A Technology Shift
is Leveling the Playing Field

legal document management software | Optiable | craig bayer

It wasn’t that long ago that only the firms with the deepest pockets could afford Document Management Software (DMS).

These systems required on-premises servers, hardware, software, and the expertise that went with that infrastructure.

But to many of those larger firms, the investment was worth it.

Clients felt their data was safer, and attorneys employed by these firms could access virtually any document they wanted securely, quickly—and from anywhere.

This placed firms without a well of capital at a distinct disadvantage.

With the low cost and ease of use of current DMS options, there’s no reason a firm should go without the advantages of a good DMS.

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The Fool’s Gold of Consumer Solutions

While well-heeled firms enjoyed the safety, mobility, and other benefits from using a DMS, less affluent firms made do with sub-par solutions like Dropbox, Google Drive, nested folders, or nothing at all—sticking with paper.

Misfiled documents—gone forever. Documents are easily misfiled if just one user doesn’t follow the manual, home-grown protocols, making the document as good as deleted.
Lack of document oversight. Inability to monitor who accesses documents, as well as an inability to restrict access by category or user.

Accidental document deletion. With no system-level rules preventing deletion of crucial documents, accidental deletion without hope of recovery is a real risk.
No document notifications on a case level. A good DMS will notify the involved parties when the client-specific document arrives; this doesn’t happen with consumer solutions.
Sub-standard version control. At best, non-DMS solutions are cumbersome and difficult to manage regarding versioning.

Inability (or difficulty) to access documents remotely and securely.
Email exists in a silo. Email is managed in its own data silo—unrelated to other documents or categories, making communications and document searches labor-intensive and cumbersome.

Misfiled documents—gone forever. Documents are easily misfiled if just one user doesn’t follow the manual, home-grown protocols, making the document as good as deleted.
Lack of document oversight. Inability to monitor who accesses documents, as well as an inability to restrict access by category or user.
Accidental document deletion. With no system-level rules preventing deletion of crucial documents, accidental deletion without hope of recovery is a real risk.
No document notifications on a case level. A good DMS will notify the involved parties when the client-specific document arrives; this doesn’t happen with consumer solutions.
Sub-standard version control. At best, non-DMS solutions are cumbersome and difficult to manage regarding versioning.
Inability (or difficulty) to access documents remotely and securely.
Email exists in a silo. Email is managed in its own data silo—unrelated to other documents or categories, making communications and document searches labor-intensive and cumbersome.

These problems create firms whose operations are less efficient, slower at producing needed documents (if it can find them at all), and without the infrastructure to securely give its team remote access—even from the courtroom.

This is a real problem in an environment when competing firms have none of those problems.

The Benefits of Robust Document Management Software is Now Accessible to All Firms

The good news is that as DMS technology advanced and the cloud gained widespread acceptance, the cost of a robust DMS is within reach of most law firms…regardless of size, number of employees, or legal specialty.

And the latest DMSs don’t require a significant investment in hardware and labor to get up and running. Even the smallest firms can get all the benefits the largest firms enjoy, including:

Secure document saving that’s as easy as clicking ‘save’.

A good DMS integrates with all your software applications, including those you use to create and edit documents.

No workarounds allowed.

There’s no way to fool the system—all documents are secure. Attorneys and support staff cannot save documents outside the DMS because it’s integrated with the firm’s software in a non-obtrusive way.

Easily find any document you need—fast.

When used correctly, the DMS profiles and stores documents according to parameters important to you, such as matter number, client, number, or client name. This makes locating critical documents quick and easy. You can access old documents for reference as quickly as finding the current files you are working on.

Add emails to client matters.

Makes finding all email communications with a client fast and simple. No data silos here.

Safe, remote access.

Enables attorneys and support staff to access everything they could if they were in your physical office—remotely. Collaborate on documents without seeing each other in person for weeks. Who would have known how important that would turn out to be?

With the low cost and ease of use of current DMSs, there’s no reason a firm should go without the advantages of a good DMS.

See How Your Firm Can Enjoy the Advantages Once Available to Only the Biggest Firms

If you’re ready to see how Document Management Software can help your firm, we should talk.

We’ve been installing Document Management Software for law firms since 2002, so we can answer all your questions about how a DMS can help.

Click below to schedule your no obligation, no pressure call.