April 2021
Isaac’s Essentials
Play By the Rules, Do You Agree?
I recently came across a quip that read, “Arguing with your spouse is like trying to read a Terms of Use policy on the Internet. In the end, you give up and go, ‘I agree’.” This made me laugh not just because there’s truth in it (don’t tell my wife), it reminded me of that temptation to skip the fine print so as to move on to the next step.
I’m no different. I know what it’s like to be bombarded with information overload. That’s why, not only as a business owner, I value process, preparation, and transparency.
SAAS, and other service-driven, businesses often encounter two types of clients. And in that respect, Vertican is no different.
One type of client is the bystander. They observe what we are doing as it pertains to them. They spectate, pay their bill, maybe show sporadic curiosity about what’s happening and that’s doing themselves a disservice. Then, when they encounter a problem, like many would, they reach out for support.
The second type of client is the partner. They too observe what we’re doing, and then say, we want to get involved in this. We want to scale with you. Tell us how. Guide us and, while we’re at it, here’s what we think!
Vertican’s Client Success (CS) team works with clients daily to resolve a wide range of issues. Some are complicated and some can be rather simple. The irony is that either type can take the same amount of time to resolve. Why? It largely depends on the quality of information clients bring to the table.
I’ve talked about Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) in the past. Well, a significant factor in minimizing MTTR teeters along this theoretical line divided by how effectively we all participate in problem-solving.
At Vertican, we are putting together Rules of Engagement (ROE, we love acronyms) to accelerate both efficiency and positive outcomes not only when submitting an incident, but whenever there is a need for collaboration.
While we experience rules of engagement all the time both personally and professionally, have you ever noticed those rules fall under two categories: implicit and explicit? Regardless of type, all rules are based on the expectation for a desired result.
Implicit rules are unspoken, many having been ingrained in us for years by society. For example, when I call my doctor to schedule an appointment, I’m ready to provide things like my health insurance information and availability. My preparation is rote. I barely even think about it, yet this pre-planning is critical to saving both parties a ton of time in achieving the desired result. So, yes, there’s a rightful place in the world for implicit engagement, even in services we employ.
In Vertican’s microcosm of the world, we have found the way in which we engage with our clients and our clients engage with us is not quite efficient. Furthermore, it often creates an unnecessary and costly waste of time. It’s been said, “A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved.” So, one of the things that we need to do to help our clients scale with us is change some rules and expectations to be as explicit as possible.
We’ll share the basics such as emailing, rather than calling, Client Success so our incident support tracking system automatically generates a record. We’ll also dive deep, such as requiring documentation and providing any factors surrounding a problem to meet the criteria that initiates an official support ticket. Vertican’s ROE will outline what clients can expect from Vertican and what Vertican expects from clients.
Our ROE will provide help structure definitions, including what qualifies as regular versus billable support, clarity around types of assistance (i.e., professional, emergency), as well as comprehensive and transparent SOWs. Clients will give us their best in identifying factors surrounding problem determination and following the ROE.
To effectively serve our clients, our team may ask for additional information prior to officially engaging in the support resolution process – and that’s a good thing. This joint agreement, as do all partnerships, stands upon implicit mutual respect and explicit shared responsibilities.
As I referenced earlier, quips can resonate with life. Whether or not I pay for a service, checking off the I agree box doesn’t mean I’m fully engaged in the relationship nor that I’ll receive the result I need. When our clients and the Vertican team are prepared to collaborate with as many resources as possible, the resolution process moves swiftly forward.
More information on Vertican’s ROE will be made available in the coming weeks.
Lessons From an SME
Why Does My Firm Need a Time System?
The use of a test system for Collection-Master is strongly recommended. Let’s explore why a test system is a valuable tool in your efficiency arsenal.
Of course, you have a live production system used in your business. A complementary test system facilitates the opportunity to create new advanced techniques to solve business problems without jeopardizing your production system’s data and current workflows. In short, you can develop and test new things in a contained, replaceable test area and only introduce tested working processes to the production system once fully vetted and ready.
Here are some reasons to configure and use a test system:
Collection-Master has powerful workflow automation tools such as Field Level Events, Smart Documents (including scripts), Diary, and other automation. Using these power tools to maximize the efficiency of your teams is a no-brainer. Best practices dictate developing, testing, and fine-tuning these workflow tools to increase process efficiency in a test environment first. Once you iron out the kinks, it is time to utilize them in the production system.
Periodically, accounting situations arise where there is potential to cause significant data problems by not fully understanding the situation and its available options and ramifications. So having a test system to “experiment” in a worry-free environment can be worth its weight in gold.
Vertican releases a new version of Collection-Master almost every other Wednesday. The Vertican team puts each published release through a vigorous testing suite. However, many firms put new releases through their own testing for compliance and to ensure no interruption in their production environment. This added layer of protection is a great idea.
Employee training is an excellent reason for a test system. New hires, role changes, even fill-in circumstances warrant a place to make sure staff
knows what they are doing rather than pressing buttons and praying.
- Anonymization is awesome! Collection-Master has built-in tools to anonymize your production dataset quickly. Anonymized data is helpful for documentation, marketing, testing, etc.
Tools like RoboCopy easily reset or refresh test system data. It is relatively painless to reset a broken test system. Converting a fresh production copy to a test system and then anonymizing the data would likely be an overnight process. There are various strategies for different situations. For example, having scripts that copy only open claims, specific bank account data for bookkeeping testing, or restoring a previously anonymized system, to name a few.
Having a test system as well as scripts configured to reset it easily is just good practice and an important weapon in today’s compliance-crazy world. If you don’t have a functional test system, get one. If you have one that’s not well thought out with a strategy for your team to take advantage of its benefits, consider doing so very soon.
OK, let’s face it – Collection-Master is a complex beast. There’s an old saying among the Collection-Master team, “if you knew everything there is to know about Collection-Master, your head would explode.” Our industry is complicated and Collection-Master handles the many different types of collection practices, so there’s a lot in there. Ask yourself, do I honestly feel I’m utilizing even fifty percent of the capabilities available in the software? If not, then your bottom-line hinges on volume and efficiency – that’s nuts!
Contributed by John Currey, SVP Technical Services
Product Stories
Your Destination for 24/7 Automation
Two years ago, Nick Arcaro, SVP of Sales, walked into the office of one of our largest clients and was stunned by what he saw. On his way up to the Vice President’s office, he did a double take at one particular desk. For the forty seconds Nick watched, the man’s fingers repeated an action – one click on the mouse and hit enter, non-stop, like a real-life robot. Nick broke the man’s concentration by asking, “Hey man, what’s going on?”
He responded, “Oh! I’m downloading and uploading account information to clients.” Nick thought to himself, how could a firm this large be wasting hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars having an individual manually enter these files, when automation was created for this very reason.
That’s when it hit him, too many of our firms don’t even realize this capability exist! Job Scheduler is a tool that allows the user to schedule specific jobs to run automatically, requiring no human involvement for completion.
If you’re a Collection-Master user, you know the User Interface is restrictive. It requires someone with the knowledge to make it work, as well as an entirely separate integration with Windows Task Scheduler. Because it not a part of the core application, there isn’t much flexibility. Whereas Q-Law and Q-LawE Job Scheduler is a tool that allows users to run batch processes in an autopilot mode launched by Windows Task Scheduler.
Job Scheduler is already saving some of the nation’s largest firms thousands of dollars and hours by cutting out the middle person.
But how?
Q-Law and Q-LawE Job Schedulers can be run at any time! This means outside of normal business hours, including weekends, holidays, and those sweet vacation days if desired. Job Scheduler can be set to run jobs any minute, hour, day, week, or month. You can also choose to include or exclude Saturdays and Sundays.
Jobs set to daily can start at the same time and then given a run order to prioritize and sort your jobs. Additionally, users can put the job on hold, capture the time it takes to run the job, and even set a job to generate and send a report using email.
Job Scheduler can be set up to run a variety of batch jobs, reports, FTP processes, maintenance processes, and the processing of batch documents.
Its capabilities stretch far beyond automation. Job Scheduler offers flexibility, transparency, and customization which appeals to every user. Here are a few compelling tasks that can be accomplished using Job Scheduler:
- Importing an EDI from a client
- Running daily batch jobs
- Batch document printing
- Batch processing of military and county scrub interface
- Automate data backup to print Reminder and Broken Promise letters
Take a look at the screenshot below, an example of the user view for batch processing. It’s an example of the setup for merging all Florida Default Judgment packages at 5:45 am every morning. By batch processing your document merges early in the morning, your accounts will be ready for attorney meaningful reviews as soon as your staff logs in for the day.
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Here are more additional functionalities available in Job Scheduler.
- Link the running of a job to the successful completion of another job.
- Job Scheduler will automatically hold any job that did not complete its previous run with a status of SUCCESS.
- The number of seconds a job took is recorded in the jobs log file allowing you to evaluate the history of job’s run time.
- Use the Job Scheduler to grab an existing log files or report file and send that file using email.
- Send reports or files to multiple email addresses.
As our industry continues to grow with technology, so do the capabilities in Job Scheduler. Job Scheduler can be set up on multiple computers. The latest development in Q-LawE takes it a step further. Job Scheduler in Q-LawE now supports multi-threaded Job Scheduler machines, assuming the computer in use has adequate system resources and memory to do so (i.e., one computer running multiple jobs simultaneously). One of our largest clients runs Job Scheduler on over 17 computers at the same time!
Don’t be the firm wasting thousands on manual labor. It’s time you consider the benefits of Job Scheduler for your business. If your computers are powerful enough to handle automation, so is your business. As a user, you deserve flexibility and seamless integration in your collection software. To learn more on how you can upgrade your business system, click here.
Events
Mastermind Training Series Continues on April 14th
If you haven’t heard already, The Mastermind Series has begun! A series of virtual training sessions presented by Vertican’s top developers and subject matter experts (SMEs).
Topics will include all platform features and modules included in your Total Plan Subscription. This is an exceptional opportunity to learn from industry trailblazers such as Luis Gomez, Chief Strategy Officer, and Kurt Sund, Q-LawE Product Owner and Chief Innovation Officer.
Attendance is complimentary but advanced registration is required. The calendar is continuously updated, to learn more on the training sessions being offered click here.
Rest and Relax with Vertican in our Cabana at RMAi on April 13th and 14th!
This receivables management industry premier event is on our calendar – how about yours?
It’s almost here! We’re heading to Vegas to attend receivables management industry premier event. Isaac Goldman, CEO, and Nicholas Arcaro, SVP of Sales will be hosting private meetings poolside (in a cabana) at the Aria Hotel. If you would like to schedule some one-on-one time with Isaac Goldman or Nicholas Arcaro please click here.
Confirmed. We’ll be in attendance at the NCBA Spring Conference, at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek in Orlando, FL. May 19-21. Schedule time to meet with Isaac Goldman, CEO, and Nicholas Arcaro, SVP of Sales by clicking here.
VT Spotlight
Welcome to the section of the Newsletter where we share an inside look at some of Vertican’s amazing team members. This issue of vConnect focuses the spotlight on Ezdehar ‘Izzy’ Jaber and Hugo Alvarez.
Izzy’s key role with Vertican is Client Success Representative, focusing on and supporting clients. Here’s what else you need to know about Izzy.
Title/VT Job Role: Client Success Representative.
How long have you worked for Vertican? I’ve been with Vertican for 1 year and 4 months.
What sort of work did you do before joined Vertican? I worked in hospital administration for five years.
What is a typical day at Vertican like for you? A typical day consists of coffee, work, independent meetings, tea/yoga break, research, and meetings with my team.
What do you like most about working for Vertican? The work and the people. There’s always something new to learn and the team is always planning a new way to communicate.
If you could learn anything new, what would it be? Definitely Japanese, I’ve always wanted to learn I just haven’t found the time yet.
What was your very first job and how old were you? My first job was in retail at Express (clothing store in your local mall) when I was 18.
Word on the street is you are the vExchange and a yoga guru at VT? Tell us about it and how that began. I am the go-to person for all things vExchange and yoga. I took on the role a month and half ago and I have been practicing yoga for four years now.
What is something about you that may surprise your colleagues? I’m not a regular mom, I’m a cool mom. I love hanging with my son and playing Mindcraft. I’ve grown to love it because of him!
What (else) do you like to do outside of work? I like traveling, trying new foods, exercising, hiking, hanging out with friends and family, and meeting new people! You can always find me on my yoga mat, I’m a Yogi at heart.
Share something exciting you did in the last 12 months. Visiting Lake Placid, New York and driving up to White Face Mountain. At the moment, I’m planning my summer trips but when I’m not traveling, I’ll be learning how to garden and trying to find a place to camp and hike.
Do you have a favorite movie, artist and/or book?
Movie: Something’s Gotta Give. The kind of movies I gravitate towards are probably Indie films, historical, fantasy, and romantic comedy.
Music: I don’t have specifics, but as far as music, that just depends on my mood: Instrumental, Alternative Rock, Progressive Rock, Folk Rock, Jazz, Reggae, and even a little country!
Book: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
Please share a favorite quote. “True life is lived when tiny changes occur.” – Leo Tolstoy
Hugo’s key role with Vertican Technologies is as a Quality Analyst (QA). But that’s not all he is. Here’s a primer on Hugo.
Title/VT Job Role: I started off as a Client Service representative, then I was promoted to Quality Assurance. I currently work as a QA Analyst for one of our largest clients. Everyday there is something new to be learned; I really enjoy my new position.
How long have you worked for Vertican? Two years and four months.
What sort of work did you do before joined Vertican? I worked at a help desk before joining Vertican, installing remote and network printers, supporting internal software, and basic network troubleshooting. I’ve always been a “tech geek.“
If you could learn anything new, what would it be? I’d love to learn a new language. I know it sounds like a generic answer. I already have two under my belt (English and Spanish), but I’d like to learn either Portuguese and French next.
What was your very first job and how old were you? I was probably 16 years old when I started my first job doing construction work.
What is something about you that may surprise your colleagues? I played futsal for a first division team in Costa Rica where I am from.
What (else) do you like to do outside of work? Hiking, working out, hanging out with friends, karaoke, playing soccer, and traveling among other outdoor activities. I also love dirt bikes. I’m thinking about getting one of my own.
Do you have a favorite movie, artist and/or book?
Movie: The Upside
TV: Two and a Half Men
Music: Classic Rock, Pop, Reggae…
Please share a favorite quote. “To attract better, you have to become better yourself. You can’t do the same things and expect change. You can’t blame anyone or anything. It’s time to take responsibility for your reality. Start transforming your mindset. Start upgrading your habits. Start being more positive.” – Idil Ahmed
Thank you to Russell London, Esq., London and London, for submitting this month’s Collection-Master software tip idea!
Is there a feature or a quick tip you love and want to share with Vertican software users? Let us know!
Software Tip
Initial Capitalization Function
The file F:CLSINCCUSTOMINIT_CAP.INI holds a list of the Field Codes for the “Init Caps” feature.
The debtor’s title including details on the debtor will not be the same at all times. The details that will be transferred from an EDI could be in CAPS or that the user manually entered it in CAPS.
The Initial Capitalization function allows documents to have a more professional standard structure. The details for the Initial Capitalization Function allow the users to pinpoint certain fields so when they are merged on a document, rather than being all caps (JON DOE), it will be in initial capitalization (Jon Doe).
NOTE: You will only get this feature to work with the fields where every character is in CAPS. When Init Caps have been applied to a Salutation field, and the Salutation Codes set in [1-S-4-4] are not CAPS, then the merged field is not modified.
For this feature to work, you must create an INIT_CAP.INI in the F:CLSINCCUSTOM directory with the list of Field Codes that you wish to enable this feature on.
Example of INIT_CAP.INI:
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With INIT_CAP.INI
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Without INIT_CAP.INI
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Software Tip
Sending Announcements Using the Bulletin Board
Did you know you can send an announcement to all of your Q-Law users? Using the Bulletin Board feature, your announcement can be seen by all users when they log in or look at the Main Menu screen.
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To update your firm Bulletin Board, from the Main Menu, click Maintenance. Then click System Maintenance-Admin. Click Edit Firm Bulletin – confirm Yes to change.
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This is a text file, so you can type in your announcement. When you click the X in the upper right corner, it will ask you to confirm saving your changes. Click Yes and you are done.
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Software Tip
Setting Up WordPerfect for Merge Media in vParser
Enter a text box at the top of the page. Use the below example to specify the FILENO (SAMPLE1) and the document description (Demand Letter)
Sample file:
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VMEDIASTART=FILENO=/SAMPLE1~CMT=/Demand Letter
Add a text box with the below to insert a previously filed document(s).
For example, to insert a vMedia document filed with File # 123ABC, Description: Suit Pack 1, the following comment should be used:
Include vMedia Document=fileno=’123ABC’ and cmt=’Suit Pack 1′
One of the filters showing below can replace the line above that would allow you to refine which documents from vMedia database will be attached to the merge set:
~F = “Last”. Only one matching document (the earliest document by scan date) will be included.
Include vMedia Document=~F~fileno=’TEST’
~L = “Last”. Only one matching document (the latest document by scan date) will be included.
Include vMedia Document=~L~fileno=’TEST’
~A = “All”. All matching documents will be included, ordered by scan date from earliest to latest.
Include vMedia Document=~A~fileno=’TEST’
~R: = “Range”. Documents that match the specified date range, range specified as YYYY/MM/DD- YYYY/MM/DD
The R parameters if followed by a “:” (colon)
Include vMedia Document=~R:2021/01/01-2021-03-25~fileno=’TEST’
ENTER TO WIN
March 2021 Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the March contest!
Bill Peterson, Peterson Young P.C.,
Casey Simmons, Clontz & Clontz, PLLC,
The answers to the March trivia questions:
1. Which of these occurs in March: a solstice or an equinox?
Equinox
2. International Women’s Day, which celebrates women’s achievements throughout history and across nations, is held annually on what day?
March 8
3. Saint Patrick’s Day commemorates the _____ of Saint Patrick.
Death
4. Passover, beginning March 27, is named after the literal event of God “passing over” the Jewish households back in the day. What was unleashed on Egypt because the Pharaoh refused to let the Jewish slaves go free.
10 plagues (or any mention of plagues)
The winners had the choice of one of these two prizes:
April 2021 Contest
Can you answer this month’s quiz?
Three winners will be chosen at random from everyone answering all four questions correctly.
- Who won an Academy Award for portraying an Academy Award winner?
- How many different Coppolas have won an Academy Award?
- Name the person who appeared in only five films in their career, all of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- According to legend, why is the Academy Award statue called the Oscar?
This contest has ended. Please check the May 2021 vConnect for the answers and winners.
This month's prizes
Deep Tissue Massage Gun
Power Percussion Muscle Massager Gun for Athletes’ Back Pain Relief and Recovery, Percussive Chiropractor Massager 20-Speed Vibration Rechargeable Portable Drill Massage
LARQ Insulated Self-Cleaning Water Bottle
The world’s first self-cleaning water bottle and water purification system. It uses UV-C LED light to eliminate up to 99.99% of bio-contaminants from your water and bottle.
17 oz, granite white or obsidian black