March 2011

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Bellefield MoosLetter March, 2011

Your ProLaw Partner

In This Issue
Editorial Note: Welcome
iPad Survey Results, iPad 2 and more
Two New LinkedIn Groups
Creating ProLaw Reports in Excel
Upcoming Webinars
Smart Profiler Free Upgrade
Quick Links
  

Prolaw iPad App

 



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Belle The CowWelcome to our second issue of the Bellefield MoosLetter. We are very excited to share with you our current developments and share some informative articles to help you get the most out of your ProLaw system.

Editorial Note

 

iPad TextAs many of you have heard, Bellefield has released the first ProLaw iPad Application, iDocExplorer, which allows attorneys and legal professionals to seamlessly and securely access documents stored in your ProLaw Document Management. You can download a demo version from the iTunes store so you can get a feeling how it works.  We are currently in beta-test and looking for firms that want to be part of the Beta Test program. If you are interested, please email us info@bellefield.com and we will be sure to get in touch with you.


We have also released a new version of our Smart Profiler and it is now available in our website for you to download.  If you a current customer, you can upgrade at no additional cost, if you are new to Smart Profiler you can try it free for 30 days. Below you will find a schedule of webinars featuring a short demonstration of each of our products.

 

Also, don't miss reading our article, Creating ProLaw Reports Using Excel. You will learn how to build quick reports in excel that are always up-to-date. You can download here the full article with screen shots.


Thank you for all your support and we are looking forward to hearing any suggestions or ideas on how to maximize your investment in ProLaw.

 

Gaby Isturiz & John Kuntz

 
 

iPad Survey Results, iPad 2 and more ...

 

Thanks to all of you who participated in the iPad survey. The results are in!   Summarizing the more interesting points:

QUESTION - Do you own an iPad? 

Nearly 50% of the respondents said yes and they LOVE IT the other 50% do not own one.  The data tells us that nearly 100% of iPad owners are delighted with the device.

QUESTION - I use my iPad for?

Email   52.4%
Games   28.6%
Multimedia  47.6%  (movies, photos, shows, podcasts)
Business 47.6%
The Business/Productivity percentage will rise as apps are developed in this genre.

QUESTION - A colleague at your firm has an iPad.

A whopping 64% said yes to this.  10% of the respondents replied that most of the members of their firm had iPads!
This is all very interesting data, which will be even more insightful when we repeat the survey in Q4 11.

iPad 2

 

iPad BusinessThere was a significant amount of hoopla perpetrated by our friends at Apple with the build up to the iPad 2 announcement.  The pundits were all over the place as to what we were to expect on March 2nd.   For those of you who have been waiting to purchase - congratulations, pull the trigger.  For those of us with the very capable first version - Oh boy, what a quandary we are in. 

The new version:

Sports a faster processor (dual-core processor Apple calls the A5), front and rear camera, is 1/3 the thickness of its predecessor making it thinner than an iPhone 4, the battery life has stayed the same, and some new Apple apps.  What they did not do was upgrade to the new retina display which is on the iPhone 4, this will most likely be in the next version.
  
Here is some fodder for conversation from technical evangelist Robert Scoble.  "We now know what the choice is" :
1. Apple iPad 2. Has apps.
2. Motorola Xoom. Has no apps.
3. HP TouchPad. Has no apps.
4. RIM PlayBook. Has no apps.
No apps, no sale. It really is that simple. OK, OK, I know some of you think hardware matters. It doesn't, but if it did, Apple's hardware is nicer designed...." Click here for Robert's full article.  
  
Apple - Introducing iPad 2
Apple - Introducing iPad 2
 
  

Two New LinkedIn Groups

 

LinkedIn logo

We want to invite you to join our two LinkedIn Groups so you can participate of discussions, jobs postings and other promotions.

 

iPad Legal Community. Click here to subscribe

 

ProLaw Users Community. Click here to subscribe

 

  

Creating ProLaw Reports Right from Excel

 

  
Would it not be great to have an Excel Report that directly connects and reads from your ProLaw database? This would eliminate the need to:

1) Run the Prolaw report you want

2) Export it to CSV

3) Open it in Excel 

4) Massage and format the data to your needs. 

5) And, you need to do this each time you need your report in Excel. A lot of work/time involved right?

 

Well, you can now tremendously simplify that task by creating an Excel report that connects to your ProLaw database and you can refresh it every time you want and always have the most recent information.

 

What you need to know to get started:

1) Server Name

2) ProLaw database name

3) Some SQL basics

 

How do we do that, then? Let's get started with a practical example. We are going to create a report that lists Matters Opened in February - Top 10 Clients.

 

  • Open Excel, Go To Data and Click on Connections
  • Click on Add Connection and the "Existing Connections" window will come up
  • Click on Browse for More
  • Click on New Source and select SQL Server
  • Enter server name , leave Windows Authentication and click on next
  • Select the Database you want and UNCHECK. Select the first table and click on FINISH
  • You will then see you connection and click on Properties
  • Enter the Following query in the Definition Tab

SELECT top 10 ClientSort, Count(*) TotMatters

FROM Matters

WHERE Year(OpenedDate) = 2010

and MONTH(OpenedDate) = 2

GROUP BY ClientSort

ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC

 
  • After you have completed you connection, place the mouse in the cell you want to get started and from the Data Main Menu, select Existing Connections.  Select you connection you just created  and click On
  • You will get your report to look something like the following 
  • Each time you want to refresh the report go to Data Menu and click Refresh All

 You can download here the full article wich includes screen shots of each of the steps mentioned above. If you need help getting this to work, feel free to email me at gabriela@bellefield.com

 

 

Upcoming Webninars

 

Please register for our upcoming March webinars and feel free to froward this links to anyone you think will be interested.
  

Title:   New Features Smart Profiler - ProLaw Edition

Date:  Friday, March 11, 2011  
Time:  12:30 PM - 1:00 PM EST
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/358586944
  

Title:   iDocExplorer - iPad App for ProLaw  

Date:  Friday, March 18, 2011  
Time:  3:30 PM - 4:00 PM EST
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/569630601
  

Title:   New Features Smart Profiler - ProLaw Edition  

Date:  Wednesday, March 23, 2011  
Time:  12:30 PM - 1:00 PM EST
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/236580809
  

Title:   iDocExplorer - iPad App for ProLaw

Date:  Friday, April 1, 2011
Time:  12:30 PM - 1:00 PM EST
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/660340048
 
  

Free Upgrade of Smart Profiler

 

 If you are a current customer of Smart Profiler, you can download here the most recent version or of you are not, you can try it free for 30 days.
  
New Features:
  • Learns where the email needs to be profiled
  • Automatically profiles on the way out
  • Profile Multiple emails at a time
  • Select multiple attachments at a time
  • Email document links (true collaboration)
  • Body of email goes to Event Notes
  
Thank you. We value your comments and feedback. We are also interested in your ideas for content or articles you may wish to contribute.
Sincerely,

 


Bellefield Systems

www.bellefield.com