Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a free product launching today that provides mobile access to Tabs3 and PracticeMaster (see article below), a desktop-class word processor for iPad and iPhone, a Microsoft Word add-on for printing, a product for discovery document review and production, and a Google Apps add-on for task management. Don't miss the next issue.
MOBILE LEGAL BILLING AND PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SANS CLOUD
Some lawyers find cloud computing confusing because of the various definitions floating around. In its classic sense, it means storing your data on a third-party's computers. Often, you access your data using a web browser application, but that's not the key. You could use a native application. Once lawyers understand that cloud computing refers to where their data resides, their confusion melts away — replaced by concerns about the security implications of storing their data on someone else's computers.
Tabs3 Connect … in One Sentence
Launching today, Software Technology's Tabs3 Connect enables you to access key Tabs3 and PracticeMaster functions and data from any computer, smartphone, or tablet with a modern web browser.
The Killer Feature
Tabs3, a popular legal billing system, and PracticeMaster, a popular practice management system, integrate with each other and run on a PC in your firm. By all accounts, they are mature, stable products with a robust set of features.
Until today, using these programs from outside the office required a third-party solution such as remote control software. With Tabs3 Connect, that's no longer the case.
Instead, you can now use some of the main Tabs3 and PracticeMaster features and access client and other data from your laptop, iPhone, iPad, Android smartphone or tablet — even a Mac. There's no app to install. You just login at www.tabs3connect.com using your preferred web browser.
Tabs3 Connect uses bank-grade security to encrypt your connection. Also, Tabs3 Connect doesn't store any data on your device or on its web server. Instead, all data remains on your firm's server.
"Tabs3 Connect gives attorneys the best of both worlds," President of Software Technology Dan Berlin told us. "At their offices they have mature, full-featured billing and practice management software. And from their phones and tablets they can tap the screen to create a fee, review a client's file, and more."
Other Notable Features
As Dan intimated, Tabs3 Connect is bidirectional. For example, you can enter fees and expenses when they occur so that you won't forget about them. You can create appointments and tasks and link them to matters. When you pull up a client's file or any of your firm's contacts, you can tap an email address to send a message or tap a telephone number to place a call. Thus, you have total access to all of your firm's contacts without having to store them on your smartphone or tablet.
Lawyers who use mobile devices often find the native calendar and other apps too limited. Also, syncing is sometimes flaky. With Tabs3 Connect, you can view your schedule as well as the schedules of your colleagues, access client documents, and view a client's accounts receivable status, including recent payment information and trust balances. When you enter information, your colleagues immediately have access to it. Plus there's no syncing.
Tabs3 Connect also features a secure instant messaging system called eNote that enables you to communicate instantly with others in your office such as your assistant — especially useful when you cannot talk such as in court.
What Else Should You Know?
Tabs3 Connect features a near-zero configuration setup. You just enable it, and then designate users and permissions. Tabs3 Connect is available at no charge to those who use the Platinum version of both Tabs3 and PracticeMaster and are on an annual maintenance plan. Learn more about Tabs3 Connect.
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