RB9, RB Lite, & RB Connect 2022 updates

Under-the-hood improvements

The latest RB update is basically a tune-up for speed, efficiency, and security improvements:

• Upgraded UI framework libraries.
• Changed UI theme for easier data reading.
• Upgraded reporting engine.
• Tuned all reports to eliminate unnecessary resources.
• Upgraded outdated core libraries to the recent version for security issues.
• Added Privacy Policy link to Login page.

New Notes Templates function

Instead of typing the same information into the notes for each case/job — or copying and pasting the info from a Word doc — you can now create templates for notes fields in cases and jobs.

You can create multiple templates for different types of notes, such as scheduling notes for different types of jobs or even specific firms or contacts. Then select the appropriate template when scheduling a job. If needed, you can edit the note to fit the job you applied the template to, but that will still be less typing than starting each note from scratch.

With the new Notes Templates function in Tools, you can create as many templates as you want for certain notes fields in cases and jobs. Notes templates are organized into the following Notes Groups:

• Case-Remarks
• Job-Confirmation Notes
• Job-Production/Billing Notes
• Job-Resource Notification Notes
• Job-Scheduling Notes

Templates saved in the Cases-Remarks Notes Group will be available to select in the Remarks field in a case listing. The other templates will be available in the designated notes fields in job listings.

The Notes Templates function is available only in RB9.

Top features

• Switching from View to Edit mode doesn’t lose your place 

  When viewing a detail screen, if you click the Edit button, you stay in the same area of the screen instead of jumping back to the top of the page. If you are viewing a pane in the screen in which its header is not visible, clicking Edit will scroll it up so the header is visible. Otherwise, it will stay at exactly the same viewpoint as you were in View mode.

• Unlimited text input in Case Remarks fields 

  Along with the new Notes Templates for case remarks, there is no limit to how much information you include in case remarks. For example, you could store distribution lists as text in the Remarks field, instead of as a document in the repository. Then you can update the lists here instead of downloading and re-uploading the lists to the repository every time there is a change.

• Assign Client Of resources to cases   

  Use the Client Of field in a case’s detail screen to designate which resource gets credit/commissions for jobs tied to this case. You can search cases by Client Of resource, and Client Of resources are included in the Cases results grid. Resources can view all jobs for a case that they are the designated Client Of resource in their RB Connect calendar.

• Zoom meeting improvements   
  • More Zoom meeting info displayed in Directions field
    When scheduling a Zoom meeting, more details automatically appear in the Job Location’s Directions field:
          Zoom Meeting ID: xxxxxx  
          Passcode: xxxxxx
          Dial by your location:
          xxx-xxx-xxxx
          xxx-xxx-xxxx
                :
          xxx-xxx-xxxx
  • Zoom meeting info stays the same for rescheduled jobs
    When rescheduling a job that is a Zoom meeting, the Zoom meeting date and time are automatically updated, so you do not have to send clients a new Zoom meeting ID and passcode.
  • Zoom meetings automatically deleted when jobs are canceled
    When you cancel a job that was scheduled as a Zoom meeting, the Zoom meeting will be automatically deleted by RB. NOTE: Zoom meetings scheduled from prior versions of RB9 will not be automatically deleted.

• Designate preferred & blocked resources for clients   

  New sections have been added to Firm and Contact listings where you can designate Preferred and Blocked Resources for individual firms and contacts.

  • When assigning resources in Edit Task, any resources that were designated as Preferred by the Ordering Firm/Contact appears at the top of the Resources grid with a checkmark in the new Preferred column. 
  • If a resource was designated as Blocked in the Ordering Firm/Contact listing, a warning message will appear when attempting to assign that resource in Edit Task or Quick Assignments.

• Faster Quick Assignments   

  In addition to a warning message when attempting to assign a resource registered as Blocked, the screen layout has been rearranged to match other functions: Search Criteria is now on the left, and Search Resources is in the right side of the screen. Also:

  • A Task filter has been added to Search By. 
  • A Previous Resources option has been added to the Action button for each task in the results grid. 

• Add Scheduled By email to Assignment Notifications 

  You can now automatically include Scheduled By email addresses in Assignment Notifications by inserting the new {Jobs.ScheduledByEmail} data field in Form Templates. 
  These scheduling contacts also appear in resources’ RB Connect List View calendar when searched by Client Of or Sales Rep.

• Everyone can view the same job at the same time in Turn In, but only one person at a time can update it 

  Turn In detail screen now have View and Edit modes to avoid duplicate access. The first person to access a job in Turn In is automatically in Edit mode. If others try to access the same job while it is being edited, they will be in View mode.

• Add surcharges when applying payments   

  In Receive Payments, you can now add a surcharge to posted invoices while applying payments to invoices. Surcharge is like Finance Charge: It’s processed as an additional fee but not included in the invoice balance. Use it for applying credit card fees to posted invoices.

  • Designate which account is used for surcharges in your business units. The when a surcharge is added to a posted invoice, it will be applied to the corresponding account in Payment.
  • In Invoice Inquiry, the Surcharge field appears in the Orders section of invoice detail screens, and a Surcharge column appears in the Receivable Transactions section.
  • In Receivable Transaction Inquiry, a Surcharge column appears in the Applied Invoice(s) section of the View Payment screen. 
  • In Daily Register, surcharges appear on the Cash Receipts Register – Payments report. 
  • In Monthly Journals, surcharge amounts are added to Receive Payment. 
  • In QuickBooks Integrator, surcharges are included in Receive Payments imports. 
  • In RB Connect and Connect Mobile, under contacts’ Account Activity, surcharges appear in View Invoice’s  Invoice section.

• Add retroactive finance charges    

  If you have an invoice that is months overdue, but you have not had RB9 automatically generate finance charges on it each month, you can now add retroactive finance charges manually so you do not miss out on any amounts due. Use the new Generate > Manual function in Finance Charges to generate finance charges manually. The existing Generate function has been changed to Generate > Auto.

• Color-code older A/R amounts on statements   

  Use the new Colors of Age options in Setup > System Preferences > Receivables > Statement to change the text color of open invoice lines according to the invoices’ age when generating statements in Send Statements.

• Autofill entities’ full names   

  In Setup > System Preferences > Entities, you can enable Autofill for Contact and/or Resource names. Then RB9 will autofill the Full Name field when First Name, Mi., Last Name, and Salutation are updated in individual Edit Contact/Edit Resource screens.

• Required custom drop-down selections 

  When creating a custom field in Connect Preferences that is a list, you can require users to make a selection before their request can be processed. This option is available in Contact-Calendar > Custom Section in New Job > New/Edit Custom Field, and Resource-Turn In > Custom Section in Job > New/Edit Custom Field.

• Designate turn-in notifications by task   

  If different users should be notified when tasks are turned in depending on the type of task (e.g., specific production staff should be notified about transcript turn in, but other staff should be notified when video is turned in), you can select users to be notified per Task type in Resource-Turn In > Users to notify. If no task is specified for a user listed, they will receive notifications for all Task types.

• Easier to update personal preferences in Connect/Connect Mobile 

  In both RB Connect and Connect Mobile, when contacts or resources access Preferences, they no longer have to click an Edit button to update their choices.

• Resources can view their Client Of case jobs 

  In the Jobs screens of RB Connect and Connect Mobile, when resources search their List View calendar by Client Of, they can see all jobs which they are the Client Of resource as designated in cases or by Ordering Contacts.

Also

• Grids’ header rows display in bold for easier viewing.
• Total lines in grids appear in the same color as the header row for easier viewing.
• Sorting indicator shows the sorting sequence when the grid is loaded for the first time.
• A Represents column has been added to the Parties grid in Case and Job detail screens so you don’t have to click into a party to find this information.
• With more depositions being remote, you can now search for resources to contact by state or by distance to zip code in Resource Blast. 
• In Turn In, Changed Client Of commission calculation to use Client Of from Case, if Client Of from Case is not set, then RB uses Client Of from Contact while calculating invoices.
• You can now run Gross Profit Reports by Bill To Firm (option added to Group By filter). This is useful to see the gross profit for a carrier/corporation that has multiple firms booking jobs.
• Run the Task Turnaround Analysis report with specific types of tasks selected using the new Task filter in Search By. 
• QuickBooks Integrator has been changed to continuously import all checked items even when an error occurs. If any errors occurred during import, that information appears in the Error column on the grid.