Success Stories

SUMMARY
  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master and vMedia
  • PROBLEM: A collections law firm preferred hands-on assistance to set up new software users.
  • SOLUTION: Vertican’s Professional Services (vPros) team member provided live, personalized support, delivering a stress-free onboarding process.
  • IMPACT: The firm completed setup with ease, reinforcing the value of professional help and setting the stage for efficient, confident platform use.
PROBLEM

A mid-sized collections firm with about 15 users reached out to the vPros team for help onboarding two new employees – specifically to configure Collection-Master, WordPerfect, and vMedia, which have complex interdependencies. Even with clear instructions and documentation, the client was hesitant to set up their new users without the guidance of Vertican’s subject matter expertise.

SOLUTION

vPro Adan Fox, Client Success Representatives, stepped in. In just one hour, Adan systematically set up and tested each workstation and software component to ensure the intricate relationship between the tools was implemented correctly the first time.

Real-time support removes uncertainty

  • During a live, virtual session with the firm and their IT contact, Adan walked them step-by-step through the process in Collection-Master, WordPerfect, and vMedia.
  • Seeing the steps executed in real time gave the firm confidence to proceed on their own moving forward.

Reinforcing the value of “everyday” help

  • While this request is common and the execution is mostly routine, it demonstrates how Vertican’s engagement can turn a potentially intimidating process into a positive one.
IMPACT

With expert configuration, the client avoided missteps and downtime, resulting in a clean, confident setup that allowed the new team members to hit the ground running and saved the firm time and potential rework.

  • Faster resolution and smoother process – By using vPros instead of doing setup themselves, the firm expedited the outcome and avoided the risk of doing it incorrectly.
  • Client confidence improved – Direct screen sharing and a recorded walkthrough turned written instructions into an accessible learning experience.
  • Firm resources equipped – By observing an expert perform setup, firm IT gained greater understanding of Vertican tools.
FINAL TAKEAWAY

Even straightforward tasks can feel complex when tackled alone. This success story shows how Vertican’s vPros transform what may seem like “simple” requests into high-value moments of support – equipping your team, saving you time trying to figure things out, and delivering on our commitment to be a proactive, people-first service.

SUMMARY
  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master
  • PROBLEM: Following a server migration, the firm could not reliably launch Collection-Master, and printers installed and available in Windows were not detected by the application. 
  • SOLUTION: Vertican vPros verified the folder migration, corrected a drive mapping conflict, updated the Vertican License Manager (VLM) and Collection-Master, and completed workstation and client setup once permissions were in place. 
  • IMPACT: The firm launched Collection-Master successfully from the new server, restored printer functionality, and now runs on a current, supported version with workstation setup completed correctly the first time. 
PROBLEM

A Collection-Master firm moved to a new server and needed all required application folders transferred intact. Two issues surfaced immediately. 

First, the firm mapped Collection-Master to the N drive. Because Collection-Master interprets the N drive as a virtual drive within the software, this created a conflict that produced significant problems launching the application — a root cause that is not obvious from the error behavior alone. 

Second, printers that were properly installed and available in Windows were not being detected by Collection-Master. 

Until both issues were resolved, users could not dependably get into the software or generate documents from it, making this a blocking issue for daily operations on the new server. 

SOLUTION

Client Success Representative Patricia Reyna applied consulting hours to the engagement, and Paul Perez, Client Success Team Lead for Collection-Master, worked directly with the firm to bring the new environment online. 

The engagement included: 

  • Folder migration verification — Paul confirmed that all required folders were successfully migrated from the firm's prior server, ensuring nothing critical to the application was left behind. 
  • Drive mapping correction — The N drive mapping was resolved so Collection-Master would no longer read the application path as a virtual drive, clearing the launch failures. 
  • Version updates — With the drive issue resolved, the team updated the VLM and Collection-Master to their current versions. The updates were necessary to restore Collection-Master's ability to detect the firm's printers. 
  • Permissions and workstation setup — Once full-control permissions were granted at the folder level, Workstation_Setup and Setup_VLMClient.exe were run successfully to complete the client-side configuration. 
IMPACT

The firm came out of the migration with a working environment rather than a partially functional one: Collection-Master launches reliably from the new server, printing works as expected, and the firm is on a current, supported release of both Collection-Master and VLM. 

Just as importantly, the sequence mattered. Attempting the update or workstation setup before the drive mapping and permissions were corrected would have produced more problems, not less. Vertican's subject matter expertise identified the correct order of operations and resolved each dependency before moving to the next. 

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SUMMARY
  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master
  • PROBLEM: A Collection-Master client experienced missing diaries and incorrect or invalid diary information caused by damage to the diary index after routine maintenance had not been performed for an extended period of time. 
  • SOLUTION: vPro and Client Success Representative, Patricia Reyna, identified the severity of the diary index corruption and guided the client through two solutions: a Clean Diary Information utility and a Selective Index repair process to restore diary functionality. 
  • IMPACT: The client successfully restored diary visibility and date accuracy, improved workflow reliability, and re-established stable task and reminder management within Collection-Master. 
PROBLEM

A Collection-Master client reported issues involving missing diaries on claims and incorrect or invalid diary dates due to the lack of routine index maintenance. 

Users experienced various levels of data corruption: 

  • Diaries displaying incorrect dates 
  • Invalid diary information 
  • Diaries completely missing from claims 

 Because these issues directly impacted task tracking and workflow visibility, the client needed a reliable process to restore the diary index and recover normal system functionality. 

SOLUTION

Patricia evaluated the symptoms and recommended two repair options for different types of diary index damage. 

Solution 1: Clean Diary Information 

For environments where diary records were still visible but displaying incorrect or invalid dates, Patricia recommended running the Clean Diary Information utility. 

The recommended process included: 

  • Running Clean Diary Information [4-1-S-5-3] 
  • Navigating to [1-1] 
  • Selecting the Diary Search Open tab 
  • Searching Queue Name: QBADDATE to validate and review affected records 

 This option allowed the client to correct partially damaged diary information without requiring users to exit Collection-Master. 

Solution 2: Diary Index Repair 

For environments where diaries were completely missing from claims, Patricia recommended performing a Selective Index repair. 

The repair process included: 

  • Logging all users completely out of Collection-Master 
  • Navigating to [1-9-5] Selective Index 
  • Selecting: 
    • ID #14 
    • ID #15 
    • ID #50 
  • Moving the IDs into the Selected section 
  • Running the selective index rebuild process 

 This process repaired the damaged diary index structure and restored missing diary functionality. 

IMPACT

By following Patricia's recommended repair procedures, the client successfully restored diary functionality and corrected invalid diary data without requiring database restoration or advanced intervention. 

As a result, the client improved operational reliability, reduced workflow disruption, and addressed the importance of performing regular index maintenance to prevent future diary corruption issues. 

SUMMARY RECAP

A mid-sized Collection-Master firm with approximately 30 users relied on Vertican’s Professional Services team (vPros) to perform a critical SQL Server migration. Without in-house database expertise, the firm turned to Vertican’s Senior Database Administrator, Vishal Pathak, whose support ensured a smooth and future-proof upgrade – positioning the firm for long-term compliance, efficiency, and growth.

  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master/SQL Server
  • PROBLEM: Absence of in-house DBA to migrate from outdated, risky SQL server to updated version
  • SOLUTION: vPros specialized subject matter expertise to configure and migrate the server
  • IMPACT: Optimized system performance, averted potential future data loss – and secured priceless peace of mind.
PROBLEM

The firm had recently purchased a new server and needed to install and configure the current version of Microsoft SQL Server to align with modern software requirements and security standards. However, they lacked the internal expertise to complete the migration from SQL Server 2012 to 2019. While basic instructions had been provided, their external IT resource expressed apprehension about executing the setup due to the complexity and critical nature of the task.

Running on an outdated version not only limited performance and compatibility with key Vertican tools like Attorney Meaningful Review (AMR) and Vertican File & Serve (VTFS) but also exposed the firm to significant risks since Microsoft no longer supported the old version, making recovery from a crash, for example, potentially impossible.

SOLUTION

Client Success Representative Megan Dickerson, facilitated a consulting session for the firm with Vishal Pathak, Vertican’s Senior Database Administrator, to handle the entire SQL migration process. Vishal and Luis Gomez, Chief Strategy Officer and industry veteran, quickly assessed the firm’s environment and recommended a full configuration plan.

The vPro team’s delivery of a complete and strategic solution included:

  • Backup and migrate the SQL server database from version 2012 to 2019, complete with permissions and maintenance plans.
  • Custom configuration and optimization tailored to the firm’s infrastructure. 
  • Recommendations on database structure, drive mapping, and future maintenance.
  • Hands-on guidance for the firm’s IT administrator to help them navigate the new setup.

The full project was completed efficiently, using less time than originally scoped and leaving the client with additional unused hours for future consulting!

IMPACT

The migration not only updated the firm’s systems for optimal performance but also gave them peace of mind knowing they were supported by a true database expert. With no in-house DBA, the firm benefited greatly from Vishal’s guidance – saving them from the cost and risk of trial-and-error setup or potential data loss down the line.

“DBAs are expensive,” notes Vertican Client Success Manager, Michelle Samlaska. “But with vPros, our clients, especially those without in-house database support, can access the same level of expertise. As an experienced DBA, Vishal maintains the SQL Server infrastructure at Vertican. He has extensive experience with installing, maintaining, and optimizing SQL environments.”

The client is currently in the testing phase, with a clean migration environment ready for production. And thanks to the trust established during the consulting session, additional valuable vPro service opportunities, such as ongoing monitoring and maintenance, are now in the works.

SUMMARY
  • PRODUCTS: Collection-Master
  • PROBLEM: A collections law firm experienced End of Day (EOD) reconciliation issues after a Forwarder number was changed on a claim where Pool Cost = N. 
  • SOLUTION: Vertican vPro and Client Success Representative, Patricia Reyna, identified the root cause, provided corrective steps to restore balance, and recommended a security configuration change to prevent future issues. 
  • IMPACT: The firm successfully restored End of Day reconciliation accuracy, reduced the risk of future trust balancing discrepancies, and strengthened operational controls.
PROBLEM

A Collection-Master client encountered an End of Day reconciliation imbalance after a Forwarder number was accidentally changed on a claim configured with Pool Cost = N. 

In these scenarios, the Cost Balance displayed within the Disbursement Account represents actual trust funds being held on behalf of the Forwarder for future cost disbursements. This Cost Balance is included in the EOD calculation under the “Total Cost All Files” field in the reconciliation totals section. 

When the Forwarder number is modified after the Cost Balance has already been established, the lower reconciliation totals may update while the upper ledger totals remain unchanged. This creates an out-of-balance condition that prevents EOD from reconciling properly. 

The firm needed a clear resolution process as well as safeguards to help prevent the issue from occurring again in the future. 

SOLUTION

Patricia provided step-by-step guidance to correct the reconciliation of imbalance and restore EOD accuracy. 

The recommended process included: 

  • Reviewing the affected claim and documenting the existing Cost Balance amount  
  • Temporarily removing the Cost Balance from the Disbursement Account  
  • Re-entering the correct Forwarder number on the Placement screen  
  • Restoring the original Cost Balance amount after the Forwarder correction  
  • Rerunning End of Day reconciliation to confirm balancing was restored  

To help prevent future occurrences, Patricia also recommended implementing a security restriction: 

  • Navigate to [4-1-S-6] Security Setup  
  • For the “Everyone” group, enter N in Zone 2  

This configuration prevents users from editing the Forwarder Number field on the Placement screen after setup, significantly reducing the likelihood of future reconciliation discrepancies. 

IMPACT

By following Patricia’s recommended correction process, the firm successfully restored EOD reconciliation accuracy without requiring additional programming or database intervention. 

The preventive security configuration also strengthened operational controls by limiting unnecessary edits to sensitive placement information. As a result, the firm reduced the risk of future trust balancing issues, improved reconciliation reliability, and increased confidence in daily accounting processes. 

Learn about our End of Day Process Management vPro Package.

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SUMMARY
  • PRODUCTS: Q-Law (also applicable to Q-LawE and Collection-Master), and Ask Goldie AI Support Agent 
  • PROBLEM: A small collections firm needed to onboard multiple new Sender clients efficiently, without the cost or complexity of custom development. 
  • SOLUTION: Vertican's vPro Services team implemented a flexible case placement and post-placement automation solution using existing Q-Law tools.
  • IMPACT: The firm reduced manual effort, avoided additional hiring, accelerated onboarding, and achieved rapid ROI – while setting the stage for future automation.
PROBLEM

A Q-Law client, an efficient but small collections firm, needed to onboard three new Sender clients with similar requirements. Manual case entry was not a sustainable option, with each case taking five to eight minutes to input and ongoing adjustments expected due to fluctuating balances. 

The firm needed a solution that balanced speed, cost, and scalability – without overengineering the process or requiring internal technical expertise. 

SOLUTION

Working closely with Vertican Client Success Manager Michelle Samlaska, the firm explored their options and ultimately chose a guided, hands-on approach. They purchased the Onboarding New Sender/Client with Placement & Post-Placement Automation package from the vPro Package Service Directory. 

Through this engagement, Michelle: 

  • Conducted an initial discovery consultation to clarify data standards, Sender requirements, and reporting expectations 
  • Built and mapped a flat-file case placement import tailored to each Sender's specifications 
  • Configured payment and adjustment imports to support ongoing balance changes 
  • Reviewed remittance and reporting needs, leveraging native Q-Law functionality where possible 
  • Delivered step-by-step documentation so the firm could confidently run and maintain the processes 

Without the need for extensive custom programming, the firm received a practical, right-sized solution that used Q-Law's existing capabilities – implemented correctly the first time. 

As an added advantage, the client also licensed Ask Goldie, Vertican's free AI support agent for all subscription clients, giving them on-demand access to product guidance and support as they moved forward. 

IMPACT

The firm significantly reduced manual work, avoided hiring additional staff, and accelerated Sender onboarding – enabling faster time to revenue. With automation in place, this small firm's investment quickly paid for itself, especially as case volumes increased. 

Equally important, programming now supports future enhancements they may need down the road. As the firm grows or Sender requirements evolve, additional automation and reporting can be layered in without starting from scratch.  

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SUMMARY
  • CLIENT: Rutledge Law Firm
  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master
  • PROBLEM: Manual and time-consuming process for court filings and service of process
  • SOLUTION: Comprehensive VT help in setting up Vertican File & Serve
  • IMPACT: Tasks that took 8 hours per day now take 30 minutes
PROBLEM

Kip Rufini is the Director of Legal Operations for Rutledge Law Firm in Texas. Prior to implementing VTFS, the firm’s file and serve tasks were a significant drain on her time and resources. It typically took Kip 8 hours a day to manage the workflow of all the different proceedings and service of process, manually tracking filings, compiling packets, monitoring service, and updating claims at each step. All the complex steps, varying requirements, and constant checking seemed to take forever. Rutledge was even close to requiring additional personnel to stay on top of it all.

SOLUTION

Joe Woodward, Deputy Product Owner, worked closely with Kip to set up and configure her VTFS system, turning the manual tedium into an automated lifesaver. VTFS supports multiple process variants so the setup is flexible. For example, when the timeline is tight, Rutledge will do the filing themselves and only outsource process service. In this case, the VTFS code will just create the service record. VTFS can be configured for multiple processes by jurisdiction and any of the 25 proceeding types. At the point of attorney approval, VTFS smart functionality uses formulas to create records for the debtor(s) en masse.

IMPACT

Instead of spending her entire workday on court filing and process service tasks, it now takes Kip 30 minutes per day. And they haven’t had to hire additional staff. Kip can now spend her time on value-added activities that push the business forward.

Since implementing VTFS in July, Rutledge has sent over 800 cases to court.

“VTFS has been a game changer for Rutledge. It’s taken a manual and very time-consuming process for court filings and service of process and has given us an automated, flexible, and scalable solution – reducing my workload by 90%!”

– Kip Rufini

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Additional Information:

  • vMedia is a prerequisite for VTFS implementation.
  • For even greater firm efficiency, implement Attorney Meaningful Review (AMR) prior to, or in conjunction with, VTFS.

Related Links:

SUMMARY
  • CLIENT: HOA Collections Agency
  • PRODUCT: Q-Law
  • PROBLEM: How to charge interest when the client withdrew the principal
  • SOLUTION: Set up automatic interest tracking using existing functionality
  • LESSON: Vertican’s expertise can save you from manual, offline workarounds.
PROBLEM

One of our clients collects monthly Homeowners Association (HOA) fees. They had a large HOA client who wanted to charge interest on the monthly fees but subsequently pulled the accounts.

The collections agency had to return the principal to the HOA but was still entitled to their fees, which they wanted to collect with interest. But there was no longer a principal balance or a judgment account by which to charge interest.

They figured they’d have to track interest offline in spreadsheets for 500 accounts, then manually upload the data to Q-Law. But they decided to consult with Vertican first. When they explained the problem to Michelle Samlaska, Client Success Manager and Kurt Sund, Q-Law Product Owner, they asked, “Is there a better way to do this?” The answer was a definitive “Yes!”

SOLUTION

In a one-hour consultation, Michelle and Kurt created a custom solution without custom programming. Using existing product functionality, the solution ‘tricked’ the software into doing what the client wanted it to do – apply interest to specific non-judgment accounts. After the initial setup, they will never have to do manually what the system does automatically.

SAVINGS

A 1-hour Professional Services consultation likely saved the agency 20 hours of staff time per month.

LESSON

Proactively engage Vertican before you get wrapped up in a manual, offline workaround. Invest in Vertican’s expertise to save your firm time and money.

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Reprinted from the June 2024 vConnect.

SUMMARY
  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master
  • PROBLEM: Due to inefficient custom triggers the firm had created, SQL-Sync was so slow that it would take an estimated 2,000 hours to update the entire database. Each update to a record required a full scan through 200 million records.
  • SOLUTION: vPros rewrote custom triggers and added strategic indexes to drastically improve the performance.
  • IMPACT: SQL-Sync completion time was reduced from an estimated 2,000 hours to under four hours – unlocking huge gains in speed and efficiency.
PROBLEM

A large Collection-Master firm, specializing in consumer debt recovery and litigation management nationwide, was experiencing a crawling SQL-Sync. The project manager was confronted with an estimated 2,000 hours to completion time due to custom triggers draining system resources and forcing the program to read through 200 million records per trigger.

SOLUTION

vPros Luis Gomez, Chief Strategy Officer, and Adan Fox, Client Success Representative, optimized performance by adding targeted indexes and re-writing the client’s custom triggers to run far more efficiently.

IMPACT

The SQL-Sync completion time dropped from a potential eye-watering 2,000 hours to an actual 3 hours, 46 minutes, and 15 seconds – continuing to tick down even faster than estimated and delivering an enormous boost in speed, efficiency, and resource utilization.

SQL-SYNC

SQL-Sync is an extremely powerful and vital tool for keeping data consistent and up to date across a firm’s systems. It is designed by Vertican developers to manage and automate the process of synchronizing a Collection-Master firm’s database with their SQL Server and is free with a Collection-Master subscription!

SUMMARY
  • PRODUCT: Q-Law
  • PROBLEM: Business changes presented a need to create a working copy of Q-Law and selectively migrate all critical Q‑Law data to a partner law firm before a mid-Friday server decommissioning, all while trying not to disrupt live operations.
  • SOLUTION: Vertican vPros built a custom extraction utility, performed the live migration, and provided hands-on support to ensure a seamless transition.
  • IMPACT: The migration was completed in just three hours with little to no downtime, preserving all essential data, and saving approximately $600 in immediate costs while ensuring business continuity and data integrity.
PROBLEM

A long-time Q-Law firm was changing business pursuits and needed to transfer only a subset of replevin accounts (by CUSTID) for an associate attorney with a vExchange partner firm that was not yet using Q-Law.

With its complex data requirements, the migration needed to include all related data, such as open and closed files, workflows, court codes, contacts, and memos – without disrupting either firm’s live environment.

The source system was scheduled for decommissioning mid-Friday afternoon. This was a tight cutoff window as the request reached Vertican just a few days prior and required the entire transfer to be completed before the shutdown.

SOLUTION

Brett Lisk, Q-Law/Q-LawE Development Engineer, built a custom utility to extract all necessary Q-Law data tied to specific CUSTIDs and cleanly deliver it into a new Q-Law system that was installed on the partner’s server.

The comprehensive solution included client files, workflows, court and sheriff codes, contacts, and historical notes – preserving institutional knowledge and ensuring operational continuity.

Michelle Samlaska, Client Success Manager and vPro consultant, led execution by managing the live migration end-to-end, addressing cleanup issues, and stepping in to run the tool herself to ensure its future-readiness flexibility should it be needed.

Cost and License Optimization
Michelle also identified and removed redundant system components, saving the partner firm about $600 immediately and reducing ongoing license overhead for vExchange.

Post-migration Support
The team stayed engaged for the weeks that followed, handling Q-Law conversions, training, and data validation – ensuring a stable and confident transition.

IMPACT
  • Zero downtime cutover – While 11 hours were spent on the back end in preparation for the migration, the expedited migration was completed in just 3 hours, well within the required Friday afternoon window.
  • High data integrity – Thousands of critical data points – including long-text memos, workflows, and contact records – were kept without manual export/import.
  • Time and cost savings – The client avoided about 30 hours of manual rework per direction and saved the partner firm approximately $600 in vExchange costs.
  • Client satisfaction and readiness to grow – The partner firm praised Vertican vPros for the seamless and efficient process, cost savings, and strong foundation for the firm’s future expansion on Q-Law.
FINAL TAKEAWAY

What could have been a high-risk, “partial” data migration under tight time pressure became a seamless, stress-free success – thanks to the precise planning, automation, and hands-on consulting that preserved critical data and delivered immediate cost savings.

SUMMARY
  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master
  • SCENARIO: Bookkeeper Left with All the Knowledge
  • SOLUTION: Staff Training
  • LESSON: Cross-Train Staff to Avoid Emergencies & Lost Revenue
SCENARIO

Sometimes there’s a single person in a firm who knows the collections software. This person may suddenly leave the firm or even die unexpectedly. It’s happened.

  • The firm may contact Vertican in a panic because they have to do X by a deadline, and they have no idea what to do. They don’t have staff who can help.
  • Other firms, however, assume they can “figure it out” on their own without any help. We don’t hear from these firms until they’re in a world of woe after realizing they not only lost critical firm knowledge, they also lost a lot of time.

You can experience an immediate crisis or a slowly developing crisis. Or you can prepare!

SOLUTION

A small, long-time client in Florida lost their bookkeeper when she retired. Instead of wasting time, the firm immediately purchased training to help the staff member get up to speed in her new role.

  • During just one hour of training, Paul Perez, Client Success Team Lead – Collection-Master/vMedia, gave the client an overview of program features and how they could benefit the firm.
  • He also answered questions about software processes and features that no one else in the office could answer since it was knowledge that only the former bookkeeper had and there was no documentation.
LESSON

Ideally, your firm will proactively cross-train your staff with at least one backup. Don’t wait until knowledge walks out the door and you have to start from scratch!

You can also use training to cover knowledge gaps that would make your operations more profitable. Staff may be doing tasks manually because they simply don’t know another way.

How much can training save your firm in avoiding down time, playing around with the system, and making mistakes that then need fixing?

About Vertican Training & Consulting

Vertican Professional Services covers both web-based Training and web-based Consulting.

  • Training covers standard use of the software according to a pre-determined agenda.
  • Consulting covers firm-specific topics, including your data and your workflow.
  • Both training and consulting hours are good for 180 days from purchase and come with a recording your firm can keep.
  • An example of combining the two would be to use Consulting to automate your workflow and Training for staff to manage the automation.
WHAT IS vPURGE?

vPurge removes all non-essential data from closed claims, including vMedia files, helping firms stay in compliance with Sender and legal data retention policies.

SUMMARY RECAP
  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master
  • PROBLEM: Client faced a new compliance mandate from their Sender to purge all closed claims older than seven years.
  • SOLUTION: One brief session with a vPro guided the firm through their first vPurge, performing a portion of the purge with them and staying on hand while they did it themselves to ensure future independence.
  • IMPACT: Client was able to meet Sender’s requirements and is equipped to do vPurge on their own.
PROBLEM

The mid-sized law firm’s Sender mandated purging all closed claims older than seven years for compliance purposes. The firm had never performed a vPurge before and needed help understanding the process to ensure it could be done correctly and to avoid potential data loss. So, with compliance on the line, the firm needed support to get it right the first time.

SOLUTION

Megan Dickerson, Vertican Client Success Representative and vPro, provided clear written instructions and offered to guide them through it. To make the session as productive as possible, Megan split the purge list into three parts – completing the first two and assisting the client with the third to provide them with hands-on experience. The consult was completed in just 30 minutes, and the remaining time was banked for future needs.

IMPACT

The client successfully executed a vPurge without issue or downtime and they now feel confident managing purges on their own in the future. This was a proactive and interactive consultation that helped the client meet their Sender’s compliance requirements quickly and efficiently. And best of all, the session saved the client time and reinforced Vertican’s commitment to client enablement and long-term success.

BONUS TIP FROM THE vPROS

The purged data is saved in a folder for optional offline storage. Caution: If the folder is ever deleted, the data is gone from Collection-Master and would require significant consulting hours to restore.

SUMMARY
  • CLIENT: Retail Collections Firm
  • PRODUCT: Q-Law
  • PROBLEM: Mail Merge not working with new forms
  • SOLUTION: Rebuild and re-program the forms from scratch
  • IMPACT: No more backlog of complaints
PROBLEM

A retail collections firm in the Midwest was stumped. They couldn’t get mail merge to work with five new Word forms: four summons and one garnishment. After several weeks of frustration, they asked Vertican for help.

When Michelle Samlaska, Client Success Manager, tried to load the summons forms, her Word program froze, then crashed. Upon investigation, she saw that the forms, which were court templates, contained hidden metadata and security features embedded in Word.

SOLUTION

Michelle rebuilt the summons forms from scratch, stripped out the embedded data, and made the forms interactive. She then input the correct merge fields, wrote custom field strings, linked the data sources, and set up the automation logic to pull data from the accounts. After this, she also created a second set of forms and programmed the merge fields for Debtor 2. Each form was then tested to ensure mail merge was successful.

IMPACT

The firm’s Accounts Coordinator was amazed with how fast the forms went through after Michelle’s help. From a backlog of over 300 complaints, by the first afternoon following the solution, 47 complaints were processed in a matter of minutes, and the entire backlog was resolved in a single day!

While custom programming was still required for the garnishment form, five hours of Professional Services took care of weeks of hassle and gave the firm peace of mind. In the end, they received eight summons forms since they had two versions for court venues, two for process service, and then four created for Debtor 2.

LESSON

There’s no need to lose sleep (or sanity!) by trying to do it yourself. Let Vertican come to the rescue!

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Reprinted from the September 2024 vConnect

SUMMARY
  • CLIENT: Collection-Master and vMedia Firm
  • PRODUCT / FEATURE: vParser in vMedia
  • PROBLEM: Slow and inefficient document filing with manual processing limitations using File-to-vMedia
  • SOLUTION: Implementing vParser to streamline document storage and accessibility
  • IMPACT: Faster processing, improved efficiency, and reduced system strain
PROBLEM

A Collection-Master law firm located in the Midwest faced significant challenges when managing large-scale document merges and storage in vMedia. The firm previously relied on File-to-vMedia, which required each user to manually print and store merged documents one by one. While the firm could save their WordPerfect documents and then pass them to one person for processing, each batch had to be opened using File-to-vMedia one at a time. This wasn’t a major issue for small batches, but as the firm’s volume grew, the process became increasingly inefficient.

Manually processing thousands of documents slowed down workflows, strained system resources, and sometimes even caused crashes. Each job used dedicated machine power to run the process, making it time-consuming and cumbersome. The firm needed a faster, automated solution to ensure seamless document management without disrupting daily operations.

SOLUTION

To address these inefficiencies, the firm’s Director of Legal Operations enlisted Vertican Professional Services. Joe Woodward, Deputy Product Owner, Collection-Master worked with the firm to implement vParser. vParser is a powerful tool that automates document processing and works seamlessly with vMedia! Unlike the previous File-to-vMedia method, which required each user to process documents separately, vParser:

  • allows multiple users to merge documents simultaneously.
  • automatically processes large (100s to 1,000s) volumes of documents in batches.
  • reduces system strain by offloading processing to a centralized machine utilizing the speed and efficiency of SQL*.
  • uses an invisible tag (“magic string” hidden code that looks at population data from the claim) to correctly categorize and file documents within vMedia.

With just a 2-hour investment in Professional Services, vParser users at the firm now save their merged documents as PDFs and drop them into a designated folder. A single individual can kick off all jobs with a single command or a command line can schedule it in advance. The system then automatically processes them in the background. The result? No more manual file handling or system slowdowns.

This setup is especially beneficial for firms using Vertican File & Serve (VTFS), ensuring that documents are properly stored and ready for electronic filing. It’s important to note that vParser is just as valuable for firms that don’t use VTFS, as it optimizes document storage and retrieval in vMedia regardless of the filing method.

IMPACT

Since implementing vParser, the firm has significantly improved its document processing efficiency. Rather than manually handling files one at a time, the firm can now batch-process large volumes of documents effortlessly. Just look at these other significant benefits to using vParser:

  • Eliminate the need for manual document handling.
  • Improve processing speed and system reliability.
  • Enable multiple users to work simultaneously without system slowdowns.
  • Create a scalable solution that supports both small and large document volumes while significantly improving overall efficiency.
* vParser requires a SQL Server back end for vMedia. If you do not currently utilize a SQL Server, this should be configured by your IT department prior to setting up vParser. A vPro can also help your team configure vMedia to work with SQL in just 1-2 hours.

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SUMMARY
  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master
  • PROBLEM: Errors on Remit and EOD Balance – Off $6m
  • SOLUTION: Fix Bad Data on Old Transactions
  • IMPACT: Firm could remit and reconcile balance successfully
PROBLEM

An experienced client services manager has worked with Collection-Master at her firm for over 20 years. Just before 4 p.m. on a Friday, she encountered a serious issue: running her end of day generated an error with the account off by $6 million. 

She quickly reached out to Julia O’Day, Vertican Account Manager for her firm, to see if she could get an emergency incident that day. She noted that the day prior, she had also received an error when reversing an old batch remittance. Julia immediately contacted Paul Perez, Client Success Team Lead – Collection-Master/vMedia, to see if he could jump in, and she guided the manager through the emergency incident purchase process. 

After dropping everything to tend to the client, Paul was able to diagnose the issue within 10-15 minutes. The old batch remittance had bad data in three transactions. This bad data could have resulted from any number of issues: lack of maintenance updates, a hardware issue, or a difference between current table structure or fields from prior years.

When the program cannot read the data or the data is corrupt, it will enter a value; in this case, the value was -2002000. Multiplied by three transactions, the result was a negative $6 million balance error. 

SOLUTION

Paul used special, advanced tools to edit the COLLBILL and COSTBILL tables to correct the data in the remittance and cost bill. He then checked the bank account balance and ensured that the fix did not negatively impact other functions in the software.

While this sounds simple, it wasn’t. Without expert knowledge, a firm wouldn’t even know what tools to use, much less how to use them. Vertican’s SME, Paul, identified the proper tool, which was a potentially destructive tool that isn’t normally used for this type of problem. This situation is really not something a client could likely ever diagnose much less fix.

Keep in mind that while this problem was caused by an old batch remittance, bad data can happen to you with yesterday’s data. The index could be bad, maintenance could have been lacking, or the network could have interrupted writing the data to your hard drive. It could be something that’s not even related to Collection-Master.

IMPACT

After a couple of hours with Paul, the manager was able to rerun the remit successfully and reconcile the balance. 

Being able to remit and run your financials are key business processes you don’t want interrupted. Without Paul’s help, the firm would not have been able to remit to their client or run their end of day to reconcile their account. 

How Do Emergency Incidents Work?

In this situation, Vertican’s Account Manager determined that the remittance error and the balance error were likely related, so the remittance error ticket would be diagnosed together with the balance error in a single emergency ticket.  

Your Account Manager Can Help

One of the benefits your Account Manager provides is acting as a liaison with our Client Success team, developers, and even product owners. In this case, Julia helped the firm get emergency support. 

  • In January 2025, Nicholas Arcaro, SVP Business Development, announced a new benefit for Silver and Gold subscription clients: an assigned Account Manager. 
  • Platinum and Diamond clients receive a dedicated Account Manager with an enhanced level of service. 
  • Find out more about the Account Management Team.

If your firm doesn’t know who your Account Manager is, click this button: 

SUMMARY
  • PRODUCT: Q-Law/Q-LawE and Collection-Master
  • PROBLEM: Manual work to onboard claims from non-DTP clients
  • SOLUTION: Automated onboarding, document management, and reporting
  • IMPACT: Boost profitability by saving time and money on each claim

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We’ve seen this situation countless times with our CM and QL/QLE clients. But for this success story, we focus on one firm’s experience.

PROBLEM

One of our smaller Q-LawE firms found that as their claims increased, it became exponentially more difficult to manage all the associated tasks, like new claims processing, status updates, and reporting. These are tasks that their DTPs handle seamlessly. But many of their clients don’t have a DTP.

For example, they typically pick up six creditors a year for medical claims, but only one might have a DTP. For the remaining five, the firm had to perform a lot of manual work to onboard new claims and documentation and to handle the associated reporting.

The cost of this manual work added up when they considered the volume of claims they had. Looking at one of their creditors, if they only did 200 new claims per month, they were expending at least 75 hours of manual work for the client:

  • 10 minutes for initial onboarding + 10 minutes for document onboarding = 20 mins x 200 claims = 4000 mins (67 hours)
  • Plus 8 hrs per month to create custom monthly status and remittance reports for the creditor.

Once they realized all the time being wasted, the benefit of automation became clear and they knew Vertican could help.

SOLUTION

Automated Claims Onboarding

Fortunately, this client used spreadsheets. But the firm didn’t have the staff know-how to set up the new claims template and map the data from the client to the software to enable bulk import. That’s where Vertican came in to take the load off the firm and dedicate the time required to make it happen.

Now the system locates the client-provided data file in a specified folder and the firm ingests placements, maintenance, recalls, etc. with the click of a button or on an automation schedule.

Automated Document Management

Along with each new claim, the firm had to manually onboard the media (e.g., statements of accounts, credit card agreements, affidavits, etc.) and produce the suit filing packages. Each suit typically requires three documents but may have up to ten.

Instead of spending 10 minutes or so manually importing the documents for each claim, Vertican set up batch import. Media was configured and mapped so that the system knows where each document goes and executes the import with the click of a button.

Automated Reporting

After the claim was imported, the firm would perform ongoing manual work to produce not just the one-time acknowledgment report, but monthly status reports and remittance reports according to the client’s custom requirements.

Vertican reviewed the client’s requirements and mapped the fields they required, in the format they required, on the schedule they required.

This not only saved the firm time and stress, but it minimized human error.

IMPACT

Based on an estimate of 75 hours of manual labor each month, and a conservative estimate of an 80% time savings with automation, the firm saved a minimum of 60 hours of work each month for a single client, freeing up their staff to work on additional claims and increase revenue.

What is it worth to save money and earn more?

If your firm earns $50k in revenue from a client each year, is it worth it to spend $5k on Professional Services to help you make that $50k with less labor and time so you handle more claim volume? 

What Can Gates Do?

You may be under the impression that Gates only reject data. Actually, Gates don’t have to reject any data. Find out how our Senders use them to manage data, monitor events, and avoid manual work. These are some of the Sender stories made possible by Maryann McBrinn, vExchange Product Owner and her team.

Gates Protect Senders from Compliance Risk

One of the largest debt buyers in the U.S. has implemented a set of custom gates, some of which were the inspiration for these Universal Gates:

  • Universal Gate 4005 notifies the Sender if a suit code is reported on an account with an expired statute of limitation (SOL).
  • Universal Gate 4003 notifies the Sender if a call is attempted on a Cease & Desist or Do Not Call account.

With Gates monitoring events and notifying them, the Sender is free to focus on value-added work. Without Gates, the Sender would either have to manually sift through data in Excel or create an offline tool.

Gates Filter Data Automatically vs Manually

Our next story involves a national debt buyer based on the West Coast. Of the hundreds of vExchange codes, they only wanted specific codes that aligned with their Sender-driven compliance requirements.

  • Previously, they would export the data from vExchange to Excel and filter the codes manually.
  • Then they would import the data back into their system of record, which is Q-Law.
  • Now they have controls in place with Universal Gate 2008 (Invalid Activity/Status Code) to automatically filter the vExchange codes coming from Receivers.

As a result, the Sender can focus on managing underlying issues rather than slicing and dicing data in a spreadsheet.

Gates Stop Record Updates From Triggering Sender Events

A national consumer finance company wanted to stop vExchange record updates from triggering events on their side.

  • The Sender received blank records whenever the place of employment (POE) was removed from a Collection-Master file.
  • The blank record would trigger a proprietary event notification in the Sender’s system, and they spent time trying to figure out why there was an event with no data.

Now this Sender uses Universal Gate 2009 (Updated/Blank POE Information Received from Firms) to block blank POE records, stop Sender notifications from occurring, and take the strain off their legal managers.

Gates Save Time Managing Financials

A large Midwest debt buyer recently implemented a set of custom financial gates.

  • Before implementing these gates, the Sender had at least two staff working full-time to manage their financials.
    • They would manually perform the gate checks offline to make sure the data met the requirements of the firm manual.
  • After implementing these gates, staff time went from 80+ hours per week to about 2 hours per week.

Essentially, the Sender outsourced their effort to vExchange and freed up their FTEs for value-added work.

About vExchange Gates

vExchange has more data and record types than YGC, and more information for the Sender to better evaluate data. With more data comes complexity and risk.

  • As your portfolio grows, you need to make use of tools to automate monitoring, so issues are resolved as quickly as possible.
  • Request access to the Mastermind session on Universal Gates for Senders
  • Check out Universal Gates in the vStore.

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Reprinted from the March 2024 vConnect.

SUMMARY
  • CLIENT: Mid-Sized Collections Law Firm
  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master
  • PROBLEM: Formatting Remittance Statements to Meet Client Requirements
  • SOLUTION: Template Changes and Custom Programming
  • IMPACT: Monthly savings of 50+ Hours
PROBLEM

A firm contacted Vertican stating that they spend an inordinate amount of time formatting remittance statements to meet their Clients’ requirements. Their staff uses cut-and-paste and rearranges data on every remittance, which takes considerable time. To avoid excessive work for staff with limited bandwidth, the firm invested in VT Professional Services to customize the remittances per Client requirements, out-of-the-box when the remittance is performed.

SOLUTION

Joe Woodward, Deputy Product Owner, worked with the firm to create Client-specific templates that print to Excel precisely as each Client requires — no more cutting and pasting each remittance and wasting valuable human effort. The firm was able to reallocate its resources since it no longer required manual intervention to reformat every remittance.

IMPACT

Since reformatting each remittance could take 10 minutes to complete and verify, at just 300 remittances monthly, the firm saves 50+ hours of manual work per month. Professional Services helped them reclaim the time from unnecessary manual labor so they can focus on value-added work.

SUMMARY
  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master
  • PROBLEM: Mail merge Configuration
  • SOLUTION: Enhance templates and learn to leverage the power of Smart Document functionality
  • IMPACT: Significant increase in time-efficiency and reduced labor costs
PROBLEM

A firm was struggling with the complexities of configuring mail merge forms in WordPerfect. They have been using Collection-Master for many years, and the employees who were originally trained on document configuration were no longer at the firm. The firm wanted to make adjustments to existing documents, including eliminating the need for human intervention on merged forms.

SOLUTION

John Currey, Product Owner, assisted the firm with their document configuration needs. Not only were the template forms enhanced with significant efficiencies, the firm learned how to use Collection-Master’s powerful Smart Document functionality. 

Formulas were enhanced to employ the following time-saving and mistake-proofing functionalities:

  • Make decisions that avoided human errors
  • Populate merge code data that previously required a manual entry
  • Intelligent, automatic adding and removing of Diary Codes
  • Route claims with insufficient data to proceed to the appropriate party for corrective action
  • Automatically reformat text to the appropriate case
  • Add specific breadcrumb notes to the Paperless Notes
  • Parse data as needed for the document
  • Make document decisions based on client, jurisdiction, etc.
  • Validate data to ensure document integrity
  • Cancel the document based on circumstance to avoid errors
  • Perform calculations, including date math, percentages, and other necessary arithmetic
  • Advance the workflow so the claim moves through each stage automatically
  • Lookup items in a list and take the appropriate actions
IMPACT

The firm not only saved huge amounts of time on templates they use every day, but they also gained proficiency on how to configure forms going forward.

SUMMARY
  • PRODUCT: Collection-Master
  • PROBLEM: Overwhelmed collections firm lacked training on workflow tools
  • SOLUTION: Subject Matter Expert training on powerful automation tools
  • IMPACT: Training on advanced tools boosted efficiency, saved hours of manual work, and eliminated opportunities for human error.
PROBLEM

A firm was struggling to keep up with their work. Inundated with daily demands, and clients asking for increasingly more, they hired additional staff. But they still couldn’t keep up. They were so busy, they didn’t have time to train new employees. Furthermore, the new employees received training that was watered down since the training the trainers had received was from their staff’s own insufficient knowledge of the power of Collection-Master. The firm had limited or no knowledge of the workflow enhancers (below) built in to Collection-Master.

SOLUTION

Vertican subject matter experts showed the firm how each tool could be applied in their specific situation.

  • Conditional Themes to change application colors based on claim conditions (bankruptcy, represented by attorney, hardship, etc.)
  • Field Level Events to automatically change data, redirect workflows, catch errors, and alert users, based on a claim event.
  • EDI Field Level Events to automatically perform a multitude of functions based on electronic data ingested by the applications.
  • Smart Document Workflow enhancers such as X-Documents and WP Scripts to automate workflows and alleviate the necessity for human intervention, resulting in faster actions and fewer mistakes.
  • DTP automation to automatically import or export to and from clients or third parties without human intervention.
  • Paperless Note Filtering in the Paperless File based on job assignment to reduce time to find data.
  • Report Generator coaching to facilitate combining workflows and reports to quickly identify data holes and correct them.
IMPACT

Today, the firm is up to speed and leveraging their knowledge and use of Collection-Master. The last time the firm received Vertican training was in the 1990s! None of the staff that was trained at that time was still at the firm. Sound familiar?

Collection-Master is an earthmover. Are you using it as a shovel?

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