Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The White stuff
I had a bit of a shock this morning. I fired off an email to Rupert White at the Gazette about a forthcoming supplement and got a rather stark automated reply that said effectively that Rupert had left the building. He'd not mentioned anything so I was just about to send out the search parties when those good folks at the Legal Support Network announced the transfer of the season - Mr White was joining them shortly as their new Head of Content and Community. Well, I don't think Fergie could have done better - Rupert's a very nice guy and talented and knowledgeable with it, successfully pulling the Gazette out of the digital dark ages into the bright shiny lights of the 21st social media century. In David and Sarah & co, he's got colleagues who prove that good guys can win, and I'm sure he'll bring his own inimitable Rupert style to proceedings. And more than anything, I think it shows just how far LSN has come and how far it intends to go - a white good move in my book.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Actions speak louder
Actions do indeed speak louder than words which is why I'm going to keep my accompanying spiel to a minimum. I've just finished a case study for lit support and edisclosure specialist Legal Inc and in an industry that seems to be perpetually inundated with swathes and swathes of new application, gizmo and vendor PR we thought we'd ring the changes and report on some real-life coalface achievement.
Demonstrating the technology works is one thing but equally important is the role of process and people and understanding how the three have to be adroitly brought together in order to meet tough processing and review challenges. You can read how Legal Inc did it in 'Legal Inc and Clearwell: Cutting complex projects down to size'.
Demonstrating the technology works is one thing but equally important is the role of process and people and understanding how the three have to be adroitly brought together in order to meet tough processing and review challenges. You can read how Legal Inc did it in 'Legal Inc and Clearwell: Cutting complex projects down to size'.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The staff of life
One of the things that has really impressed me about e-know.net since I started working with them a couple of years ago has been a very evident valuing of their most important asset, their staff. It's refreshing to see a company taking an inclusive, consultative approach to employee relations, and spending time and money on acknowledging and rewarding individual and collective performance. It's not just about formal schemes such as the Employee of the Month award or informal team-bonding and social get-togethers - it's about asking staff their opinions and encouraging suggestions and contributions on everything from business development to which charitable initiatives to support. Making them feel an important part of the organisation beyond their immediate job function - not rocket science exactly but a rarer occurrence than you might think, so I take my hat off to them. Most recently, they asked everyone to put forward names for their new office cum data centre. I joined in and, in a nod to the data centre's amazing eco credentials, I offered up 'The Greenhouse'. I wasn't in the least bit offended that they eventually went with Datapoint House...well, I only sulked for a couple of days. I suspect they were worried that they might have people turning up in search of hardy annuals only to find a flowering managed service provider in residence instead.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Legal first for InTechnology with unified communications launch
It's not often that you get to cover something that's a genuine first but InTechnology have seemingly beaten everyone to the punch with legal's first unified communications (UC) solution with integrated IP telephony. As telephony has always been the missing link in UC up to now, you can see why it's such a significant development - I mean, it can't have been very unified hitherto if the phones were missing. But what's really interesting about the UC movement is that it recognises that all those wonderful tools that have transformed how we communicate with one another - email, voicemail, BlackBerry, etc - have also started to become a bit of a problem. Think about the classic protracted email exchange that takes a week to generate a result when you could have sorted everything in a five minute phone call..you get the picture. In fact, InTechnology estimates that UC could reduce unnecessary communications - and the associated costs - by up to 50%.
Here's more....
Legal market finds voice with first unified communications solution with integrated IP telephony
Data, network and telephony management specialist InTechnology has announced the launch of the legal sector’s first Unified Communications (UC) solution with integrated IP telephony.
Until now, voice has been the missing link in all UC systems but InTechnology has brought together hosted Microsoft Office Communication Server and its enterprise class telephony service at the desktop. It estimates that law firm users will realize a 50% saving in unwanted or superfluous email and voice messages, greatly reducing communication latency, dramatically accelerating the decision-making process and improving employee interaction.
The launch comes at a time when both IT departments and lawyers are struggling to cope efficiently with a growing number of discrete devices and applications and associated messages and calls. A typical user may have a desktop PC or laptop, mobile phone or PDA, office desk phone and instant messaging, all of which are managed separately with multiple contact lists and inboxes.
Add to this the ever increasing quantity of e-mails, phone calls and voicemails to both fixed and mobile devices every day, many of which are generated as a result of email/telephone tag with no decisive outcome, and you risk growing user frustration, technical overload and an unnecessary drain on time and resources.
Available on a pay as you go basis, InTechnology's Hosted Unified Communications Service provides businesses with a unique set of integrated services including e-mail, instant messaging, presence, shared calendars, shared desktops, video calling, conferencing and IP telephony.
Richard Quine, InTechnology’s director of product management, comments:
"The goal of UC is to reduce the time, cost and frustration associated with unnecessary delays in decision making - to bring together all the tools of communication which we use, thereby allowing users to make decisions on how to interact with one another based on the presence status of their contacts.
What’s significant about the addition of voice to the UC offer is that it has the genuine potential to transform how lawyers communicate and collaborate with one another, with their clients and with counsel. This goes beyond the inherent efficiencies of a unified inbox or utilizing the ‘presence’ concept to accelerate the decision making process.
Firms can now leverage new capabilities such as high definition online video and conferencing - these will enable them to save costs, time and carbon emissions by offering a high quality alternative to face-to-face meetings and conferences. It is estimated that regular business travellers spend eleven days a year on avoidable or unnecessary travel – strip out the associated costs, factor in the extra fee-earning time returned to the practice and you are looking at a very substantial return on your investment. And that’s before you even add in the gains and savings to be had from the newly streamlined communication process afforded by the hosted UC platform.”
Here's more....
Legal market finds voice with first unified communications solution with integrated IP telephony
Data, network and telephony management specialist InTechnology has announced the launch of the legal sector’s first Unified Communications (UC) solution with integrated IP telephony.
Until now, voice has been the missing link in all UC systems but InTechnology has brought together hosted Microsoft Office Communication Server and its enterprise class telephony service at the desktop. It estimates that law firm users will realize a 50% saving in unwanted or superfluous email and voice messages, greatly reducing communication latency, dramatically accelerating the decision-making process and improving employee interaction.
The launch comes at a time when both IT departments and lawyers are struggling to cope efficiently with a growing number of discrete devices and applications and associated messages and calls. A typical user may have a desktop PC or laptop, mobile phone or PDA, office desk phone and instant messaging, all of which are managed separately with multiple contact lists and inboxes.
Add to this the ever increasing quantity of e-mails, phone calls and voicemails to both fixed and mobile devices every day, many of which are generated as a result of email/telephone tag with no decisive outcome, and you risk growing user frustration, technical overload and an unnecessary drain on time and resources.
Available on a pay as you go basis, InTechnology's Hosted Unified Communications Service provides businesses with a unique set of integrated services including e-mail, instant messaging, presence, shared calendars, shared desktops, video calling, conferencing and IP telephony.
Richard Quine, InTechnology’s director of product management, comments:
"The goal of UC is to reduce the time, cost and frustration associated with unnecessary delays in decision making - to bring together all the tools of communication which we use, thereby allowing users to make decisions on how to interact with one another based on the presence status of their contacts.
What’s significant about the addition of voice to the UC offer is that it has the genuine potential to transform how lawyers communicate and collaborate with one another, with their clients and with counsel. This goes beyond the inherent efficiencies of a unified inbox or utilizing the ‘presence’ concept to accelerate the decision making process.
Firms can now leverage new capabilities such as high definition online video and conferencing - these will enable them to save costs, time and carbon emissions by offering a high quality alternative to face-to-face meetings and conferences. It is estimated that regular business travellers spend eleven days a year on avoidable or unnecessary travel – strip out the associated costs, factor in the extra fee-earning time returned to the practice and you are looking at a very substantial return on your investment. And that’s before you even add in the gains and savings to be had from the newly streamlined communication process afforded by the hosted UC platform.”
e-know.net keeps eye on legal
Recruitment may be the new hot vertical for e-know.net's marketing and PR efforts but we're certainly keeping an eye on legal, and we're always looking to expand and refine our services. There's a good front page splash in this month's Legal Technology Insider about our latest offering to SME law firms - CRM.
Here's the original press release:
e-know.net adds CRM to hosted portfolio
Managed service and SaaS specialist e-know.net has announced the launch of a new offering for SME law firms keen to leverage client relationship management and marketing software, but wary of the levels of financial investment and IT expertise required.
CRM Plus is based around Microsoft Dynamics CRM and can be delivered in two ways: as an addition to e-know.net’s managed desktop as part of a fully outsourced solution, or on a Software as a Service basis for those firms looking only to out-task certain applications. Back-end system administration and technical support are included within the monthly subscription, which is priced at £35 per user; the underlying SQL Server platform and licenses are rolled in at no extra cost.
Consultancy days can be bundled into a wraparound package at the initial implementation stage, with e-know.net specialists able to offer hands-on assistance with any particular configuration, migration or training issues.
Nigel Redwood, e-know.net’s managing director, knows that small to medium sized law firms want to take advantage of CRM tools but are concerned about costs and the availability of the requisite IT skills in-house. “Microsoft Dynamics is a big ticket item in most SMEs’ eyes and the necessary SQL know-how is not always accessible or affordable. CRM Plus gives firms a low cost, no-risk way of bringing vital functionality into their businesses, where they can focus on managing the client rather than mastering the technology, on developing the prospect rather than draining the profits.”
Here's the original press release:
e-know.net adds CRM to hosted portfolio
Managed service and SaaS specialist e-know.net has announced the launch of a new offering for SME law firms keen to leverage client relationship management and marketing software, but wary of the levels of financial investment and IT expertise required.
CRM Plus is based around Microsoft Dynamics CRM and can be delivered in two ways: as an addition to e-know.net’s managed desktop as part of a fully outsourced solution, or on a Software as a Service basis for those firms looking only to out-task certain applications. Back-end system administration and technical support are included within the monthly subscription, which is priced at £35 per user; the underlying SQL Server platform and licenses are rolled in at no extra cost.
Consultancy days can be bundled into a wraparound package at the initial implementation stage, with e-know.net specialists able to offer hands-on assistance with any particular configuration, migration or training issues.
Nigel Redwood, e-know.net’s managing director, knows that small to medium sized law firms want to take advantage of CRM tools but are concerned about costs and the availability of the requisite IT skills in-house. “Microsoft Dynamics is a big ticket item in most SMEs’ eyes and the necessary SQL know-how is not always accessible or affordable. CRM Plus gives firms a low cost, no-risk way of bringing vital functionality into their businesses, where they can focus on managing the client rather than mastering the technology, on developing the prospect rather than draining the profits.”
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