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Slide deck presentation for the 2014 American Bar Association Solo, Small Firm and General Practice spring meeting in Las Vegas
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Essential Technology For Your Firm:What’s “Under the Hood”
Alan J. Klevan, EsquireLaw Offices of Alan J. Klevan, P.C.Newton, MA
Mission Control
The Most essential, and most overlooked, element of your office is your computer!
Desktop vs. Notebook vs. Tablet
Should I buy Out of the box?
Do I need remote access?
Use What You’ve Got – Just Make it Better
Ultrabooks?• Think of a wafer-thin laptop• Thinner than laptops and have a longer battery life• Typically uses a solid state hard drive• BUT!!!• Limited storage space (typically 128 GB)• They are sealed units (cannot swap for more memory)• They are more expensive than traditional laptops
Know Your Shortcuts
• www.keyxl.com – Keyboard Shortcut Database for all Microsoft programs, Adobe programs, Google apps, and many major web browsers.
• www.woowoomac.com – Tips, tricks and how-tos for MACs, iPhone, iPad, and iEverything!
MONITORS: Make it BIG or Make it a Few
“
“People who switch from a single 18-inch monitor to two 20-inch monitors were up to 44 percent more productive at text-editing operations. The study also found significant increases in efficiency when you use a single screen which is at least 24-inches. “
If you don’t believe us, read the study right here: http://www.necdisplay.com/gowide/NEC_Productivity_Study_0208.pdf
Scanners + Printers + Fax, Oh My!Multifunction versus Multiple Machines
Does It OCR?
Desktop versus Portable
Bundle Packages: Scanner plus PDF Converter
o Fujitsu ScanSnap with Adobe Acrobat
o Kodak ScanMate with Nuance PDF PaperPort & OmniPage
Fujitsu Scansnap iX500- 25% faster- wireless- Scan to cloud-based systems (Dropbox, Google Docs,
etc…)- MSRP - $495. But shop around.
Scanning on the go!
Printers, printers, printers
Key Considerations: Print Quality Printing SpeedMultiple Trays vs Switching Trays Networkability
o Brother HL-2270DW Laser Printer ($100), 27 ppm
o Lexmark E260dn Ink Printer ($215), 35 ppm
o HP Officejet 6600 All-In-One ($149), 14 ppm (back), 8 ppm (color) + multifunction
o Canon ImageClass D1320 ($350), 35 ppm + network ready + multifunction
Printing on the go!
Know the true cost of ink
www.brighthub.com
Just the eFax, Ma’am
Issues of Traditional Faxo Jammingo Out of Papero Out of Inko Overwriting
eFax is the Answer
Compare Services at: www.faxcompare.com
UPS = Uninterruptable Power Supply
The Law Offices of Alan J. Klevan
The Law Offices of Alan J. Klevan (Road Warrior)
PDF = Pretty Damn FinePDF = “Portable Document Format”
o Image Scan (Non-OCR) versus Text Scan (OCR)o *Only OCR’d Documents May Be Manipulated*
Program Options
o Adobe Acrobat 10 (“X”) (the “Gold” Standard)o Nuance PDF Converter 8 (the “Silver” Standard)o Cheap or Free Options (the “Bronze” Standards)o PDFForge/CutePDF, e.g.
Just a Few Advantages of PDF:
o Looks the Same on Every Computero Bates Stampingo Forms Creationo Easily combine files of any formato Metadata removal, encryption and password protection
Smartphones
o iPhone
o Android
o Blackberry
Compare + Contrast @
Key Considerations: Compatible w/ Operating System, Email + Calendar “Deal of the Day” Data Plan Battery Life Usability Wireless Synchronicity
Microsoft Exchange Server
Mobile Me
Productivity Software
o Microsoft Office 2010
o Google Docs
o WordPerfect Office X5
o Open Office 3.3To-Do: Draft Documents Create Spreadsheets Build Presentations Email + Calendar? (Sync?)
Key Considerations: Features Cost Conversion Collaboration Upgrades
Access your files anywhere
USE PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE TO . . .
Matter Dashboard
Deadlines/Ticklers
Calendared Events
Check for conflicts
Schedule client contact
Contacts
Calendar
MATTER
Documents
Works right in Outlook
Product Choices:
Traditional Software Download-AbacusLaw, Amicus Attorney
SaaS-Clio, Firm Manager, RocketMatter
Hybrid: Traditional/SaaS-Needles + eCase
Email Add-On-Credenza
Financial Management Software
o Excel
o Quicken vs Quickbooks
o RTG Billso Tabs3
o Built-Ins
o Chrometao Smart Time
o Trust Accounting
o Hire Accountant?
STAYING SAFEBasic Anti-Virus $0 Premium Versions: $50.00+/-
Keeping Bad Guys Out
• Hardware Protection– Firewalls
• Strong passwords– !MCLEc0rse– Best practice is now 12
KEEPING IT SAFEIn The Cloud
At The Office
X 3 = $90.00
ENCRYPTION – I NEED IT NOW
Software – Desktop Search
• Find files quickly– Email– Documents– Web-searches
