Time Matters latest release, Ver 16.1, is now available

 

  • It provides somewhat faster searching.
  • It also fixes some annoying bugs such as a restart of MS Word that affected some users after running a document template,
  • It no longer hangs-up the Quickbooks klink when it encounters certain obscure characters.
  • It also updates Quickbooks and Time Slips to work with newer versions.
  • Full Release Notes may be found at
    https://support.lexisnexis.com/lndownload/software/Time_Matters_16_1_Release_Notes.pdf
  • Contact Premier if you have questions or would like to implement v16.1

 

Opportunity Cost ‘What a Concept’: 

A four lawyer firm, 15 active users, elected to rent a server five years ago. Server hardware, set-up and related maintenance and remedial support is included.  Compared to a hosted server from any number of vendors at a per user monthly cost of $80. to $150 and the math adds up over five years to $100,000.

The lesson is this, get a second or  third opinion before you commit to that ongoing cloud expense.  You can have a managed on-site server for a fixed monthly fee and have access to it from anywhere.  It is actually easier and faster in use and better for printing compared to the ‘cloud’ hosted server option.

What about disaster recovery, backup and redundancy?  
Disaster recovery on-site and also online (i.e. in the cloud) is something every firm should have in this new age of ransomware.  This too is a newer standard option. Disaster recovery can actually be set to run on totally different infrastructure supported by a company other than the primary system provider.  What if your hosted system (cloud) provider stops answering their phones.

If you would like to speak to a partner at the above referenced firm, or law firm owners in similar firms who have also saved a bundle while benefiting from better performance, just give us a call or send an email.

Two years ago we started our own hosting service and used it ourselves for a year and also with a client. It worked fine, but we backed away from that structure because, honestly, even with a certain level of redundancy, the thought of a central point of failure was too scary.

We continue to offer both traditional server arrangements, as well as, subscription based, cloud style contracts for an on premise server. We include remote desktop services (terminal server) as required.  We have added a Disaster Recovery (DR) option where the entire environment may be brought online separately using both a local device, and if needed a remote DR location.  This can be done at a savings of up to one half the price that I see hosted system providers charge and at the same time allows Premier to make a decent margin.

For my money, you get the best price/performance with an on premise server with remote desktop services.  Regarding terminal server, one 70 user firm  we support has 30-40 users who have worked in terminal services mode for the last 10+ years. Other smaller firms have their own subscription based server in their office, except for one firm which is totally virtual so we have had their server in our location for the last few years.  Most firms run TM, Billing, Office, Adobe, HotDocs and Quickbooks.

As reliable as the hosted service providers seem to be, my ideal system configuration calls for a separate Disaster Recovery (DR) infrastructure, as independent and separate as possible.  In other words, If Plan A fails do you really want your Plan B to be totally dependent on the same people and related resources that provided Plan A.   We are using standard Microsoft technology to support Plan A, which is familiar to by most local techs, if ever needed.

Our Plan B involves DR software and a local device and offsite option. This provides the means to virtualize the entire server and PC environment and operate locally if/when needed or operate off-site.  BDR also provides the means to test the failover plan, as often as desired, or try out new apps or the effect of a new upgrade.  In the age of ransomware, it seems DR is a level that is now highly desired and increasingly required by law firms.

We have investigated and know others who have worked with DinCliud, AirDesk, Legal Anywhere, Uptime Systems and Abacus Cloud, and with all of the above, my questions to fellow consultants and law firms involved with online systems are:

‘Do you firms have a backup only or a true disaster recovery strategy’

‘Is it separate from the vendor’s primary infrastructure, i.e. an independent data center, run by separate staff?’

Does anyone offer the ability to ‘recover and run their hosted environment on a device at their firm?’

‘Compared to on premise, ‘Do your online system providers require special apps, extra steps or have slower performance especially when printing or scanning?’

‘How much does an extra GB cost from a hosted system provider?’

‘Do temporary staff require logins that cost just as much as a regular user? ‘

‘Do you have restrictions on Administrator level access?’

Any other unexpected plus or minus using your hosted system provider?

Do you know how Time Matters’ unique ‘Package Feature’ utility can save a tremendous amount of time in customizing your system?  Use our FREE plugin to learn more –  FREE  Plug-in to Time Matters – Two Reports to Count Contacts and Matters by State and Zip.

Our goal is to simply show the power and ease of use of a well designed law practice management program – aka Time Matters – send us an email to request your free plugin.  This demonstrates the efficient tool and time saving utility that Time Matters offers to plugin customization from one Time Matters system to another.

Our super simple offer is in exchange for your email and contact info we will send a transfer file that can be imported in seconds.  The file has two summary reports to summarize Contactsor Matter by State and Zip. Yes, you can do this once with Send to Excel, but why not make it easy to do in the future with a Time Matters report.

Sample Using the Time Matters Tutor Training Database

  1. Contact Report – Count by State and Zip Code
    1 – Sample Report – State and Zip Code – Contact Counts by State and Zip

2.  Matter Report – Count by State and Zip Code
2 – Sample Report – State and Zip Code – Matters Counts by State and Zip Code

 

You may know your Fair Issac Co. score (FICO) score but do you know your PEER score? By PEER score I mean Practice Efficiency and Effectiveness Rating as it relates to any LPM software, such as use of Time Matters.

The Problem:
The most frequent comment we hear by lawyers at conferences about their softwre is:
‘We use (fill in the blank) software but only use 10%, how can you help us use it better …”

The Solution:
First we need to assess how you are doing.  You may have conquered only 10%  but what 10% and ideally what other areas are available and worth pursuing in your situation.  So we have a checklist document that we use as a tool to determine what you do know and don’t know, and what is worth going after.

As the saying goes,” Little hinges can swing big doors” and often the means to save time and to manage much more effectively are right in front of you, hiding in plain sight.  Here’s an info graphic (one small piece of a more comprehensive tool) that you might find useful.
Here is a link to the actual assessment form, please try it (only takes about a minute) .

Do you know your Premier Efficiency Score?

Do you know your Premier Efficiency Score?

Click the Linked text:
Go ahead and fill out the form, it only takes a minute to get your score

The Problem:    Integration with VOIP Dialing tele voip 2
It has been difficult to integrate Time Matters with VOIP telephone apps for automated dialing.  It is also cumbersome to automatically dial any on screen telephone number using VOIP apps.

The Solution:          PremierDialer™
PremierDialer™ solves this problem.   Time Matters  provides for the capture of various contact telephone numbers and Time Matters provides an automated dialer.  PremierDialer™  will automatically transfer the number and execute the VOIP call.
To learn more watch the Click to View 2 min Video:

Tele.856.429.3010     support@premiersoftware.com

logo premier

Premier’s Tom Caffrey  is the guest presenter for a Feature Friday
– ‘Essential Reports from Time Matters’ July 10th  at 3-4 PM EDT
Featuring TM Reporter’ – for automatic reports delivered to your inbox.
Register at: http://bit.ly/July10_Feature_Friday_Time_Matters_Reports
Feature Friday - Working with TimeMatters Reports

 

 

One of the most desirable feautures from any practice management system, including Time Matters, is an automated reporting module.  Unfortunalely that doesn’t exist.
However, we think it is a great idea – so we created it.

Announcing
– TM Reporter –logo premier

Automated Reporting Module for Time Matters

Your Reports,
When You Want Them,
Emailed Automatically to Whomever You Designate
You can not manage effectively if you don’t have reports.

Reports enable you to measure your progress against your objectives
Actual Billable Hours vs Targeted Bllable Hours
Actual Matters Opened by Type vs Targeted Matters Opened by Type
Cash Flow – Events by Date and Time of day with Fee Totals

Reports enable you to manage by exception
Aged Accounts Receivable – Unpaid Bills Over 30, 60, 90 days
Past Due Todo’s – Tasks Past their Taget Completion date

TM Reporter Reporting Features:

Frequency
Select when – Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Daily,  All, or  ## (Day of Month)

Record Type – Chose your existing reports or select from our library of reports for managing Events, Todos, Contacts and Matters

Record Filter  – Identifies the filter of records selected for the report, Such as Open Todo’s – Due in Next 7 Days

Email Recipient – One or many recipients for Each Report – Includes path to saved report pdf file (plus option toinclude pdf report as attachment)

Contact us to learn more.

Management by Crisis:  Yesterday, I received an email with a subject “I need You”
We all can recall the famous crisis situations when we read:
“Houston, we have a problem” or  “I think we’re going to need a bigger boat”
So today’s Latin Lesson is: ‘praemonitus, praemunitus’  Forwarned is Forarmed

Case in Point:
The email with the a subject “I need You” involved a rather large large law office that we hadn’t heard from for quite some time… seems their server had run out of system capacity.
An ounce of prevention, (about an hour or two of an experts time) would have precluded the entire issue. The good news is 24 hourslater the firm now has 100GB of free space that they did not have yesterday. They also have a new configuration that will preclude that particular issue.

In every area of specialization there are many simple solutions available provided you are dealing with an experienced specialist. That is why lawyers offer annual retainer or maintenance programs for their clients and that is why no law firm should go along in a DIY fashion. You need a well defined protocol – a structured relationship with a specialist.

If you don’t have a personal relationship with an expert in any given critical area of your practice you are going to have a problem, and you may need a bigger boat.

 

 

 

Thanks to all who visited with us in Newport Beach during the NAELA Summit.
Joan and I certainly enjoyed speaking with you.

The LCPLFA members were hosts for a great party Friday evening on the bay across from Balboa Island. You and the So. Cal community certainly know how to live large.NAELA Summit - Balboa Island - Newport Beach CA

Michael J Millonig, CELA, Dayton, Ohio was the winner of Premier’s full sponsorship to the next NAELA conference.

To Recap:  

Premier featured Wealthdata, our Estates and Elder Law Practice System for Time Matters. This is now used nationally by several hundred leading law firms.

New at the Summit was our SafelyFiled/SafelyMD offering. Safely Filed is a secure, online file storage and sharing system.  Safely/MD  is an extremely cost effective, law firm branded, client emergency ID card with online access to emergency data and healthcare documents.

Premier has offered SOS for the five over years, a managed Small Office Server.  Premier is Now also offering SOS virtually.  We call this SOS-Cloud.  It may include all of your essential applications – Time Matters, MS Office, PCLaw, Adobe Acrobat/Reader, Hot Docs, and more.

MTM is Managing with Time Matters, our training forum with four live training classes every month for a flat charge per user or per firm.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any question you may have.

Tom Caffrey
Premier Software

www.premiersoftware.com

Webinars:

Monday, Feb 9th  Noon ET  Getting the Most from Time Matters;  Plus 30 Tips in 30 Minutes

Thursday Feb 12th 4pm ET   SafelyFiled/SafelyMD                                                                                                               

To Register:
Tel  (856) 429-3010
Email tcaffrey@premiersoftware.com
Web form. http://premiersoftware.com/dashboard/contact-usask-a-question/