6 Automation Tips to Revolutionize Your Document Workflows
This guest post is written by Jac McQueeney, Senior Business Technology Consultant at Hendrix Business Systems, one of the CPM Connect partners.
Let’s start from the top. You are a lawyer. You went to school to be proficient in your practice area and spent more time than you care to admit to loved ones building your skill set and pouring over files. What you didn’t go to school for was computer technology and IT support. It’s important that we our spend time on the things that we’re proficient at and hire professionals for everything else, but sometimes you just can’t help walking on both sides of the line. Here’s a list of six helpful tips to help your line crossing become a more efficient process.
Faxing with Xmedius
Faxing has been around for a long time, and many of us wonder why it still exists in the digital age. Well, it is considered one of the most secure ways to send a document and maintain the alphabet soup of compliances. What if we just made the fax digital? Nine times out of ten you are printing a digital file, faxing it, another fax machine prints it, then someone else scans it back to a digital file. Let’s skip a few of those steps. With Xmedius you can keep your documents digital and fax straight from your Outlook, a secure web portal, your phone, or even scan and send from your copier all while maintaining and even improving your compliancy level. Cherry on top, you get to keep your current fax number. Boom! That’s just a taste, but if you want more, here’s a link to a case study showing how it integrates seamlessly into a legal office. Click Here.
Square 9 Automated Workflows
Hold on to your briefcase, now we get into the weeds a little. You, more than likely, have an entire forest of paper – in your office, on desks, in filing cabinets, and a stack or two on the floor. You also have a filing system. You may have your files stored on a server somewhere or in your practice software. At least, I hope you do. Where Square9 comes in to save the day is with ease of access to you, your firm, opposing/collaborating counsel, and your clients. You can search your files based on matter, client name, docket number, or even a simple keyword search. Then you can easily share those documents for review or signatures without having to print. Though this software can do about a million things for you and integrate into EVERYTHING, here’s a legal firm favorite – Document Retention Expiration. Put an expiration date on your files so you can keep them for as long as is required. Then have them automatically put into a folder for review once that requirement is met. This will save you loads in file storage costs. Here’s another case study.
uniFlow Filing Assist
Ok, still on filing, everyone’s favorite pastime. Let’s say you’re happy with where your files are stored and how you access them. Great! Now, let’s talk about the process of getting them there. Does your whole team know the proper way to file your documents? For example, is it date first then client name, or is it docket number – date- name? Also, did that file get to the proper location? No one wants to hunt down documents and even fewer people like the actual process of scanning and filing. Filing Assist streamlines this process and prevents user error with document training and meta data extraction. In simpler terms, here’s a video. This is a very inexpensive piece of software you can add to a Canon scanner or copier that will reduce your time spent filing by at least one vacation. We’re talking scanning multiple clients, receipts, contracts all at once and having them automatically sorted into different files with one touch scanning.
mxHero Automated Email Security
Moving on from filing and on to keeping those files on tight lockdown. This software is used to its best advantage when scanning to email from your copier. Why do we care about scan to email? Efficiency and security. Efficiency – why scan to yourself or to a server then forward onto your client when you can scan to both at the same time? mxHero programs your ‘scan to email’ feature to send to just the recipient or to multiple emails automatically. Then you have complete control over that document. Sent to the wrong person – retract it. Only want them to open but not save it – you set the terms. Want to know if they have opened the darn thing – mxHero tracks it. In addition to all this, the attachment is encrypted end-to-end without having to store it on your email server. I know this is a lot, so here is a short video to break it down in 1 minute flat.
Kofax Control Suite
If you like buying things in bulk, then Kofax Control Suite is for you. A total package deal that includes scanning, cost recovery workflows, PDF editing software and enhanced document security all in one bundle. A legal favorite is the PDF Pro software that is less expensive than a full version of Adobe and allows you to redact documents, edit PDF’s and even create your own forms. And we know these days lots of firms still must account for the cost of printing through charging back client and matter numbers. Control Suite offers the ability to implement accounting codes for easy reporting of client print charges. Check out this video about using PDF Pro to edit files, this one on batch sequencing for the overachievers.
Map it!
There is a lot to process here (pun intended), so my best advice is to map your current workflow from the moment you get a call from a client all the way through to the end document storage. Ask your paralegals and admin staff where the bottlenecks happen, what frustrates them or your clients the most. Once you find those pain points, come back and read this again. You don’t need to change everything all at once, and I highly recommend for staff retention that you don’t! Start with the biggest bottleneck that steals the most time from you or your staff. Then work your way down until you are a lean, mean tech secure and efficient document managing machine!
If that all sounds like too much work, I’d be happy to do that for you. Everything from asking all the tedious questions to setting it up and training your team. Again, why spend time on things that don’t make you money? Contact me for a demo:
Jacalyn McQueeney
Cell: 919.909.3948
EM: [email protected]
Fax: 704-847-3941
Mail: 100 Southcenter Ct, Ste 500 Morrisville, NC 27560