep any custom ports open for RB9 Repository downloads. (And that’s one less thing you need IT to do.)

    And since it's on Microsoft Azure Cloud Services, it has security and privacy safeguards downloadable PDF file beyond what a single court reporting agency could provide.

    Need more reassurance? OMTI is SOC 2 compliant.

    Find out more about RB9 security  
  5. Economical & scalable  

    RB9 saves you money in three areas:

    1. Direct costs, such as on-going expenses for electricity to power your server, HVAC to maintain the proper environment in the server room, even the server room itself or other dedicated spaces, such as for your file repository.
    2. Indirect costs, such as IT staff to maintain all of that third-party hardware, troubleshooting its problems, fixing software bugs and coordinating with OMTI Support.
    3. Hidden costs, such as low productivity due to server downtime or remote connection problems.

    You can add or cancel user licenses as needed. The basic system includes one user license. RB9 Standard and RB9 Lite also include 100GB of cloud storage in the basic system. As your business grows, you can add more storage in 500GB increments. If later you don’t need extra storage, you can cancel those additional increments.

  6. Work from anywhere  

    With your RB9 system in the cloud, you and your staff are not tethered to an in-house server. As long as you can access the internet, you can work from wherever you want.

  7. One-source solution  

    Just like RB9 Standard’s PDF Transcript Creator and the Form Manager eliminate the need for 3rd-party transcript apps or a word processor, RB9 Standard and RB9 Lite eliminate the need for other 3rd-party software, such as SQL Server, or 3rd-party cloud storage or hard disk space in-house for repository files. You don’t have to spend time contacting other service providers to fix issues with their hardware or software.

  8. Better service for your clients  

    If you have RB Connect online offices, those pages load faster than RB Web pages did with an RB8 subscription. This improved performance is because RB9 SQL Server resides next to the Web Server in the cloud so information is relayed quickly.

    Your RB Connect site content is safeguarded to the highest level, just like the rest of your RB9 data. And your clients get the fastest downloads possible (depending on their internet connection speed).

  9. No need to move or re-install  

    Without a physical server, you never have to deal with server crashes, upgrading server hardware, or moving/re-installing your RB9 Server. You never have to transfer your RB9 database to another computer in your system and have it re-attached. And with Azure’s high availability and redundancy processes, you never need to restore your RB9 database from an earlier back-up.

RB9 cloud computing benefits

RB9 cloud-based advantages

  • No downtime
  • No maintenance
  • No SQL Server
  • No in-house server equipment
  • No lost data
  • No need to back up data
  • Always most recent version of RB9
  • Repository storage included
  • More secure
  • Connect from anywhere
  • One source
  • Easily add plug-ins (RB9 Standard only)
  • Faster speeds from RB Connect (RB9 Standard only)
  • Never have to move servers/databases again

RB9 disadvantage: Solved!

With all of this going for it, what’s the downside?

RB9 users cannot create custom reports for their business, either with Access or other reporting tools. This is due to security issues with directly connecting to RB9 databases in the cloud.

However, if you add the Data Reader plug-in, you can use your RB9 data in other applications to create your own custom reports and more. Or if you prefer, we can write custom reports for you. (These options are not available in RB9 Lite.)

Data Reader