Background/History
Started in 1985, OMTI (formerly RB Software, Inc.) began as a one-person software consulting business focused on business applications. A court reporting firm, looking for a better way to manage their job scheduling and billing, approached Yong Lee, the founder of OMTI, with their problem; and within a year he had developed the first version of ReporterBase software.
Yong Lee
President & CEO, OMTI
Yong then developed a similar office management application for the records retrieval industry, Medical Records (now MetaRecords). And in 1992, he founded OMTI to develop educational and corporate training multimedia programs. Educational products developed and produced by OMTI in the 1990s include CD-ROMs for learning ESL, the Chinese alphabet, and remedial reading. While they no longer produce educational titles, they continue to provide the remedial reading title at cost to schools and parents.
Advances of 2000-2009
In 2000, a Windows version of RB office management software, the first RB Web and an email deposition scheduler were released. In 2001, a Windows version of MR office management software was released. In 2002, the first version of MR Web was released.
2003 was another big year for OMTI: They started offering a subscription version of RB Web, which provides subscribers with the same functionality as RB Web online offices, but is hosted by OMTI, eliminating the need for small businesses to maintain their own web server. OMTI also started offering a subscription version of RB software which gives subscribers the ability to add or delete user licenses as needed on a monthly basis.
And in 2003, OMTI began hosting an annual user conference, which focuses on technology and best business practices for legal support firms. The Team RB conference, which brings together legal support firm owners and managers from across the country and Canada, takes place every October in Houston.
In 2004, an online repository was added to RB Web, and the ability to exchange job data between firms was added to RB8. This new capability made it possible for OMTI to start an online job exchange (RB XChange) for RB users to find each other easily. Also, Medical Records office management software underwent a name change to MetaRecords to reflect its use for tracking all types of records, not just medical.
In 2005, OMTI celebrated its 20th anniversary in the software business. While readying the next major upgrade of office management software for release, it also improved customer service with online live chat and extended support hours. Yong Lee also began speaking at industry events about business and technology topics such as web marketing.
In 2006, OMTI released new versions of RB software, RB8, and RB online offices, RB Web 8. New functionality and technology added to the RB system include a central case repository, SMS messaging, wireless/mobile access, CRM capabilities, direct deposit, data encryption, Google Maps locator, and a word processor.
In 2007, OMTI opened their development office in Korea to work on custom programming projects and speed development of the next generation of MR products. OMTI also released a new tool in the ReporterBase line, a PDF transcript creator; and a new plug-in, a points system similar to airline mileage programs for tracking and rewarding good clients.
In 2008, OMTI released major upgrades of its MetaRecords software and online offices. RB Web and MR Web online offices got security upgrades with optional SSL certificates. A new version of RB-PDF transcripts was released. Service improvements included moving OMTI’s system infrastructure to Rackspace, a world leader in hosting company networks, systems, websites and applications that guarantees 100% uptime.
In 2009, www.ReporterBase.com was launched, which provides a free digital signature proxy service for court reporting agencies and their court reporters that works with RB-PDF transcripts. RB training was recorded in screencasts, so clients can easily train their staff at their convenience. E-commerce was added to RB Web to help court reporting firms maximize copy sales and speed invoice remittances. And full-text search and streaming media plug-ins were released for RB Web online repositories.
This year’s developments
In 2010, electronic billing was added to RB8 providing court reporting and other litigation support businesses with a way to help their law firm clients invoice their own clients efficiently, while also meeting the requirements of their own large corporate clients and insurance agencies.