In short
Verbatim’s monitoring follows hundreds of sources, day and night: the press, public registers, official decisions and the sources you add. The Monitoring agent tells you about anything that changes your project, with the excerpt that proves it. Several articles on the same event make a single line. Every day, at the time you choose, a short briefing covers all your projects, in Verbatim and by email.
Following a subject means rereading the same websites and registers every day. Verbatim’s Monitoring agent does that reading at any hour and flags what matters to your projects.
Hundreds of sources
The Monitoring agent follows the press, radio and television, social media, public registers, court records, public tenders, company filings, parliamentary papers and official decisions. The sources you add join the monitoring, and the agent runs searches every day to find new ones. Monitoring covers every language relevant to the subject, and titles are translated into your language.
For each project, the agent draws up a monitoring plan from a search of the web. Monitoring starts at once. You can change the plan at any time, or write to the agent, for example “stop flagging press releases”.
Pace: Light, Regular or Intense
The pace sets how often the Monitoring agent checks your sources. Light suits a long-running subject, Regular suits most projects, and Intense suits a story that moves by the hour. Every project shows the time of its next update.
One event, one line
The Monitoring agent removes duplicates and groups the articles that cover the same event. Four articles on the same council decision make one line. Anything your project already knows does not come back as new. Set-aside articles remain available, each with the reason it was set aside.
Findings, sorted
Every finding comes with its source, its excerpt and the reason it concerns you. Verbatim sorts findings into three groups:
- “What changed”: anything that changes one of your projects, such as an inspection report that contradicts an operator’s statement;
- “Needs you”: anything that calls for your decision, such as a reply to your interview request;
- “New on your subjects”: new facts, sources and articles.
A finding that changes a project triggers an alert. The “Add to project” button files a finding in a project, and the “Follow” button adds a subject or a source to your monitoring.
The briefing, at the time you choose
Every day, at the time you choose, Verbatim writes a short briefing on all your projects. It covers what changed, what needs you and what is due that day. You read it on the Home screen or by email, and soon on iPhone. On a day with nothing new, the briefing says so in one line.
Questions
Can I follow a subject without opening a project?
Yes. The “Follow” button adds a subject to your monitoring, outside any project. The “Make it a project” button then turns it into a project, findings included.
What happens if the monitoring misses an article?
You point it out to Verbatim. It finds the article, adds its source to your monitoring and files the article in your project.
Can I stop the monitoring?
Yes. The “Stop” button stops the Monitoring agent on a project. Every change the agent makes to the monitoring plan is shown with its reason, and the “Undo” button reverses it.