The Consultant
Prescient Solutions
• Apple Certified Technical Coordinator
• Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist
The Client
Robert Allen Law is a well known law firm located in Miami, FL. From working on client transactions and depositions to running their high profile business, the firm of 14 attorneys and support staff rely on their technology investments to manage their practice. Using the Mac as the preferred computing platform, the firm also deploys Windows-based systems to run specialized software.
The Assignment
Robert Allen Law has relied on their Macs as the primary productivity platform for many years. However, the attorneys required access to the firm's Windows-only accounting software, PCLaw, to enter daily time reporting. Because the accounting system did not facilitate cross platform integration or provide a Mac-accessible web interface, this key aspect of the firm's daily workflow was mired in inefficiency. Attorneys emailed time sheets from their iBooks to a staff member for manual entry into the accounting system on one of the firm's PCs. This time-reporting workflow was time consuming and error prone—costing the firm valuable, billable hours.
The Solution
Prescient Solutions provided a creative solution to automate workflow that allowed attorneys to enter data into a customized form on their iBooks and send a text file for import into PCLaw. Working in collaboration with a FileMaker developer, Prescient Solutions created an automated solution that:
- • Enabled attorneys to enter their time through a simple, intuitive interface, online or offline
- • Automatically formatted time tracking information into CSV (Comma Separated Variable) files that PCLaw could easily import
- • Emailed the formatted CSV files to the accounting department automatically for quick import into the database
The result was a cross-platform FileMaker solution called TimeTracker, and a streamlined workflow for the firm.
“By helping Robert Allen Law implement TimeTracker, we were able to provide a solid solution to their time entry quagmire. The combination of our technical expertise, along with the FileMaker developer's knowledge of workflow management, helped us to deliver a much needed cross-platform solution.”
— Jack S. Azout, president, Prescient Solutions
The Benefits and Results
As a result of TimeTracker's ability to directly import data into PCLaw's database:
- • Attorneys no longer waste valuable time completing manual time sheets
- • The busy support staff is spared manual data entry of each attorney's time tracking information
- • There are fewer errors in data entry
- • The accounting department can continue using their current Windows application
- • The rest of the firm can continue to enjoy the benefits of its Mac-based infrastructure
Thanks to the solution delivered by Prescient Solutions, Robert Allen Law has optimized their technology deployment by allowing staff to take advantage of the best tools to run an efficient law practice.
