Today's issue of TL NewsWire covers a cloud practice management system (see article below), a portable duplex scanner, time capture software, and a web-based jury selection application. Don't miss the next issue.
A PRACTICE MANAGEMENT TITAN TAKES ON THE CLOUD
About a decade ago, legal vendors began weaving email into their practice management systems. They realized that email via Microsoft Outlook had become the central communications hub for most lawyers. Nowadays, email has taken on even more importance because it travels with lawyers everywhere on laptops, smartphones, and tablets. A new practice management system aims to stay on top of email's continuing evolution.
Amicus Cloud … in One Sentence
Launched last week, Gavel & Gown Software's Amicus Cloud is a web-based practice management system.
The Killer Feature
Gavel & Gown has baked Hosted Microsoft Exchange into Amicus Cloud. Alternatively, you can use your own Hosted Exchange account or on-premise Exchange Server. Thanks to this tight integration, Amicus Cloud contains the very same email that's on your PC in Outlook, your Mac in Mail, your smartphone, your iPad, etc. Any email message you send or receive in Amicus Cloud appears everywhere else you access your email.
Furthermore, Amicus Cloud automatically associates email messages with client files (matters). Everyone in your firm with access to a file can view all of the associated email messages. Unlike competing products, you don't have to BCC email messages to a special email address. Instead, you just use email as you currently use it.
Other Notable Features
Amicus Cloud includes all the functionality you would expect from a practice management system — organization of your files by client and matter, calendars and alerts, task management, contact management, document management, conflict searching, billable time capture (including phone calls), expense tracking, billing, trust accounting, and collections. You can also search through all records in your Amicus Cloud account as well as generate a number of reports that you can export in PDF or Excel formats.
The billing system includes the Time Entry Assistant, which we deemed a killer feature when it debuted in the company's flagship product, Amicus Attorney. This tool lists all the email, events, phone calls, tasks, and other items that don't yet have associated time entries, thus preventing lost billable time.
You can use Amicus Cloud from any modern web browser (the company has optimized the design for Windows PCs, Macs, and iPads). If you're offline, you can still access your calendar, contacts, and email via applications like Outlook. Any changes you make offline in these applications automatically sync with Amicus Cloud when you regain a connection.
"Amicus Attorney Cloud Edition is a product that will truly bring practice management to a higher level," Gavel & Gown's President Ron Collins told us. "We have taken all the lessons learned in 20 years of providing the best practice management for lawyers, and can now deliver these tools in a completely new way via the cloud."
What Else Should You Know?
Amicus Cloud is securely hosted using Microsoft's Azure platform. Gavel & Gown offers a free trial as well as complimentary training (both live and recorded tutorials). Pricing starts at $34.95 per user per month. Hosted Exchange, which is optional, costs an additional $10 per user per month. Learn more about Amicus Cloud.
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