If you are looking for a digitial dictation solution you should be aware of the new DSSPRO file format for dictations which is an enhancement of the industry standard DSS format which has been around for over 10 years having been established by Grundig, Philips and Olympus.

The new format offers enhanced sound quality and encryption facilities for securing dictation files. More information can be found here.

New devices and software solutions which support this file format are now coming on to the market.

Skype have recently introduced some new cool features to their free to download telephony software which lets you make free Internet phone calls to other Skype users and cheap calls to non-Skype users.

1) Skype Pro - offers unlimited free calls to UK landlines at £8 for the first 6 months and £1.50/month thereafter

2) An add-in for the popular Mozialla browser automatically detects and highlights phone numbers on web pages so that you can simply click on them to make a Sykpe call. Below is a screenshot of this from the LTS home page:

3) More of a gimick but good fun is an add-in called "Ringjacker" allows you to call people and push your own ringtones down the line to them.

In another example of law firms using Microsoft SharePoint as an inexpensive alternative to commercial legal software, Australian firm DLA Phillips Fox deploys SharePoint Portal Server 2007 for litigation support and case management.

Following yesterdays post about Winscribe supporting the new Philips 9600 Digital Pocket memo and the associated LAN docking device, Bighand have also announced support for these devices.


In addition to being able to use the docking station to transfer files directly to a transcriptionist or speech recognition software without the need for a PC, the 9600 also comes with a range of additional features which make it very attractive for use in law firms including:

• The highest data security standard in mobile dictation, which facilitates compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and other standards through file encryption, passwords and personal user keys.
• Voice files that are password-protected on the device itself to prevent unauthorised access.
• DSS Pro file compression, an enhancement of the industry’s DSS standard, that ensures clear sound quality for more accurate manual transcription and improved speech recognition results.
• The largest backlit display of any dictation unit and smart buttons that make operability completely intuitive.
• A ‘quick recharge’ feature that ensures constant availability.
• Metal case design that recently received the IF Product Design award 2007 for its outstanding ergonomics and innovative functionality.

The specification sheet for these devices is here.

These units also come with a free bar code scanner which lets you scan a matter folder for example and have the unit recognise the matter number automatically before you start dictating.

Interesting high level article here from The Lawyer on how technology within the legal profession has evolved in the last 20 years and where it may go in the future.

There are lots more examples of technologies which have changed the way that law firms operate and stories of firms that have missed the boat with their technology or simply got on the wrong boat. Also what about the many pontificating experts over the years??

Philips have introduced two new Digital Pocket Memos digital dictation devices, the 9600 and the 9620.

What is unique about these is that they can be plugged into docking stations called a "LAN Docking Station" which connects directly to the firms network. These can be placed at key points within the building and means that users no longer have to return to their desks or to another PC to download dictations.

Once the device is placed in the docking station any dictations will be automatically downloaded. Overall this should boost the productivity of digial dications users, particularly in larger firms and for highly mobile workers.

Winscribe are the first of the legal digital dication providers to support these new units and integrate with the  docking stations.

After 6 months of testing during which the applications have been available free of charge, Google  have announced  paid for versions of their web based business applications, aimed at small businesses. The free versions will still be available.

The basic business applications include spreadsheets, e-mail, word processing, calendars and instant messaging. The Google Apps Premier Edition which costs approximatley £27 per user includes Google Docs and Spreadsheets; Gmail for mobile devices on BlackBerry; and application-level controls to Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Talk and Start Page applications.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets allow multiple employees to work on the same document simultaneously and the applications keep track of all revisions and edits. The application-level control features allow administrators to set limits on how documents are shared inside and outside an organisation. New features aim to make integration and data transfer with existing office applications easier.

Google guarantee an uptime of 99.9% and users will receive credits for the service if this is not met.

10GB of storage per user will be part of the standard package.

Although Google are initially targetting this at smaller firms and users within larger firms that are not traditionally provided with desktop applications or email etc, some analysts claim that this is the biggest threat Microsoft have faced for 10 years since the days when Word and Office were battling with rival products from Lotus and Novell.

Google will add more and more features to this offering to the extent where many companies may be forced to consider it at the time that they consider moving to the latest version of Microsoft Office. Microsoft have time to counter this threat and are working activley to do so with their own web based offerings, but the landscape is changing rapidly.

This one came in recently from a source who wishes to remain anonymous:

A secretary, a paralegal and a partner in a city law firm are walking through a park on their way to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out in a puff of smoke. The Genie says, "I usually only grant three wishes, so I'll give each of you just one." "Me first! Me first!" says the secretary. "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world." Poof! She's gone. "Me next! Me next!" says the paralegal. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of pina coladas and the love of my life." Poof! He's gone. "You're next," says the Genie to the partner. The partner says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch."

Law.Com have an interesting article  from regarding the increasing technical sophisitation of in-house legal departments and the technological demands that they place on law firms wanting to do business with them.

Althouh the article is based on research in the States most of the findings would apply to the UK as well. For the last 10 years or so the larger UK law firms having been using technology as a selling point when it comes to getting the business from in-house legal departments. In many cases business has been won and lost of the basis of the technology offering given that there is often very little variance in the quality of pricing of the legal offering.

Legal Files Software, Inc., a leading provider of case and matter management software, have announced the availability of its enhanced integration with Novell GroupWise.  In addition to enhanced e-mail integration, new functionality was developed for appointment, task and contact integration, creating an offering on par with the company's offering for Microsoft Outlook users.  

The enhanced e-mail integration adds the ability to save sent and received e-mail to a case or matter stored in Legal Files.  A "Save to Legal Files" button added to the GroupWise client stores a single or multiple highlighted messages with attachments, creates a permanent copy in the Legal Files database, and references the appropriate matter.

Once saved, the original message may be deleted from GroupWise, freeing up space in the mail store.  New messages or replies can originate from either GroupWise or Legal Files based on the personal preference of the end user.

In addition, the Legal Files application now offers two-way synchronization for appointments, tasks and contacts.  A user can create a new appointment or task within GroupWise and have that event automatically placed on the user's calendar or task list in Legal Files.

If the event is related to a case or matter, it is also simultaneously placed on the matter's calendar or task list.  Events can also be created within Legal Files and the system will automatically place the appointment or task on the appropriate user's GroupWise calendar or task list.  Contacts can be imported, created and maintained from GroupWise and updates to existing contacts tasks, or appointments can take place in either application.  

"Outlook is clearly the market leader but we still have a devoted base of customers using GroupWise that will probably never migrate because of their security and virus concerns with the Microsoft platform," said Dale Lowrance, Legal Files Customer Services Manager. "These customers saw what was available to our Outlook customers and requested that we build similar functionality for GroupWise."     
 
The new functionality is accomplished by integrating directly with the GroupWise client.  This means that customers do not have to touch their Novell GroupWise server in order to take advantage of the integration, eliminating additional security and performance concerns.   

"These enhancements should help overcome the concern of some users when adopting a new matter management system by giving them a more familiar interface," Lowrance said.  "Attorneys and staff can continue to use their GroupWise application as their primary system.  We have simply made it easier for them to ensure case and matter related information is centrally stored in the appropriate electronic file in Legal Files."

The Land Registry have launched a consultation  inviting comments on the proposed Network Access Rules, part of  the Secondary Legislation required for e-conveyancing. The consultation period ends on 21st May 2007.

The Network Access determine who will have access to the new electronic conveyancing system, how they obtain access and what they can do with their level of access.

Currently 3 different levels of access are proposed: full access for professional conveyancers and lending institutions, read-only access for estate agents, purchasers and vendors and another form of access which allows parties to electronically sign docuements.

The consultation document is here (178 pages!) and you can respond on-line of by completing a response document which you then upload.

A pilot service should be starting in October following the busy summer period for home sales, the introduction of Home Information Packs in June and the launch of a prototype Chain Matrix intended to provide information about each transaction in a chain and create greater transparency.

The voluntary pilot will pave the way for a changeover to compulsory e-conveyancing in 2009 or 2010

Thompson Elite have demonstrated that their new 3E solutions will support 3000+ concurrent users by undertaking performance test in Microsofts testing labs - details as follows:


Thomson Elite has completed a series of performance load and scalability tests that verified that the company’s Elite 3E suite of business optimization applications could scale to support the needs of the world’s largest professional services organizations. Thomson Elite is part of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) and a worldwide provider of business software to professional services firms.

With no errors, Elite 3E was able to sustain a load of 3,000 concurrent users on a recommended platform using Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and Intel/AMD 64-bit servers against a database similar to that of a large international firm. The application used a low to moderate percentage of available CPU resources, indicating 3E’s capacity for growth beyond the tested parameters.

As a conservative estimate, a 3,000 concurrent-user load in a professional services organization would represent an organization of approximately 11,000 total users.

Thomson Elite conducted the tests at the Microsoft Test Lab in Issaquah, Wash., during November 2006. The environment and scenario simulated a demanding workload comprising several typically heavy areas of operation within the Elite 3E suite of business optimization applications. The testers utilized the Segue SilkPerformer automation tool to specify the actual steps that a user would take when performing each specific task (keyboard and mouse activity) as well as to randomize the data.

“Because of our close relationship with Thomson Elite, we were glad to host these application performance tests in our labs on the SQL Server 2005 platform,” said Norm Thomas, director of business development for the professional services industry, Microsoft Corp. “We appreciate the company’s investment in our technology and look forward to continued plans to support the development of Elite 3E.”

The results showed that CPU usage on the servers was low, indicating room for growth even beyond 3,000 users. The average processor utilization for the 3E application servers was approximately 10 percent, while the same metric for the 3E database server averaged below 58 percent. Overall, average response time per script was low and very consistent, given the heavy load the servers sustained.

The results of the tests will drive the hardware recommendations for future Thomson Elite customers wanting to scale upwards by utilizing multiple 3E application servers. As a secondary benefit, Thomson Elite will have an opportunity to locate areas of contention within the database that might prevent 3E from scaling even further on 64-bit hardware.