Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a Web-based automated time-tracking service (see article below), a shopping search engine for electronic discovery service providers, an online local services directory that costs less than a yellow pages listing, and iPhone app for navigating airports. Don't miss the next issue.
Track Your Billable Time Without Wasting Your Time
In his best-selling novel The Naked Sun, Isaac Asimov envisions a world whose inhabitants live on vast estates with thousands of robots tending to their every need (think Mario Batali cooking for you every night). Some people have all the luck. Lawyers like you would be happy with just one robot designed for one purpose — to keep track of all your billable time automatically and unobtrusively without interrupting you. While it hasn't developed a robot, a software company in California has created a product with a lot fewer moving parts that essentially performs the same function.
Chrometa Web App … in One Sentence
Chrometa Web App is an online service that captures your billable time automatically while you work.
The Killer Feature
Chrometa began its life as a Windows program that quickly attracted fans among TechnoLawyer subscribers (we were the first to report on it in this newsletter). Of course, Mac users immediately started complaining about being left out.
Given the growing number of devices on which lawyers now work, Chrometa realized that rather than just build a Mac version it should build a Web version.
Chrometa now works as follows. You install the Chrometa Data Collector on your computer (Mac or Windows), which runs in the background recording your activities. You then log into the secure Chrometa Web App to view all your data and convert billable activities into time entries. For example, if you work on a Windows PC at the office and a Mac at home, Chrometa can track both computers and combine the data for you to view on the Web.
"Our customers are using more and more computing devices to get their work done these days," Chrometa CEO and Co-Founder Brett Owens told us. "They wanted a way to capture and sync up their billable time so we took Chrometa to the cloud by buidling a secure Web app that enables them to easily categorize their time entries."
Other Notable Features
Chrometa enables you to create rules that automatically categorize your activities by client/matter. For example, suppose you represent Apple in a deal with Facebook. Chrometa can categorize anything containing the word "Facebook" under Apple/Facebook.
Chrometa also offers Active Search, which works like Google's Instant Search. Results begin to appear in realtime as you type.
What about meetings and telephone calls? Chrometa captures these activities too. When it notices you have not used your computer, it displays the Away Time pop-up reminder. If you just engaged in a billable activity, you can enter it and later create a time entry on the Web.
Once you've created time entries in Chrometa, you can export them or send them to a compatible third party billing or practice management system (Chrometa's open API facilitates these integrations).
What Else Should You Know?
Chrometa offers three plans — Basic ($19/month), Premium ($49/month), and Ultimate ($99/month). Basic enables you to track three devices and keep three months of data. Premium tracks up to five devices and keeps one year of data. Ultimate tracks up to 10 devices and keeps your data forever. Learn more about Chrometa Web App.
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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.
