Law Office Technology

Skype for the Iphone

Skype is now available for the Iphone.  It looks slick, my one phone call I tried on the train did not work.  I had bad reception so I will need to wait to Chicago to try again.

Technology and the Whitehouse

I have found the whole ideal that the president of the United States cannot use email utterly ridiculous.  How can someone lead in today’s environment without using email?  George Bush gave up email when he became president.  The two reasons I hear given is the security threat and the President Records Act of 1978 created after Watergate which make basically forces the president to keep all records of all communications.  Here are several things that I don’t get:

• If the president cannot use email, does that mean that no one in the West Wing uses email?  Because if the president cannot use email but everyone else can, don’t you think that the president is just dictating to his staff and they are sending the emails.  And then those emails can be hacked.  Obviously the president should not send nuclear launch codes in emails but he could use it for basic correspondence.
  
• Why don’t they just put in an exchange server in the Whitehouse that is not connected to the internet?  That way the president can securely email his staff without any risk of the email going to the outside world.
  
• So what is the big deal about the Presidential Records Act of 1978?  All of the presidents phone calls and letters are recorded so what if his email.  Just don’t send links to porn to anyone.  Problem solved. 

Bye Bye Treo 750, Hello HTC Tilt

 



You might say I have been pretty loyal to the Treo Brand of Phones.  I have owned the Treo 600, 650, 680, and 750.  I started with the palm operating system and made the move to the Windows Mobile Treo.  I had a BlueTooth GPS Device and a wireless Keyboard that carried along with my phone as well as many spare batteries and chargers.  The Treo 750 was a great phone, but as I added more application to it, it became less reliable.  Towards the end, it seemed like I was hard resetting it once a month.     

I walked into the AT&T Store to purchase and additional battery last week and looked and the new phones they had.  After no careful thinking, I decided to purchase the Tilt, which is a Windows Mobile Device.  It gets its name because the keyboard slides out and you can tilt the screen so it mimics a laptop.

 

This spur of the moment purchases was one of my better notions because my smartphone is now increasing my productivity and not leaving me frustrated.

  It my next post I will cover the apps I have added to it.

Here are list of my improvements over the Treo and other Smartphone's:

 

• Large Screen

• Built in  WiFi

• Built in GPS

• Large Keyboard

• Built in Backup Software

• 3 Mega Pixel Camera

• Voice Dialing

• Fast

• Tons of space

CNET REVIEW:   http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/at-t-tilt/4505-6452_7-32638455.html?tag=pop

 

Technical Specs

• Weight 6.0 ounces

• Dimensions: 4.4 x 2.3 x 0.73 inches

• Talk Time: Up to 4 hours

• Standby Time: Up to 8 days

• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) support

• Stereo Bluetooth® 2.0

• Supports up to 6 simultaneous Bluetooth® pairings

• 3 MP camera with 10x zoom and autofocus

• Large 2.8" 240 x 320 64K tilting color touchscreen

• Powered by Qualcomm MSM7200 400 MHz processor

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

• 3.6 Mbps Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100

• 256 MB Flash ROM and 128 MB SRAM

• microSD expansion slot supports up to 2 GB expandable memory

• Built-in GPS for use with AT&T Navigator

• Warranty: One year warranty on new phones & accessories, 90 days on refurbished

• All talk, data & standby times depend on network configuration

CLE Speaking: How to Be a Professional While Not in the Office: PDAs, Laptops, and the Web Get a Life

Tom and I will be speaking in New Orleans at Ralphs on the Park.

 

Sponsored by the LSBA's Professionalism & Quality of Life Committee, this program will discuss how with today's technology of Internet access and collaboration tools, lawyers can now work instantaneously with clients and colleagues, whether they're across the hall or on the other side of the world and whether they are at the beach or at home. This session will help attorneys decide whether it's finally time to make a virtual law office reality, and the online services that can help make it happen. Tom O'Conner, Director of the Gulf Coast Technology Center, will also cover the ethical, professional, and due diligence issues attorneys must work through to keep the virtual office as safe as one made of bricks and mortar.

7/11/2008
Ralph's on the Park
900 City Park Ave.
New Orleans
LA
70119
(504) 488-1000
Credit Hours
Total Hours: 1
Ethics Hours: 0
Professionalism Hours: 1
LPM Hours: 0

 

http://www.lsba.org/2007cle/seminardetail.asp?CLEID=85

Amicus Mobile has Been Released

Here is the deal.  It only works with Windows Mobile Devices, not with Blackberry's or Palm Based Devices,  It is updated real time by a connection to your Firm's Amicus Server so you will not have to sync your device.  It cost $149.00 a user.

You can view all your files on your phone

After a phone call on your mobile, Amicus will ask if you would like to record the Phone Call and if you want to create a time entry:

 

 

Check out these links for a full list of features:

Amicus Mobile Tour

Amicus Mobile Video

Updated the AirTime PCLaw Manual

I have updated the AirTime PCLaw Manual to go into more detail about editing the PCLaw matter list csv before importing into AirTime.  For those of you that don't know, AirTime is a software that sits on your mobile phone and asks you if you want to bill for your phone calls and emails.  The first month I had AirTime I captured an additional $1000.00 that was slipping through the cracks.  It costs $30 a month, or the way I look at it, it gives me $9,970.00 a month. 

 

Reader Beware, Since AirTime has a link to this blog, I do feel morally obligated to say good things about them.

Remote Support for Mobile Phones

As our customers across the country know, we offer a wide variety of technologies to remote into your office and fix issues.  Setting up and supporting smart phones has been problematic because a consultant must actually be on site.  Law Office Technology's Support Desk now has the ability to remotely control mobile phones.  A consultant will send your phone  a text message which will prompt you to install some software and click yes to connect.  Once you do, we will be able to take over your phone.  Here are the following phones we can support: 

•  Palm Treo 700 w/wx
•  Palm Treo 750 (GSM version)
•  Moto Q
•  Samsung BlackJack

 

This list will continue to grow.

I never have to check my Voice Mail again!

I was lucky enough to go to the BCS National Championship this past week.  As with all LSU games I attend, Cell Phone service becomes a major issue.  It is impossible to check your voicemail when you have 100,000 people making calls and sending text messages.  By the next day I had over 15 messages and my voicemail was full.  As I was leaving New Orleans, it was very hard to listen to my messages and take notes.  I figured there had to be a way to get my voice messages sent to me as emails.

SimulScribe takes over your cell phones voice mail, transcribes the messages, and then emails them to you.  If there was a problem with the transcription, you can play the wave file attached to your email and listen to it.  You have unlimited voicemail storage and can print out a report of all your voice messages. 

This is one of those I cannot live without products.  I am never going to have to check my voicemail again.  I also never have to write anything down because it is in my outlook ready to be turned into a to do.

Check it out here

Treo 750 Update to fix Audio Alerts

Occasionally the Treo 750 can enter a state where sounds are lost for phone calls and notifications. This can result in missed calls and notifications.

Please read below to find out how to upgrade your device to help eliminate the occurrence of this scenario on your Treo 750.

A knowledge base article describing how to troubleshoot the Loss of Audio Alerts and notifications can be found here.

 

http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/audio_alert_update.html

TomTom

I finally got GPS back into my life.  I had been using TomTom Navigator 5 with my Treo 650 and 680.  When I made the switch to the Treo 750 this software would no longer work.  I had to purchase Navigator 6 which  I was not sure was going to work because it was not listed as a supported device.  Here are several things I love about having GPS on my phone.

• It is extremely portable so when I need to travel and rent a car, I can  bring it with me.
  
• It tells me the exact time that I will arrive at an appointment.
  
• It gives me traffic reports and alternative routes.
  
• I can install and use it on my laptop.