| Why
document assembly still needs both off-line and on-line tools The ability to reduce document production times by as much as 70% is still the core proposition of HotDocs and one of the key reasons it is the world's most widely used form and document automation system. The implications of this technology were readily appreciated by the leading UK legal publishers, with Butterworths, Sweet & Maxwell, CCH and Croner among the first to convert their precedent material into interactive forms and templates using HotDocs. If you're not familiar with this software or have never seen it in action you can find out for yourself just how efficient the whole process is by visiting www.butterworths.com or www.everyform.net and take advantage of the free demonstrations. However, if you are one of the thousands of people who regularly use Everyform products or Legal Services Commission Forms, you will probably already know that it's HotDocs technology that makes them so versatile and easy to work with. All manner of forms, documents, contracts, applications and proposals can now be produced quickly, accurately and in a fraction of the time previously taken. And whether it is recognised or not, this has meant that more and more people are actually involved in some form of publishing. It's an increasingly important function of the modern law practice and one that will continue to influence how a firm operates and interacts with its clients. For busy fee-earners, the financial benefits are obvious and the time saved can be spent more fruitfully on providing a better client service. This shift in focus back to the client allows legal firms the opportunity to concentrate on those aspects of the business that differentiate them from competitors. As with many other service businesses where the levels of professionalism and customer expectations are high, the legal world is beginning to appreciate just how important it is to be able to offer clients something extra. Both on-line and off-line, HotDocs is a tried, tested and stable product, owned by the £5bn Reed Elsevier PLC and backed by years of experience. Making it web enabled was the logical next step in the product's evolution and the advent of HotDocs On-line in 1999 has allowed early adopters in particular to extend their range, reach and influence beyond the confines of the company and in some cases, even national boundaries. A key feature of HotDocs and Capsoft UK is the flexible approach to Licencing that allows our law firm customers to publish intelligent documents to staff and clients either off-line or on-line. Many HotDocs competent law firms are already publishing sophisticated sets of documents to their clients, one example being the recently announced McGrigor Donald deal room system being used by the Bank of Scotland. Allen & Overy with Newchange or Norton Rose's Employment Smart Room for HR professionals are good examples of how HotDocs Online has helped some firms become more proactive with their clients; something that traditionally has been difficult for legal firms to achieve. The ability to provide information and assistance at the click of a button is not only a good way to stay in touch and build relationships with existing clients, it is also extremely effective as a new-business driver and highly visible method for a firm to promote its services to a vast audience of potential customers. This type of activity, demonstrated by Irwin Mitchell's online Wills and Trusts, brings such legal firms into the commercial fold and aligns them more closely with the everyday business world rather than simply being seen as an external, and often somewhat remote, service provider. But while such on-line strategies makes sense for many companies, particularly big corporations with thousands of end-users with permanently on, free-at-point-of-use broadband web access, there are still an awful lot of customers out there who don't have the benefit of fast, free access and are unlikely to do so within the next 3-4 years. The inexorable move to on-line is going to be more evolutionary than revolutionary and in many instances an online only software solution may not be appropriate to the target market, unless, and until, mass broadband access is in place. The reality is that in order to satisfy the whole market it is still necessary to provide software in a variety of formats. It's a fact of business life recognised by the legal publishers who still maintain numerous channels of distribution for ordering and supplying their precedent materials. The philosophy at Capsoft UK has always been that, if the desire is to provide a total customer solution, then flexibility is required. This means being able to offer customers a choice. For this reason we believe that HotDocs is the only document assembly software that allows the end-user to publish the same content off-line as well as on the web with ease. Until the day comes when free, fast broadband use is a reality for everyone, it's our opinion that we need to continue to provide a mix of On-line and Off-line solutions to match the needs of our clients. So when you and your colleagues sit down to consider how your firm can
derive the maximum benefit from document assembly software one of the
first questions you should be asking is, do we need to be able to publish
off the web as well as on? Andrew Grant Technical Director at Capsoft UK. |