Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers a SharePoint 2010 add-on for law firms (see article below), a file server accessible online, an online file synchronization and storage service, an online business development service for lawyers based on Quora, and an iOS reference app for litigators. Don't miss the next issue.
Transform SharePoint Into a Document Management System
Microsoft SharePoint continues to make inroads at law firms thanks to its combination of collaboration tools and document storage. In fact, a growing number of law firms use SharePoint as their sole document management system (DMS) instead of as an adjunct to a dedicated DMS. Nonetheless, Microsoft simply serves too many different industries to incorporate legal-specific features into SharePoint, leaving that task to third-party developers. Sure enough, one of the largest of these developers serving the legal market has risen to the challenge with a new product that bridges Microsoft Office and SharePoint specifically for law firms.
Workshare Point … in One Sentence
Released on Monday, Workshare Point transforms Microsoft SharePoint 2010 into a true legal-ready document management system accessible from within Microsoft Office.
The Killer Feature
One problem with SharePoint 2010 is SharePoint. Lawyers feel much more comfortable working within Microsoft Word and other Office programs. It's the most familiar and widely-used interface in the legal profession after all.
Understanding this, Workshare built a feature called "Easy SharePoint Browsing" into Workshare Point. As its name suggests, this feature enables you to navigate through SharePoint when you open or save a document in Microsoft Office (the open/save dialog box). This integration transforms SharePoint into a true DMS.
You can choose from two views when browsing in an open/save dialog box — a tree view or a folder view. Opening a document automatically checks it out to prevent someone else from making changes to the same document. Workshare Point also provides versioning if needed so that you can preserve and revert to all prior versions of a document.
"The integration between SharePoint and Workshare Point means legal professionals can be much more efficient," Workshare CEO Scott Smull told us. "Essentially, Workshare Point enables them to stay in Microsoft Office and work the way they are accustomed to."
Other Notable Features
Because Workshare Point integrates with Outlook, it also enables you to store email messages in SharePoint 2010 by client/matter. You can automatically file messages when you send them, and file multiple sent or received messages with one click. Workshare Point's "Suggestive Filing" technology recognizes client-related email to make filing faster and more foolproof.
As you would expect, Workshare Point integrates with Workshare Professional, Workshare's market-leading suite for comparing and securing Office and PDF documents. In fact, Workshare Point enables you to compare documents from within Outlook, the program in which you typically receive a document that you need to compare.
Other features include drag and drop document storage into SharePoint, faster searching in Outlook and SharePoint, offline support for working on documents when you're not online, SharePoint access within Outlook for sending attachments, "Document Views" to quickly see who worked on a document and other data, and customizable alerts to notify you when someone makes changes to a document.
What Else Should You Know?
Workshare Point requires Microsoft SharePoint 2010, and works with both Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010. You can try it for free. Learn more about Workshare Point.
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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.
