Originally published by Technolawyer. Members can view the original article published by Technolawyer HERE:
TechnoFeature: Review: AdvologixPM: Web-Based Practice Management
| DATE: |
12/15/2009 |
| AUTHOR: |
TechnoLawyer Archive |
| TYPE: |
TechnoFeature |
| TOPIC(S): |
Accounting/Time-Billing; Case Management/Docketing; Online Services |
TECHNOFEATURE: REVIEW: ADVOLOGIXPM: WEB-BASED PRACTICE
MANAGEMENT
By Seth Rowland, Esq., mailto:sgr@bashasys.com
(This article is a TechnoLawyer Exclusive.)
AdvologixPM
http://www.Advologix.com
TechnoScore: 4.5
1 = Lowest Possible Score; 5 = Highest Possible Score
SYNOPSIS
Have you ever wanted to cut the cord and take your practice
everywhere you go? Have you ever thought about all the money
you spend on hardware and software? Practice management
consultant Seth Rowland began hearing these questions from
his clients a year ago. Ever since, he has searched for the
best Web-based practice management system. In this
TechnoFeature article, Seth reviews AdvologixPM, which is
built on Salesforce.com's Force.com platform. What does Seth
think? Read his review to find out. This article contains
1,874 words.
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever wanted to cut the cord and take your practice
everywhere you go? Have you ever thought:
* Why do I need this expensive Windows server?
* Do I have the "protection" I need?
* Why do I spend so much money and time on networking
hardware and backup?
With these questions in mind, I began my exploration of
cloud-based computing over a year ago. I was looking for a
solution for my law firm clients that would give them the
freedom to practice law while they were out of the office,
connect and collaborate with their clients and other
attorneys, and put together "virtual teams" -- with minimal
startup costs and fixed on-going costs.
COLLABORATIVE COMPUTING
One piece of the puzzle already existed. Services like
Citrix's GoToMeeting.com have paved the way for cheap "all
you can meet" plans that have enabled lawyers to meet with
clients and colleagues in a "virtual space" on the Internet
to discuss documents. With desktop sharing, free
voice-conferencing, full white-boarding technology, and
integration with email and instant messaging platforms,
meeting require minimal planning and no travel. Other
services like WebEx, LogMeIn, and NTRMeeting followed with
low cost monthly plans. Google Apps and Microsoft Live offer
"collaborative" document editing as an alternative to
desktop sharing.
On the one hand, collaboration services reduce business
travel and save money in recessionary times. On the other
hand, such services enable leisure travel because you're
never too far from the office or unable to attend a meeting.
They enable you to leave your office and see the world. No
longer "looking out the window," you could go out the door.
But there's a "cost." You still need an office. You still
need a computer network. You need a server with all the
fixed hardware and software costs. You needed to hire
specialists to manage all the hardware and software. You
need to pay maintenance fees for the software and
periodically replenish the hardware. You need to add cooling
systems to draw off the heat to prevent equipment failure,
backup systems to prevent against data failure, power
systems to handle interruptions in power supply, intrusion
protection system to thwart attacks from the Internet, and
antivirus, anti-spam, and anti-phishing systems for email.
Managing this technology was a matter of balancing unknown
costs against unknown risks. And you thought you wanted to
practice law.
ENTER VIRTUAL COMPUTING
Cloud or virtual computing is not for everyone. An
adventurous spirit chooses this path -- or someone with no
legacy systems and technology investment. With "cloud
computing" there is no hardware, no network, no software
install -- only the browser. You can access your files and
information from any computer, and in some cases, any
computing device that can communicate with the Internet.
That includes PCs, Macs, netbooks, iPhones, etc. You don't
need Windows. You don't need any particular version of
Windows.
If you lose your laptop, your server overheats and melts the
hard drives, your office burns down or you have to evacuate
for a hurricane, you lose nothing. Find a device with a
browser, enter your login, and access all your files. Your
cost is a monthly fee per user -- less than the cost of your
average cell phone with data plan.
Virtual computing works especially well if you want to
manage a law firm based on specialty, rather than geography,
putting together a team of lawyers and professionals in
multiple geographic locations.
ADVOLOGIXPM: BUILT ON SALESFORCE.COM'S PLATFORM
Salesforce.com is the most successful cloud-based
application. It's the gold standard. The company,
Salesforce.com, has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion
and revenue of $1.24 billion. It has over 67,900 customers.
The company claims that 200,000+ developers have created
over 135,000 custom applications with over 1,000
applications and service listings on its AppExchange.
http://www.salesforce.com/company/news-press/press-releases/2009/11/091119.jsp
When I heard that Advologix had released AdvologixPM, a
legal practice management system for lawyers using
Salesforce.com's Force.com development platform, I paid
attention. I understood that this was unlike any other
Web-based practice management system. There was no need to
prove stability, or establish security, or prove
scalability. AdvologixPM has the power of the "Force.com"
behind it.
AdvologixPM is licensed for $70 per user per month --
period. That includes complete practice management, document
automation and management, account management and billing,
mobile access, workflow customization, Web intake forms, and
mobile phone access for contacts, tasks, and events. A
full-featured app for mobile phones costs extra.
You can also add third-party apps, including the
NetDocuments document management system and QuickBooks
synchronization. The AppExchange includes hundreds of
additional applications, many of them free or available for
nominal charge.
THE BASICS
AdvologixPM uses three primary records: Accounts, Contacts,
and Matters. Ancillary records include: activities (tasks,
events, calls, and messages), notes and attachments, emails
and alerts, issues, and research for the front of the
office. AdvologixPM also includes a full billing suite with
bill and expense slips, retainers, invoices, and trust
accounting.
At the top of the tree are Accounts, which function as the
"company" record for your clients. New Matters are linked to
a single account. Contacts can be linked to multiple
accounts and multiple matters. From each of these primary
records you can see instantly all related ancillary records
at once.
When the Matter opens, all your lists of records appear.
There is a quick view on top of the form that displays your
record counts and a hyperlink to the actual record list.
When you place your mouse on the hyperlink, it opens a
tabbed view of the record list and several action buttons.
Alternatively, you can scroll down the record to see a
complete list of records on the file. By default, the
program only shows you the most recent records.
As you work with AdvologixPM, you quickly forget about the
Web browser. It functions like a desktop program. There is a
task pane on the left with shortcuts to create new records,
access to your calendar, and conduct searches. The task pane
also includes a "recent items" list that is particularly
handy.
Did I mention billing? The return on investment for a
practice management system is often demonstrated in terms of
gained billings. The $70/mont/user fee amounts to 15-30
minutes per month. Everything in AdvologixPM is billable.
Ancillary records contain a box for billing purposes and a
rate lookup list. A prominent feature is the Stop Loss
billing view which enables you to review the system for any
potential lost billing opportunities and the ability to
create billings for those missed items. A search filter
helps you to search and view unbilled activities, and future
activities that are not assigned to a matter.
THE POWER OF THE FORCE
AdvologixPM is immense and complex. It gives you a wealth of
information. The intake forms for matters, and the contacts
and accounts are comprehensive, storing a wealth of vital
information. The views of the information are clear and easy
to navigate. There are hundreds of reports to analyze the
information from different perspectives. Analytical
dashboards graphically represent staff productivity. You can
access all the data for merge templates (over the Web).
There is a comprehensive security suite. Offline backup of
the entire database is available, along with import and
export capability. It's an impressive package as delivered.
But that is only the beginning. AdvologixPM is customizable.
You can add new fields, new field groupings, new lists, new
views, new filter, new lookups, and even new record types.
You can define new reports, new triggers, and new templates.
You can create custom layouts for existing data entry forms
that hide or show fields based on classification code. You
can change the primary tabs, add analytical dashboards, run
reports, and then change the parameters to explore different
scenarios. The very tools used by Advologix to build the
software on Force.com are available to you as the "power
user" of the product.
These development tools are powerful and easy to use.
Advologix has included nearly 100 tutorial videos, many on
system customization. The documentation on how to use these
tools is built into the very tools themselves. Open the
configuration panel and all your options are laid out before
you in plain English. The terms are defined and explained.
Open an object and a range of properties are presented to
you to configure. The programming is easy; the hard part is
really deciding what you want to do.
WITH POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
AdvologixPM is a comprehensive and powerful practice
management system. It is infinitely configurable. On first
impression, the complexity can be overwhelming. Where to
start? Training is required. It's not a simple system that
envisions one type of user. If you have worked with other
practice management systems, you will not find the
transition to AdvologixPM too hard. Some of the navigation
will be different, but the principles are the same.
If you are new to case management, hire a consultant. With
all the savings in upfront cost on hardware and software
purchase, you should have some funds available to meet with
a consultant and define how you want your practice
management system to run. A consultant will look at your
workflow and configure the system to match your area of law.
He or she will help you set up staff tables and rate tables
for billing, define templates for merges, and setup
analytical dashboards to display productivity.
AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
Some of AdvologixPM's billing processes need streamlining.
The invoices or statements should better support advanced
billing. More shortcuts would reduce the number of steps
required to create and link a record. Some of the default
layouts include irrelevant fields and omit important fields.
Other areas could also stand some improvement.
You can submit suggestions to Advologix. You may receive a
call back from the developer. More significantly, you may
find that the next time you log into AdvologixPM, the issue
has been fixed. Or, you may receive instructions explaining
how to customize your own system to add that feature.
CONCLUSION
AdvologixPM is a solid application. I would give it a 4.5 in
its current version. My only reservation comes from the
complexity of the product and the current lack of some batch
procedures found in other practice management solutions that
would make the program easier to use.
AdvologixPM on Force.com is for users who seek "freedom" as
outlined above. It also provides freedom from the developers
of the software as there is no need to wait for the
programmer to add a requested feature; you can do it
yourself.
Without hesitation, I would recommend AdvologixPM to an
Internet savvy lawyer who frequently travels between one or
more office sites (or client locations) and has struggled
with the issue of having the most current data and documents
available at all locations.
I would also recommend AdvologixPM to the new breed of
"Virtual Law Offices." These firms that have literally set
up their shingle on the Web. Their lawyers and staff may
work out of several different locations -- an office, a home
office, or even a houseboat.
To the extent that "virtual practice" is the future of law,
AdvologixPM is the future of legal practice management.
Respond to this TechnoFeature:
mailto:post@technolawyer.com
ADVOLOGIX'S RESPONSE
We invited Advologix to respond to this TechnoFeature. CEO
Paul Deschenes responded as follows:
"Thank you to the reviewer for his thoughtful insight.
"As the review points out, we continue to make automatic
improvements to the system for our customers. Many of his
observations for desired improvements have already been
addressed or are being addressed right now, including
billing processes and an offline application without need
for an Internet connection. As the reviewer mentions, our
core focus for product development and improvement are
derived from our customer's needs and requests."
ABOUT SETH ROWLAND
Seth Rowland is an attorney and a technology consultant
specializing in practice management and document automation.
For many years he has worked with Time Matters, Amicus
Attorney, and HotDocs. He was named TechnoLawyer Consultant
of the Year in 2002 for his contributions to TechnoLawyer on
the subject of document assembly and law practice
automation. He is founder of and moderator for The Virtual
Lawyer group on LinkedIn.com and at BestThinking.com. Please
feel free to visit his blog for the latest on document
assembly and practice management. http://www.bashasys.com
Contact Seth:
E: mailto:sgr@bashasys.com