Product Story

The Power of Q-LawE Job Scheduler

Your Daily Life

Imagine you had to monitor every email as it came in to your Gmail account. Or you had to sit in front of your computer to watch each update to your Facebook or TikTok feed. You’d think that was silly. Instead, your apps run in the background even if they are not open, and you decide when to interact with them. You might have your computer deliver daily stock prices. Your phone automatically checks the weather.

Your Work Life

Now imagine that instead of interacting with Q-LawE to push buttons, run reports, and move data, you let it do tasks in the background. Like stock prices, you could tell Q-LawE to automatically execute tasks and deliver the results to you – not one task, but 100 tasks. Welcome to Job Scheduler.

In a Nutshell

Think of Job Scheduler as a user but one that does much more than a single human can do. Unlike a human user, it can execute multiple tasks at the same time, while sending you an email when the job is completed and logging its activity.

Bottom Line

Focus your staff on value-added tasks rather than the routine tasks that take up 80% of operations. Increase your firm’s capacity to take on additional business. Even saving 10 hours a week of your staff’s time would pay for multiple Job Scheduler licenses. We have clients that saved 40 full-time staff by implementing Job Scheduler.

What is “Multi-Threading”?

A single computer can typically run one process at a time. Job Scheduler allows you to place a job into different threads, using the same computer to run multiple jobs independently and simultaneously.

The best example is one of our large clients who had a backlog of 180,000 records to process. By dividing the job into six separate processes (threads) on a single machine, the backlog was caught up in six hours and has never been behind since.

Kinds of Jobs

Job Scheduler can handle over 100 types of jobs. The examples below come from our clients.

Multi-State Legal Pleadings: One of our clients uses a Job Scheduler machine for each of the 22 states in which they operate. Each Job Scheduler machine processes legal pleadings for that day, including suit filing, judgment, garnishment, and lien, which are made ready for attorneys to review in Attorney Meaningful Review (AMR) when they arrive each morning. Previously, the firm was behind and could not process all the business they had. Job Scheduler has saved them in excess of 100 people. Once the suit is filed or there is a judgment or garnishment, Job Scheduler can also upload copies of all the media to be sent to the creditor. And it can interface with courts.

New Claims Imports: One of our firms uses a new feature that allow simultaneous imports. If you are importing 500 new claims and you wait at the computer for 20 seconds per claim, you could instead run the imports before staff arrive in the morning and load them in the system ready for the next step like AMR or a bankruptcy scrub.

Vendor Data: Use Job Scheduler to automate the sending and receiving of data to and from vendors to perform a bankruptcy scrub, military scrub, or filing. Job Scheduler includes an integrated secure FTP functionality so you can upload and download data automatically.

Media Imports: Job Scheduler has a document batch importer to take care of all the media you receive with new claims, associating it with the proper account.

Microsoft Word MailMerge: Unlike all other Job Scheduler jobs, MailMerge is a single thread on a PC, and requires a separate Job Scheduler for each state.

The Benefit of Scheduling

It’s not just that Job Scheduler can run multiple jobs. Because Job Scheduler runs 24/7, that means you can run those jobs at optimal times. Claim imports can slow your system so if you run resource-intensive jobs at non-peak hours, your system will perform more smoothly during normal business hours.

Job Scheduler also allows you to set up recurring processes at various intervals: every 5 minutes, hourly, weekly, or every second Thursday of the month.

Implementation

Job Scheduler uses Windows Task Scheduler functions to start Q-LawE in Job Scheduler mode. You may need an IT resource to set up Windows Task Scheduler and to set up any Job Scheduler machines. Other than that, Job Scheduler can be configured and monitored without IT resources. A power user is sufficient. If there is an error, Job Scheduler will restart, capture the error, and send an email notification to the designated resource.

Here’s an estimate of the Job Scheduler licenses you would need based on your machine’s memory and the number of threads you run on that machine.

Next Steps

If you’ve read this far, we’d like to suggest that you purchase a 1-hour consulting block to discuss how Job Scheduler can address your firm’s specific operations. You’ll also receive an estimate of the number of Job Scheduler licenses you need to do the work.

Instructions:

• Go to Professional Services on vPortal and purchase 1 hour.
  • The price of consulting is $199 per hour through the end of July.
  • Beginning August 1, consulting is $399 per hour.
• Contact Client Success to schedule your consultation.
  • Select “Other” as the Description of issue.
  • In the detailed description field, put “Schedule Job Scheduler consultation that we purchased.”
  • Your request will not be billed as a support incident.

We recently hosted a Mastermind Session about the robust, game-changing functionality of Job Scheduler. If you were unable to join us or need a refresher, click here to watch the video.

Lessons From an SME

Why vExchange is Better than YGC

The YouveGotClaims data standard (YGC) has been in place for 30 years, and people, of course, have become comfortable. For the YGC datalink, it’s easy to forget its limitations and the fact that the technology was based on Internet Explorer, which became obsolete a decade ago! We kept the YGC datalink running until Internet Explorer was retired. vExchange was designed with the benefit of 30 years of YGC experience. But you may still have the impression that YGC was “easier.”

Let’s look at four examples that show why vExchange is better than YGC.

Easier Setup & Automatic Updates

The YGC Data Standard requires manual effort that vExchange doesn’t require. Remember setting up the YGC matrix?

• In YGC, each Receiver is responsible not only for translating their P-Codes to *CC: codes, but also for associating each P-Code to one of the various Action Codes that will trigger the correct YGC record.
• YGC relies on the firm to remember to set up the YGC matrix and to accurately associate every P-Code with an Action Code. If the firm forgets or does it incorrectly, information will not be sent.

With CMvX, setup is simplified and mostly automatic.

• Each Receiver is responsible for translating their P-Codes to *Vx: Codes, but they are not responsible for Action Codes.
• vExchange generates the right records. For example, the creation of Record 245 (bank) is automatic.
• Information that is updated in Collection-Master will be sent to vExchange without extra effort or set up by the firm. For example, bank updates will be carried through to every affected claim.

To see details about this example, see the Case Study.

Just a Conduit vs Data with Integrity

YGC was built as a conduit with few rules. It is common for a firm to report different information to YGC than was entered into Collection-Master. Firms can alter the data being sent, without correcting the underlying system of record. They can also filter the data to selectively share only what they want. Data integrity is left up to each member.

With YGC, you may have had the illusion of more ‘control’ but being able to send selective or bad data means “Garbage-In” / “Garbage-Out.” Just because the garbage is hidden, doesn’t mean it’s not there.

vExchange does not allow Receivers to filter or select the information they wish to share. The platform is built on the basis of “all claims,” which not only means all the Forwarders but, much more importantly, all of the information within a claim. vExchange was designed with “Data with Integrity” in mind. It starts with all of the information being reported. Data is not omitted just because it’s convenient. vExchange ensures you don’t send incorrect or incomplete data. For example, YGC will accept 11-digit zip codes. vExchange does not.

Inventory Problems

If you read my article in the May / June issue of vConnect, you’ll recall that Phantom claims are those for which vExchange has a 2001 record with no match on the 4 keys of a 1001 record.

Oblivious vs Aware

vExchange lets you know about inventory and other problems. All Vertican business adapters require that the inventory exactly matches the claims’ keys.

• Both YGC and vExchange rely on the “Four Keys”: Agent_ID, Forwarder_ID, Sender_int_File, and Cred_File.
• Both YGC and vExchange will reject Phantom claims for existing vExchange Forwarders; however, vExchange tells you about it; the YGC datalink did not.
• The YGC datalink had hidden problems that firms were unaware of and which were unaddressed. Ignorance is not bliss. It’s not that vExchange has more problems. It’s that you are now made aware of them so you can fix them.

No Fix vs Self Healing

The YGC datalink provided no awareness of mismatched claims, whereas vExchange enforces matching keys, makes you aware of mismatches, and has self-healing solutions embedded in the application.

CMvX is smart enough to leverage “Trigger Resend Records (R196)”, “Change Key (R197),” and “Reset Cache (R198)” to automatically heal inventory problems.

• When a firm updates its claim with the proper Four Keys, the system will end up performing a “Reset Cache (R198)” and onboarding the claim.
• vExchange will recognize “Mismatched” claims where the Four Keys sent by the agent do not match an existing placement by a vExchange Forwarder.
  • When a firm updates an existing Phantom claim on vExchange, a Change Key (R197) will be automatically performed, healing the inventory.
• vExchange can work with a Sender and create  custom “Change Key (R197)” and “Reset Cache (R198)” records to prompt CMvX to onboard the missing claims!

Gates – Exceptions, Rejections & Remediation

vExchange adds the concept of Gates, a custom set of rules for a Sender that sets requirements for their Receivers. These Gates create Exceptions and Rejections based on specific data requirements. Exceptions are reports that identify problems, and rejections actually prevent incomplete or inaccurate information from being delivered. Very early into the Gates process, we realized that a Gate is useless unless there is a way to remediate the issue. Part of the Gate rules includes the necessary actions to remediate the record and allow the information to be delivered.

As it pertains to Gates, the client might want to create an Exception report of claims where a valid bank has been assigned and a bank garnishment has not been filed. The Gate would check to ensure that the claim is eligible for a bank garnishment and that there are no recent payments, etc. The Exception would have remediation criteria so that entries would be removed from the report once they were fixed.

For Forwarders

vExchange Gates are a game changer since rejections prevent the wrong data from being delivered and exceptions highlight potential problems for review. On the YGC datalink, whatever the firm sent is what you got and the Forwarder could not see all the data that the firm had. In vExchange, data integrity is enforced with visibility to all parties.

For Receivers

Since the YGC datalink allowed you to send whatever you wanted with no reconciliation, vExchange seems to require more effort: you need to monitor reports and remediate rejections. vExchange is actually helping you give your Forwarders what they want. Over time, vExchange helps you learn how to avoid mistakes. Remember: ignorance is not bliss.

Analytics

When we talk about data visibility, the real difference between the YGC datalink and vExchange is “all the claims”. YGC analytics only showed what you reported. If you didn’t set up your matrix correctly and completely, the reports didn’t show the right data. It couldn’t provide a complete or reliable source of analytics.

vExchange, however, was designed to include all the data, not only for your firm but for other firms. This allows you to benchmark your performance against your peers, as well as see patterns in your own data.

Summary

The YGC datalink relied on Senders and Receivers to manage their inventory. YGC did little to enforce compliance, nor did it provide a mechanism for Exceptions, Rejections, and Remediation. Senders and Receivers needed to create their own solutions outside of the product. With the YGC data standard, it is common for a Receiver to resend the same information over and over again if a matrix is configured incorrectly.

vExchange was designed with the benefit of 30 years of YGC experience. We found that relying on each firm and Sender to set up their system accurately was unrealistic and that a lot of information in the system was missing, inaccurate, or even misleading due to errors in the YGC matrix.