Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers automated time capture software for computers and smartphones (see article below), a cloud application for ediscovery, an online service for sending large documents, an iPhone calendar app, and a OneNote-compatible iPad app. Don't miss the next issue.
AUTOMATICALLY BILL YOUR EMAIL AND SMARTPHONE CALLS
With the cost of telephone calls declining, many law firm clients balk at paying for the cost of a call in addition to your time spent on a call. Companies that sell cost recovery software have therefore changed their sales pitch from charging for calls to tracking the time you spend on them. But cost recovery systems can't help you when you're out of the office. Enter your smartphone. If it's so smart, it should automatically track the time you spend on calls.
Chrometa 4.0 … in One Sentence
Launched this week, Chrometa 4.0 is automatic time capture software for a growing number of devices, including smartphones.
The Killer Feature
Approximately 76% of TechnoLawyer members use an iPhone or Android smartphone (49% iPhone, 27% Android). If you're among this group, the new version of Chrometa can automatically track the time spent on your your smartphone calls via a free companion app.
The Chrometa iPhone app and Android app go beyond your smartphone's telephone app. They securely sync each call to your Chrometa account, including the person's name (if they're in your address book) and number. When you log into Chrometa via a web browser, you'll find all your unbilled mobile calls listed. You can enter additional details such as a description, and then post them for billing.
"Smartphone time tracking has been our top request over the past year," Chrometa CEO and Co-Founder Brett Owens told us. "Chrometa 4.0 pulls your mobile phone calls and turns them into billable time entries with literally no effort required on your part. You no longer have to search your phone logs or worry about recording your mobile phone time when you're on the go since we now do this for you."
Other Notable Features
As always, Chrometa passively captures time spent on your Mac or PC — as well as time spent away from your computer (it notices when you don't use your mouse or keyboard). You can create keyword-specific filters to automatically categorize your captured time (e.g., assign time to a client/matter).
The new version of Chrometa takes automated categorization further. For example, plugins for Outlook and Gmail capture the subject line and from/to/cc fields, which facilitates finalizing your billable email time. Also, a new algorithm groups similar time entries. The company claims that this grouping technology reduces the number of time entries that require review by 500%.
Also new is the Timesheets feature, which collects time entries for printing or exporting into a compatible billing system or Excel format. You can create a timesheet automatically or manually. For example, Chrometa can place all your mobile calls into a timesheet. Ditto for email or time entries that match keywords. You can have all time entries for each week or another time period placed into a timesheet. To create a timesheet manually, you just select unbilled entries (including those found with a search) and add them.
What Else Should You Know?
Chrometa costs $19, $29, or $49 per month depending on the number of devices you want to track, the duration of captured time you want to store, whether you need to create invoices within Chrometa, and your integration needs. Chrometa also has a multiple user version (Teams) that starts at $19 per month per user. Learn more about Chrometa 4.0.
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