From yes to recording

The path at a glance

A company goes through eight steps. You start the first one and help at a few others. Colby runs the contract, the phones and the review. Your portal shows where each company stands in four stages: Talking, Contract, Signed and Recording.

Step 1: the owner opens your link

Your invite link is in Share. The page it opens shows your name, says there is nothing to sign today, and asks for the owner's name, phone number and city. The owner taps Have Colby call me, and the page says Colby will call from (480) 542-7526. Every field on that page is listed on Share and refer.

You can also type the owner's details into Refer a company in Share, or choose Send to Colby on someone in People. Nobody on your list hears from Colby until you send them. If the company is already talking with Colby, Colby checks who referred it and tells you.

Step 2: Colby calls the owner

Colby calls to explain how the program works and to answer the owner's questions. The owner signs nothing on the call. The rate, the number of kits and the hour target are set later, in the Order Form.

If the owner asks you something these docs don't answer, tell them Colby will cover it on the call.

Step 3: you ask Colby for the contract

When the owner says they are ready to sign, open Companies and click Request contract on the company. Colby reviews every request before anything goes to the company. What to fill in is on Contracts.

Step 4: the company signs with Colby

Colby sends the company Colby's standard contract through DocuSign: a Master Services Agreement and an Order Form. Colby signs first. Then DocuSign emails the person you named, who confirms the company details, fills in anything left blank and signs. You never sign it. In Companies, the company moves to Contract while the contract is out, then to Signed.

If a contract sits unsigned, ask the owner whether the DocuSign email arrived and whether they have questions. Terms questions go to Colby. The paperwork is a plain summary to send them.

Step 5: the company gets ready

Before anyone records, the owner has three jobs. You can help with each one.

• A written OK from the owner or manager of each place the crew will record. The building letter is a one-page form for this.
• Each person who will record has read the crew sheet and said yes. Anyone can say no.
• The owner has picked the places, shifts and people for each kit.

Offer to fill in the building letter with the owner, or print the crew sheet in English and Spanish. Owners who finish these before the phones arrive start sooner.

Step 6: Colby prepares and ships the phones

After the company signs, Colby sets up each phone and ships the kits at no cost to the company. In Companies, the Kits column shows how many kits have gone out against the number in the Order Form, for example 2 of 5 sent. Phones and accessories can arrive in separate boxes, so tell the owner to open everything before the setup call. More on Phones and kits.

Step 7: the setup call and first test

Colby walks the owner through the phones and the recording app on a setup call, and recording starts after it. Each recorder makes an account with their own personal email and the company's invite code, fits the strap, aims the phone at their hands, and records and uploads a short test.

Check with the owner that the setup call is booked and that the kits arrived. The full recorder steps are on Recorder setup.

Step 8: first feedback, then steady recording

Recorders upload on Wi-Fi after each shift. New hours show as In review until review finishes. If a video gets feedback, the crew fixes it before recording more. A slipping strap and hands out of view are the usual first notes.

Accepted hours show in Today and Earnings. Colby pays the company at the rate in its contract, and pays you $2.00 for every accepted hour the company records, with no end date. What to check from here is on The first six weeks.

Where companies stall, and what to do

Questions

Read next

• ContractsWhat each company signs with Colby, what your own Referral Agreement is, and how to ask Colby to send a company its contract.
• Phones and kitsWhat comes in a camera kit, how Colby sets up each phone, how kits ship, and what to do when a phone breaks, goes missing or changes hands.
• Recorder setupHow each recorder gets from an unopened kit to good video: the account, the strap, the angle, a 10-second test, the pre-shift checklist and uploading.
• Your first conversationFive minutes is enough: who you are, what Colby pays for, what the crew does and whether the work fits. Then send your link. The owner leaves a number, Colby calls, and there is nothing to sign that day.