Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a document and records management system (see article below), a secure file transfer service, a souped-up address book for BlackBerrys, a litigation support iPhone app, and a hosted blog service. Don't miss the next issue.
Document Management Without Trade Offs?
Even the good things in life typically involve trade offs. For example, suppose you marry a beautiful vegetarian. You'll never step foot inside a barbecue joint or steakhouse again unless you can make a persuasive case for side dishes as a main course. In law firms, document management systems can perform miracles, but getting them up and running is often expensive and time consuming. But maybe not anymore.
Alfresco Enterprise 3.2 … in One Sentence
Alfresco Enterprise 3.2 is an open source document and records management system.
The Killer Feature
Email messages often contain incredibly important client-related information. Most document management systems offer tools for saving email messages, but they involve multiple steps.
Alfresco Enterprise integrates with any IMAP email client, which means that the client/matter folders in Alfresco appear in your email program. Thus, you can save messages to Alfresco from within your email program using drag and drop.
Because email messages often arrive with attachments, Alfresco enables you to save the attachments separately from the message if you wish.
Other Notable Features
Alfresco Enterprise offers all the document management technologies you would expect — check in/out, version control and audit trails, search, and integration with Microsoft Office. It also offers an interface that looks like a shared network drive, enabling you to drag and drop documents.
You'll also find collaboration tools. For example, if you give clients access to specific documents, they do not need the application in which the document was created. Instead, they can view them using Flash in a Web browser. Alfresco Enterprise offers RSS feeds for just about everything so you can selectivity monitor activity you care about such as new or modified documents related to a specific matter.
What Else Should You Know?
Alfresco Enterprise integrates with Microsoft SharePoint. Even without SharePoint, Alfresco Enterprise offers its own tools for creating an intranet and your own Web applications. Alfresco Enterprise does not involve any up-front software costs (though you may need to purchase hardware). Instead, you pay a subscription fee, which varies depending on your specific needs. Learn more about Alfresco Enterprise 3.2. system.
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So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.
