ALB. Document Management. Version DOC JS

ALB

Document Management

Version 2.2.1

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Contents

Document Management ... 7

What's new in this release ... 8

Viewing documents by year/month/week of

creation ... 8

Creating, editing and deleting volumes ... 9

Edit Volume fields ... 10

Documents ... 11

Documents ... 11

About documents ... 11

Creating templates ... 11

Using templates to create documents ... 12

Creating forms ... 12

Importing external documents ... 13

Reviewing documents ... 13

Using Document Management ... 13

Working with documents ... 14

Document types ... 15

Quick Letters ... 15

Standard documents ... 15

Forms ... 16

Where to create documents ... 16

Via the Actions menu ... 16

Top part of the Actions menu on Matter Details ... 17

By right-clicking a contact ... 17

Right-click menu on Client Details - Contacts tab ... 17

From an agenda ... 17

Where documents are saved ... 18

Creating a document for multiple recipients ... 22

Creating multiple documents for the same contact ... 22

Creating a form ... 23

BundledForms ... 25

Document History fields ... 25

Digital dictation ... 28

Dictating ... 28

Dictating from a matter or client record ... 28

Dictating from the PMS Tools menu ... 29

Transcribing ... 29

More about BigHand ... 30

Fee earner role ... 31

Support staff role ... 31

Document review process ... 31

Document statuses ... 32

Restricted usage statuses ... 33

Using Document Review element ... 33

Changing a document's status ... 35

Viewing a document's status history ... 36

Importing documents ... 37

Where to import documents ... 37

Scanning documents ... 40

Local scanning ... 40

Where are scans saved? ... 41

Saving multiple scans in one file ... 42

Central scanning ... 42

Setting up central scanning ... 42

Using central scan notifications ... 44

What is a central scan notification? ... 45

Want to stop receiving notifications? ... 45

Want to resume receiving notifications?... 45

Central Scan Pending Folder ... 46

Viewing the metadata ... 47

Bulk importing scans ... 48

Searching for a document on the Document

History tab ... 49

Searching for a document globally ... 50

Where to manage documents ... 52

Document History tabs ... 52

Right-click menu ... 53

Document Management application ... 53

Right-click menu ... 53

Opening an existing document ... 54

Editing a document ... 55

Edit Document fields ... 56

Copying and pasting documents ... 58

Copying documents ... 58 Pasting documents ... 59

Printing a document ... 59

Emailing a document ... 60

Faxing a document ... 61

Deleting a document ... 61

Creating a document history report ... 62

Laserforms ... 64

More about pdfDocs ... 64

Working with folders ... 65

Managing folders and subfolders ... 65

Using default folders for matters ... 65

All Documents folder ... 66

Creating a folder ... 66

Renaming a folder ... 67

Deleting a folder ... 67

Moving a document to a different folder ... 68

Document versions and visibility ... 69

Implementing your firm's chosen approach ... 69

Setting versioning at the individual document level ... 70

Comparing versions of a document ... 71

File encryption ... 72

Document locking ... 72

Public documents ... 73

ALB DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT 2.2.1

Document Management

Document Management is an application that enables you to view and search for any document, no matter where in ALB the document was created or imported.

From PMS, open the Document Management application by clicking at the top right of the window. Document Management consists of one main screen: Document Management.

Document Management lists all types of document, including forms and reports, plus standard documents and Quick Letters and their templates. Document Management doesn't cover wills and deeds. See Searching for a will or deed.

In Document Management, documents are arranged in volumes. A volume is essentially a folder. ALB automatically creates volumes named as the year/month/week, and these volumes store documents according to the date of creation.

Specific uses of Document Management are:

 Adding documents that do not relate to a particular client or matter, for example existing precedents, money laundering guidance notes, or your firm's procedure manual

 Searching globally for any document in ALB - you do not need to know the client or matter. For example, if you worked on a lease for a windmill and needed it again, you could search for windmill

On Document Management you can...

 View documents created in a particular year/month/week

 Open a document

 Edit a document

 Delete a document

 Edit document settings

 Create, edit and delete volumes

 Import a document into a volume

 Prefer a hard copy? No problem, you can download a printable version (PDF).

What's new in this release

The following list provides a summary of the major changes in this release. It shows new or revised content in terms of usage, policy or procedure and should be reviewed.

Revision history

Date Description

03/07/14 Document History fields updated with Reminder Days option. 04/07/14 Document History fields updated with Time Recording options. 24/07/14 Saving external documents added to explain saving documents

created in Word.

21/08/14 Note added in Digital dictation about sound files.

Viewing documents by

year/month/week of creation

On Document Management you can quickly view a list of documents that were created in a particular year/month/week.

To view documents by date of creation:

1. From PMS, open the Document Management application by clicking at the top right of the window.

2. On Document Management, in the left pane tree hierarchy, expand the top of the tree structure to find the volume for the year, month and week. A list of documents is shown in the right pane.

RELATED TOPICS

CHAPTER CREATING, EDITING AND DELETING VOLUMES

Creating, editing and deleting

volumes

In the Document Management application, a folder that stores documents is called a volume.

Examples

You might create a volume to store:

 Documents relating to the money laundering regulations  Existing precedents

 Your firm's procedure manual

To create a volume:

1. Place the documents you want to add to the volume together in one folder on your file system.

2. On Document Management, in the left pane tree hierarchy, expand the tree structure to locate where you want to add a new volume.

3. Right-click the volume to which you want to add a new subvolume and click Add Volume.

4. On Add New Volume, type the Name and optional Description of the volume.

5. Select the Type of document that the volume will hold.

6. For certain document types you need to browse to the Location of the folder on your system that contains the documents you will import into the volume.

7. Click OK. The volume is created.

To edit a volume:

1. On Document Management, in the left pane tree hierarchy, expand the tree structure to locate the volume you need to edit.

2. Right-click the volume and click Edit Volume.

3. On Edit Volume, change the settings as necessary. More about the Edit Volume fields.

4. Click OK. The new settings are saved.

To delete a volume:

1. On Document Management, in the left pane tree hierarchy, expand the tree structure to locate the volume you need to delete. 2. Right-click the volume and click Delete Volume:

 If the volume contains documents, ALB displays an error message

 If the volume is empty, the volume is deleted You can only delete a volume that contains no documents.

RELATED TOPICS

 Document Management

 Edit Volume fields

Edit Volume fields

The fields on Edit Volume are described below.

Field How to use this field

Name The name of the volume. You can edit this. Description You can enter a description of the volume. Type The type of the document that the volume holds. Location The file system location where the documents in this

volume are stored.

CHAPTER DOCUMENTS

 Creating, editing and deleting volumes

 Document Management

Documents

Documents

Here we describe how you can work with documents in ALB using the standard merge process.

See:

 About documents

 Working with documents

 Working with folders

 Document versions and visibility

 Documents and agendas

About documents

ALB eases the process of producing, importing, storing, managing and searching for documents. You can work with documents relating to a matter or client on the Document History tab of the relevant Details screen in PMS, or you can use the Document Management application to search for and view any document that has been created from, or imported or scanned into ALB.

There is now a new document merge process which runs alongside the existing process. This is a quicker and more robust method. If you intend to make use of the new ALB workflow feature, you will need to use the new process. For further information on the new merge process, click on the following, New Document Merge.

Creating templates

The first step to producing documents from ALB is for the system

content of your existing standard documents and setting up merge fields for information that will automatically be populated from the PMS

database at document creation time. See Creating document templates.

Using templates to create documents

Once templates have been set up by the system administrator, fee earners and support staff can quickly create standard documents and letters by selecting the appropriate template. ALB automatically populates the template fields by merging in data from the PMS database. Resulting documents are saved with the client or matter record. You can also access all documents in ALB from Document Management, see below.

ALB also enables you to produce Quick Letters – non-standard letters to clients, contacts and services. A Quick Letter is generally a top and tail letter that is ready for the fee earner or support staff to add the body text. Quick Letter templates are created and stored in the same way as

standard document templates. See Creating and saving documents.

Creating forms

You can create legal forms directly from ALB. If you use Laserform, data can be merged directly from the ALB database.

See Creating a form.

The system administrator has the option to produce custom-mapped Laserform templates, via Utilities - Custom Data and Mappings. This gives your firm the flexibility to decide which ALB database fields you want to be mapped to Laserform fields. Custom mappings can either be based on a blank Laserform, or on a Laserform that has been pre-mapped by `. See Creating custom-mapped Laserform templates.

CHAPTER ABOUT DOCUMENTS

Importing external documents

You can easily import external documents, enabling you to access them quickly from the client or matter record, or from Document Management, see below. Use drag and drop to quickly add documents, emails and attachments to a client or matter record in ALB. You can also scan documents to store with a record.

See Importing documents and Scanning documents.

Reviewing documents

ALB includes document routing functionality that enables fee earners to review documents on screen, and approve or reject them, before they are committed to paper. Fee earners and support staff use the Document Review element of My Home Page to monitor documents that are ready for review, or that need amendment or are approved for sending. Document routing is controlled by document statuses.

See Reviewing documents.

Using Document Management

Document Management is a central location to store and search for any document in ALB. Document Management is useful for adding documents that aren't related to a particular client or matter, for example existing precedents and your firm's procedure manual.

All documents that have been created in or imported into ALB.

Use Document Management to perform a global search for any document within ALB - you do not need to know the client or matter. For example, if you worked on a lease for a windmill and needed it again, you could search in Document Management for windmill.

See Document Management.

RELATED TOPICS

Working with documents

Here we describe the ways in which you can work with documents in ALB. See:

 Creating and saving documents

 Reviewing documents

 Importing documents

 Scanning documents

 Searching for documents

 Managing documents

 Creating PDF bundles

Creating and saving documents

 Create documents using your firm's pre-defined templates,

automatically merging information from the PMS database. If information requested by the merge hasn't yet been entered onto PMS, ALB prompts you to enter it when creating a document. For certain fields, information you supply at merge time is copied to the database, so it does not need to be entered again

 Create legal forms. If you use Laserforms, these can be

custom-mapped to fields in the ALB database to save time when completing forms

 Save the completed documents, letters and forms to the Document

History tab of the record

 Manage the saved documents and letters

To ensure that letters and other merged documents have accurate

content, it is important that client and matter details are entered onto ALB correctly.

See:

 Document types

 Where to create documents

 Creating a Quick Letter

 Creating a standard document

 Creating a form

 Document History fields

CHAPTER DOCUMENT TYPES

RELATED TOPICS

 Creating document templates

Document types

At convenient points in ALB you can easily create the following types of document:

 Quick Letters

 Standard documents  Forms

Quick Letters

A Quick Letter is a top and tail letter template that is designed for

producing non-standard letters. When you choose to create a Quick Letter, the template you select will merge in basic details from the PMS database, such as:

 Recipient's name and address  Reference number and description  Letter closing text

The document is then ready for you to add the body of the letter. You also have the option of opening a Quick Letter that is a blank document, for situations where you want to begin a document from scratch.

Quick letter templates are set up by the system administrator in Utilities - Document/Agenda Setup, in the same way as templates for standard documents. See Creating document templates.

Standard documents

A standard document is a template that is designed to be used for the firm's standard letters and documents.

Standard documents differ from Quick Letters in that they usually contain mainly boilerplate text.

Document templates are set up by the system administrator in Utilities - Document/Agenda Setup. See Creating document templates.

Forms

Forms are standard electronic legal forms, as provided by Laserform.

RELATED TOPICS

 Creating a Quick Letter

 Creating a standard document

 Creating a form

Where to create documents

You can easily create documents at convenient points in ALB:  via the Actions menu

 by right-clicking a contact

 by actioning an agenda step

For documents relating to a matter, it is best to produce them at matter level rather than client level. The reason is that more information is

available to the matter and so more can be merged into documents: client information can be picked up by the matter record, but matter information is not picked up by the client record.

Via the Actions menu

Which document options appear on the Actions menu depends on the screen. On Matter Details and case module screens such as Conveyancing Details, you have all three options available on the Actions menu: Quick Letters, Produce Document and Produce Form.

CHAPTER WHERE TO CREATE DOCUMENTS

Top part of the Actions menu on Matter Details

Quick Letter templates are listed as a sub-menu when you hover the mouse over Quick Letters on the Actions menu.

By right-clicking a contact

If you want to send a document to a particular contact, you can do this via the Contacts tab that appears on various ALB screens. Right-click the contact and select the type of document.

Right-click menu on Client Details - Contacts tab

On the Contacts tab, you can also right-click a blank part of the screen to see the general document creation options that are available.

From an agenda

You can create documents as part of actioning an agenda step. See

Where documents are saved

A document is saved with the record for which you initiated the document, on the Document History tab, in the folder you specify when saving the document.

RELATED TOPICS

 Document types

 Creating a Quick Letter

 Creating a standard document

 Creating a form

Creating a Quick Letter

A Quick Letter is a blank letter with the recipient's name and address, the sender's details, and any reference numbers pre-completed using

information from the PMS database. Quick Letters are tailored to fit your firm's letterhead and you simply need to add the body content of the letter.

When the Quick Letter template opens, you are prompted for any missing information. For certain fields, the information you supply is entered in the database so that you don't need to complete it again.

Take care to enter accurate information when the letter is merging. Quick Letters are generally used for non-standard letters. For standard letters and other standard merged documents, use the Produce Document option. See Creating a standard document.

Quick Letter templates are created by the system administrator, in Utilities - Document/Agenda Setup. See Creating document templates.

To create a Quick Letter:

1. On the Actions menu, point to Quick Letters and select the type of Quick Letter from the sub-menu, e.g. Blank Document.

Alternatively, right-click the contact you want to write to and select

CHAPTER CREATING A QUICK LETTER

2. The Quick Letter template opens in Microsoft Word and the

Merge Assistant prompts for missing text – this is text that

should be populated from the database but for which the data isn't present. Either enter the missing text in the box on the Merge

Assistant and click Continue, or Ignore the request for the

missing text and consider what needs to be included when you edit the letter itself. If your system is set not to display Word during the merge process, the merge assistant does display the context for the missing data and there is a Toggle button which you can use to display the document, if necessary, to help with what data is required.

NOTE If you selected the Blank Document Quick Letter template,

you need to write the whole document from scratch. You will not be prompted by the Merge Assistant.

3. When the Merge Assistant has finished prompting for missing text, edit the document to add the body of your letter and any other missing text.

4. Save the document and close Microsoft Word. The ALB Document History screen opens.

5. When the Document History dialog box opens you can amend and/or enter information about the document and its attributes. For more about the fields and options available refer to Document History fields.

6. Click on Save when you are done. The document is saved with the record from which you initiated the document. It has status Ready

for Review and is listed on the Document History tab in the

folder you specified on Document History. If necessary, you can open and edit the document, or change the document settings on Edit Document.

If you are producing a letter via Matter Details and choose to create an inappropriate module-specific letter (that is, on Produce Document, the Application for the template you select is a separate module), the merge process will not be able to merge data as the data is only available to the appropriate module.

NOTE The ALB document production system sometimes utilises the

Windows operating system's "clipboard" during the document merge process. Therefore the results of copying and pasting text, when ALB is simultaneously building the document, could be unreliable and users

should be aware of this while a document merge operation is in progress. This problem is limited specifically to document templates that make use of Header field codes or Imported Paragraph field codes, and the chance that the user tries to copy then paste at the same time as document merge is happening.

RELATED TOPICS

 Document types

 Creating and saving documents

 Managing documents

Creating a standard document

An ALB standard document is a template that holds one of your firm's standard documents. Simply select the document you need and you are presented with a template with pre-defined standard content and fields. When a standard document template opens, you are prompted for any missing information. For certain fields, the information you supply is entered in the database so that you don't need to complete it again. Take care to enter accurate information when the document is merging. If, rather than a standard document, you need to create a non-standard letter, see Creating a Quick Letter.

Standard document templates are created by the system administrator, in Utilities - Document/Agenda Setup. See Creating document templates.

To create a standard document:

1. On the Actions menu, click Produce Document. Alternatively, right-click the contact you want to write to and select Produce Document. More about where to create documents.

2. On Produce Document - Templates tab, find the document you need to produce. You can use the filters at the top of the screen to narrow down the list of documents displayed. Double-click the document to open it. With the application filter, the options will be the current application/module and PMS.

CHAPTER CREATING A STANDARD DOCUMENT

3. The document template opens and the Merge Assistant prompts for missing text – this is text that should be populated from the database but for which data isn't present. Either enter the missing text in the box on the Merge Assistant and click Continue, or

Ignore the request for the missing text and consider what needs

to be included when you edit the document itself. If your system is set not to display Word during the merge process, the merge assistant does display the context for the missing data and there is a Toggle button which you can use to display the document, if necessary, to help with what data is required.

4. When the Merge Assistant has finished prompting for missing text, edit the document as necessary.

5. Save the document and close Microsoft Word. The ALB Document History screen opens.

6. When the Document History dialog box opens you can amend and/or enter information about the document and its attributes. For more about the fields and options available refer to Document History fields.

7. Click on Save when you are done. The document is saved with the record from which you initiated the document. It has status Ready

for Review and is listed on the Document History tab in the

folder you specified on Document History. If necessary, you can open and edit the document, or change the document settings on Edit Document.

NOTE The ALB document production system sometimes utilises the

Windows operating system's "clipboard" during the document merge process. Therefore the results of copying and pasting text, when ALB

is simultaneously building the document, could be unreliable and

users should be aware of this while a document merge operation is in progress. This problem is limited specifically to document templates that make use of Header field codes or Imported Paragraph field codes, and the chance that the user tries to copy then paste at the same time as document merge is happening.

Creating a document for multiple

recipients

You can create a document for multiple recipients, provided the recipients have the same role. The role is defined when you associate a contact with a client, matter or contact record.

Example

You might need to create a letter advising beneficiaries of a legacy. The beneficiaries have all been set up with a role of General and so the letter can be created with the beneficiaries as multiple recipients.

To create a document for multiple recipients:

1. Follow the steps in 'To create a standard document' above, but after selecting the document on Produce Document - Templates tab, click the Recipients tab.

2. On Produce Documents - Recipients tab, contacts are listed that have a Role that is appropriate to document you have selected on the Template tab. Other roles might be available from the drop-down.

3. Check the box to the left of each contact that needs to receive the document.

4. Click Continue and return to 'To create a standard document' above, at step 3.

Creating multiple documents for the same

contact

You can create multiple documents for the same contact, in one go. The documents will open as one combined document for merging, and will be saved to Document History as one record.

CHAPTER CREATING A FORM

To create more than one document for the same contact:

after selecting a document on Produce Document, press and hold down Ctrl whilst clicking the other documents you need to send to the same recipient.

2. Click Continue. The documents open as one combined document for merging.

3. Return to 'To create a standard document' above, at step 3. If you are producing a letter via Matter Details and choose to create an inappropriate module-specific letter (that is, on Produce Document, the Application for the template you select is a separate module), the merge process will not be able to merge data as the data is only available to the appropriate module.

RELATED TOPICS

 Document types

 Creating and saving documents

 Managing documents

Creating a form

A form is a standard electronic legal form. If you use Laserform, you can merge data from the ALB database into forms in the same way as for Quick Letters and standard documents.

When you select a form to be used for a matter or for an agenda step, you can select either a standard Laserform or a custom-mapped Laserform. A standard Laserform is either:

 Blank — a Laserform with no fields mapped

 Advanced Legal mapped — a Laserform that has some fields mapped by Advanced Legal to ALB database fields

A custom-mapped Laserform is a Laserform that has fields mapped to ALB database fields, and has been set up specifically by, or for, your firm.

To create a form:

1. On the Actions menu, click Produce Form. More about where to create documents.

2. If you have more than one forms provider, you are asked to select a provider. Laserform is the default. If you select Laserform, go to step 4.

3. If the form you are creating is from a provider other than

Laserform, on Choose A Form, find the form and double-click it to open it.

 On Form Merge, complete the form.

 Close Form Merge by clicking . The ALB Document History screen opens.

 Go to step 7.

4. If the form you are creating is a Laserform, on Merge Laserform, find the form. Via the tabs, you can view Recently Used Forms,

Favourite Forms, a list of Standard Laserforms and a list of Custom

Mappings (custom-mapped Laserforms). You can also use the filters to narrow down the list of forms displayed.

5. Double-click the form to open it in Laserform Merge. Complete the form.

6. Close Laserform Merge by clicking . The ALB Document History screen opens.

7. When the Document History dialog box opens you can amend and/or enter information about the document and its attributes. For more about the fields and options available refer to Document History fields. 8. Click on Save when you are done. The form is saved with the record from which it was initiated. It has status Ready for Review and is listed on the Document History tab in the folder you specified on

Document History. If necessary, you can open and edit the document, or change the document settings on Edit Document.

For a Laserform that has been mapped, if you open a version of the Laserform that is a later version than the mapped version, you will be notified about this. It is fine to continue; it just means that the form might not merge all mapped fields.

CHAPTER BUNDLEDFORMS

disable it, in Utilities - System Parameters, by setting Show LFM Version Mismatch Warning to No.

RELATED TOPICS

 Document types

 Creating and saving documents

 Managing documents

 Creating custom-mapped Laserform templates

BundledForms

For Laserforms that have a list of items that could flow over on to another page, such as IHT forms that list bank accounts, shares etc, these

Laserforms automatically produce a second and, if necessage, subsequent pages as space requires. As a result the merge process produces a

'bundle' of IHT forms.

Once the Laserforms have been merged, access to the overall bundle of forms is as usual, but to access each additional page within these bundled forms there is a new Forms In File toolbar which has tabs for each of the bundled forms.

Click on the tab to view each form within the bundle.

Document History fields

The fields on Document History are described below.

Field Description

Date The date the document was created. You can edit this date if necessary.

If you later edit the document, the date it was last edited is shown as the Date Modified on the Document History tab.

Code The document reference code. Defaults to the code defined for the document template.

Document An automatically generated document reference number.

Folder The folder where the document is stored. You can select another folder to store the document or click to create a new folder to store the document.

Description The document Description that will appear on the Document History tab.

Notes Any notes you want to add about the document. You can edit the notes.

Use Versioning If this checkbox is selected, all versions of the document will be saved. If this checkbox is not selected, the latest version of the document will overwrite the previous version.

Deselected by default unless your system administrator has set the Automatic Versioning system parameter to Yes in order to meet your firm's requirement for versioning by default. More about versioning.

Make Public If this is checked, the document will be viewable by a client via the internet using the Fee Earner Desktop (FED)

Reminder Days Allows you to create a diary task/reminder when saving the document into Document History. You can type the number of days in which the

reminder should be created and when you click Save, the Task dialog box opens for completion, with the due date set to match the value entered. On creation, the task is automatically linked to the client or matter for which the document has been produced.

NOTE The default setting for this field is zero

CHAPTER DOCUMENT HISTORY FIELDS

displayed when you click Save), so you must enter a value of 1 day or more in order to create a reminder task. Also, the field is hidden if a document is being produced for a non-client contact.

Time Recording Options

Save without time recording

Saves the document without saving or posting time. To record time, you must select either the Save time or Post time option.

NOTE This is the default setting, however, the

last used setting is remembered the next time this screen is displayed, so if Save time was used then that option will be selected by default. Also, when this option is selected, the Fee Earner, Time Activity, Units, and Billing Code fields are unavailable.

Save time Enables the time posting fields below and saves the time entry to the time sheet as part of saving the document.

Post time Enables the time posting fields below and posts the time entry to the time ledger as part of saving the document.

Fee Earner Defaults to the default fee earner for the client or matter. You can change this if a different fee earner applies to the document.

Time Activity The default time type for producing the

document. You can change this if a different time type applies.

Units Units of time taken to produce the document. Defaults to 1 but you can change this.

Billing Code Specifies the billing code. Can be changed using the lookup.

RELATED TOPICS

 Creating and saving documents

Digital dictation

If you have purchased the optional Digital Dictation integration module, you can use digital dictation from within ALB, via BigHand.

Dictating

As a fee earner you can either perform a pure dictation or you can choose to merge in information from a Word template plus any information you want to type into the template. You can begin dictation from:

 within a matter or client record  the PMS Tools menu

The two options are outlined below.

Dictating from a matter or client record

You can begin dictation from Matter Details, Client Details or from a case module screen.

To begin dictation from the matter or client record:

1. From the Actions menu, select Dictate. BigHand dictation application opens.

2. You are asked if you want to merge the document now:

 If you select Yes, select the template you want to use for the document. Dictate the content – you can also type in the document if you wish.

 If you select No, simply dictate your content. 3. Click Save in Word.

4. Click Send in BigHand.

5. If you have created the dictation via a matter record, Time Recording opens. Record the dictation time against the matter.

CHAPTER DIGITAL DICTATION

Result

If you chose to merge the document, the document is saved with the matter or client record. The dictation appears in the BigHand work queue, ready to be transcribed.

Dictating from the PMS Tools menu

You can also begin dictation from the PMS Tools menu.

To begin dictation from the PMS Tools menu:

1. On the Tools menu, click Dictate Now!. BigHand digital dictation application opens.

2. You are asked if you want to merge the document now:

 If you select Yes, a blank template opens. Dictate the content – type in the document if you wish.

 If you select No, simply dictate your content. 3. Click Save in Word.

4. Click Send in BigHand.

Result

If you chose to merge the document, the document is saved in My

Documents. The dictation appears in the BigHand work queue, ready to be transcribed.

Transcribing

As a member of support staff, you can transcribe a document that has been dictated.

To transcribe a document:

1. View the BigHand transcription window and select a job that needs to be transcribed. The document opens and merges any available data. The document type opened is the type that was selected by the fee earner.

2. Transcribe as normal.

3. When finished, click Save to close the document:

 If the dictation was created via a matter record, the document is saved to that matter.

 If the dictation was not created via a matter record, the document is saved in the fee earner's My Documents element of My Home Page.

4. Mark the dictation as complete in BigHand and close it.

Result

The fee earner that dictated the document is notified, by a pop-up and a message in their PMS inbox, that it has been transcribed and the

document status is set to "Ready to Review".

More about BigHand

For further information related to using BigHand, please refer to BigHand's own documentation.

NOTE

 ALB does not provide for the saving of sound files. BigHand manages this aspect. However, if you want to save dictations into Document History, then it is possible to drag and drop them in.

Reviewing documents

ALB includes document routing functionality that enables fee earners to review documents on screen and approve or reject them, before they are committed to paper.

CHAPTER DIGITAL DICTATION

For your firm to take advantage of this feature, the system administrator must enable document routing in Utilities - System Parameters.

To work with document routing, fee earners and support staff need to create a view for My Home Page that contains the Document Review element; see Customising My Home Page.

Fee earner role

As a fee earner, you use the DocReviewing documentsument Review

element of My Home Page to view a list of matter-related documents produced by a support staff member for a given period. By default, you will see all documents produced today with status Ready for Review. After checking a document, you can approve or reject it.

Support staff role

As a support staff member, you create documents as normal and they are automatically given status Ready for Review and can be viewed by the fee earner. You later check for rejected and approved documents.

Amend any rejected documents and change their status to Ready for

Review so that they reappear in the fee earner's list.

Send approved documents to print, email or fax.

Document review process

A typical document review process is set out in the following table.

Stage Who does

this? Description Where?

Document creation Member of support staff Produces a document, quick letter or form. The document's status is automatically set to Ready for Review.

Matter Details or a case management module

Document review and status update Fee earner

Reviews list of documents that have status Ready for Review.

For each document, updates its status to Approved or Rejected. My Home Page - Document Review element Rejected document amendment Member of support staff

Checks for any rejected documents, amends them and updates their status to Ready for Review.

These documents return to the Document review and status update stage.

My Home Page - Document Review element Approved document distribution Member of support staff

Reviews list of documents that have status Approved. Sends documents to Print, Email or Fax.

My Home Page - Document Review element

Document statuses

There are seven preset document statuses, listed in the table below, and the system administrator can add any additional ones required by your firm, via Utilities - Core PMS.

Document

Status Meaning

Ready for Review

Document is ready for review by the fee earner

Approved Document has been checked and can be sent

Rejected Document needs to be amended and then rechecked Printed Document has been printed

Emailed Document has been emailed Faxed Document has been faxed

New Document has been imported or is a copy of a document on the client record

CHAPTER USING DOCUMENT REVIEW ELEMENT

Restricted usage statuses

A status can be set up as a restricted usage status. This means that unless a user has permission to use restricted statuses, they will not be able to change a document to this status. Permission is set up by the system administrator in Utilities - System Licensing & Users.

Example

Support staff shouldn’t be able to set a document to a status that approves the document, so such statuses need restricted usage.

RELATED TOPICS

 Using Document Review element

 Changing a document's status

 Viewing a document's status history

 Customising My Home Page

Using Document Review element

The Document Review element of My Home Page is where:

 Fee earners view a list of documents that have been produced by support staff, and review them in order to approve or reject them  Support staff view a list of documents that have been approved or

rejected by fee earners. Rejected documents are amended and made ready for another review. Approved documents are printed or emailed directly from Document Review

By default, Document Review shows documents produced today, by the currently selected user, with status Ready for Review.

On Document Review you can...

 View a list of documents that meet certain criteria (created in a certain date range, by a certain staff member, with a certain document status...); see below

 Open a document for review or amendment; see below  Change a document's status

 Send documents to print, email or fax; see below

 Right-click a document to access general options for managing the document

To list documents which meet certain criteria:

1. On Document Review, do as many of the following as necessary to define the documents you want to list:

 Define the date range in Changed From and Changed To  Select the Status of document you want to view

 Type part of the document's Description you want to search for

 Select the User that you want to search for documents in relation to

 Select the User Role taken by the user in relation to the documents

2. The documents that meet your selected criteria are displayed.

To open a document:

1. On Document Review, double-click the document. It opens ready for review or amendment.

To send a document to print, email or fax:

1. On Document Review, right-click the document and click Print,

Email or Fax, as appropriate. You can select multiple documents,

so, for example, you can print a batch. 2. The document is:

 sent to the printer

 or attached to an email ready for you to write the email and send it

 or sent to the fax

3. Decide whether you want to update the document's status — to Printed, Emailed or Faxed — and, on Change Document Status, either click Change Status or Don't Change Status, as appropriate.

CHAPTER CHANGING A DOCUMENT'S STATUS

RELATED TOPICS

 My Home Page  Reviewing documents

 Changing a document's status

 Viewing a document's status history

Changing a document's status

Change Status displays the current status of a document and enables you to select a new status from those available. If, as the fee earner, you change a document's status to Rejected, you must enter notes so that support staff can see why it has been rejected and what needs to be changed.

For details of the document review process, see Reviewing documents. Only users that have permission to use restricted statuses, set up by the system administrator, can change a document's status to Approved. Other statuses might also have been set up to be restricted usage.

Below we describe changing a document's status via the Document Review element of My Home Page, but you can also change a document's status on the Document History tab of a matter record.

NOTE In the right-click menu, statuses that are unavailable are greyed

out.

To change a document's status:

1. On the Document Review element of My Home Page, right-click the document and either click Change Status and go to step 2, or click the new status and go to step 3 (unless the new status is Rejected, in which case go to step 2).

2. On Change Status, select the New Status and enter Notes. When rejecting a document, you must enter notes. Click OK. 3. On Document Review, the document is no longer listed as its

status no longer matches the Status field. If you want to re-list the document, change the Document Review Status field to the new status of the document.

RELATED TOPICS

 Reviewing documents

 Using Document Review element

 Viewing a document's status history

Viewing a document's status

history

Status History displays the status history of a document. By default, the most recent version is listed at the top. to the left of a document's description denotes that the version has a note recorded against it. For details of the document review process, see Reviewing documents. Below we describe viewing a document's status history via the Document Review element of My Home Page, but you can also view the status history via the Document History tab of a matter record.

To view a document's status history:

1. On Document Review, right-click the document and click Status

History.

2. On Status History, the changes made to the document's status are listed.

3. If you want to view notes that were recorded against a version, select the version of the document in the list and the notes are displayed in the bottom pane.

RELATED TOPICS

 Reviewing documents

 Using Document Review element

CHAPTER IMPORTING DOCUMENTS

Importing documents

ALB enables you to import external, that is, non-PMS documents, into ALB. For example, you can import an email relating to a matter so that it is stored with the matter record.

Where to import documents

 For a document that relates to an ALB record, import the document via the Document History tab for that record. For example, if the document relates to a client, use the Client Details - Document History tab

 For a general document, that is, a document that does not relate to a specific record, import the document via Document Management

Two ways to import documents

There are two ways to import documents into ALB:

 Use the right-click menu and select Import Document

 Drag and drop documents into the Document History tab or into

Document Management

To import a document via the right-click menu:

 If the document relates to a particular record, on the

record's Document History tab, right-click a blank area of the Files section of the screen and select Import

Document

 If the document does not relate to a particular record, on

Document Management, in the left pane, find the volume

that will hold the document. Right-click the volume name and select Import Document

2. On Import Document, click to browse for the document. 3. Select the Type of document and add a Description of the

4. If your starting point was a Document History tab, select the

Folder in which to store the document. If you want to use a new

folder, click and enter a name for the folder in Folder. 5. Enter Notes if you wish.

6. If your starting point was a Document History tab, if you need to change the Fee Earner from the default for the client, select the fee earner to associate with the document.

7. If you want to use document versioning for this document

(available for Word and Excel documents), select Use Versioning.

More about versioning.

8. If you want to encrypt the document, select Encrypt File. More about file encryption.

9. If you want to make the document visible to the client using the self-service module (available in 2011), select Make Public. 10. If you have sufficient permissions and want to lock the document

so that others cannot open it, select Lock Document. More about document locking.

11. Click OK. The document is imported and is listed on the Documents tab or on Document Management.

To import a document via drag and drop:

Method 1

1. With the record's Document History tab (or for a general document, Document Management) open in ALB, also open the application where the file you want to import is listed, for example, Windows Explorer or Outlook.

2. Resize the windows as necessary so that you can see both the

Document History tab (or Document Management) and the other application window.

3. Click the file you want to import and drag it to the File pane of the Document History tab (or Document Management). You might be asked to confirm that you want to allow access to the data.

CHAPTER IMPORTING DOCUMENTS

4. Using drag and drop, you don't complete the import settings. Therefore, unless you want to use the default settings, you now need to Edit the document's settings.

Method 2 (avoids having to resize application windows)

document, Document Management) open in ALB, also open the application where the file you want to import is listed, for example, Windows Explorer or Outlook.

2. Click the file you want to import and drag it down to the taskbar and hover, without releasing the mouse button, as follows:

 For a document relating to a particular record, hover over the Practice Management System button on the taskbar. Don't release the mouse button yet

 For a general document, hover over the Document Management button on the taskbar. Don't release the mouse button yet

3. When the Document History tab or Document Management window opens, drag away from the taskbar up to the File pane on that window and release the mouse button. You might be asked to confirm that you want to allow access to the data.

4. Using drag and drop, you don't complete the import settings. Therefore, unless you want to use the default settings, you now need to Edit the document's settings.

You can also drag files from your desktop into ALB.

RELATED TOPICS

 Copying and pasting documents

 Client Details - Document History  Matter Details - Document History  Document Management

Scanning documents

Scanning documents

ALB enables you to scan documents locally and assign them directly to a client, matter or fee earner.

Alternatively, if your firm uses a central scanning system, ALB integrates with the scanning system so that scans can be routed directly to the relevant matter record in ALB, and the fee earner notified.

See:

 Local scanning

 Central scanning

RELATED TOPICS

 Working with documents

Local scanning

ALB enables you to scan documents locally and assign them directly to a client, matter or fee earner. Alternatively you can use ALB with an external scanning system; see Central scanning.

Four starting points for scanning a document locally

 On the Tools menu, click Document Scanning

 On Client Details or Matter Details, for the client or matter record that you want to scan documents to, click the Actions menu and select Document Scanning

 On the My Cases element of My Home Page, right-click a matter for which you want to scan documents and select Scan Document(s) to Matter

 After searching for a matter for which you want to scan documents, on Matter Search, right-click the matter and select Scan

CHAPTER LOCAL SCANNING

To scan a document locally:

1. On the Tools menu, click Document Scanning.

2. On Document Scanning, at the bottom left of the screen, click a button to select whether you want to assign the scan to a matter, client or fee earner. Assign to Matter is the default selection. 3. Type the client, matter or fee earner reference, or click to

search. If you are assigning the scan to a matter and after

selecting the client and matter want to change to a different matter for the same client, click to select from a list of matters for the client.

4. For Image File Type, select the file format to use for the scan. 5. Select the Resolution for the scan. The higher the resolution, the

better the quality of image but the file size will also be larger. 6. Select the Image Type. Black and white images have the smallest

file size.

7. For Paper Source, select where the document is being scanned from.

8. Click Acquire Image. A standard scanning window opens for you to confirm the details of the scan.

Your scanning preferences — Image File Type, Resolution, Image Type and Paper Source — are remembered for next time.

Where are scans saved?

 Documents that you assign to a client are saved to Client Details - Document History tab

 Documents that you assign to a matter are saved to Matter Details - Document History tab

 Documents that you assign to a fee earner can be accessed by the fee earner from My Documents on My Home Page

Saving multiple scans in one file

You can save multiple scans in a single, multipage, TIFF file. After scanning, from the File menu, select Save All As Multipage TIFF.

RELATED TOPICS

 Working with documents

 Scanning documents

 Central scanning

Central scanning

Central scanning

ALB can be used with a central scanning system — currently either Xerox or eCopy — with scans routed to the Document History tab of the relevant matter record in ALB and the fee earner notified that the scan has been performed.

In order to use central scanning with ALB, you need to have the full version of SQL Server installed. SQL Server Express does not have the necessary components.

You can also use ALB with a local scanner; see Local scanning.

Setting up central scanning

There are five system parameters related to central scanning and these are maintained by your system administrator, in Utilities - Modules, or in Utilities - System Parameters.

The system parameters determine:

 Whether central scanning is turned on or off

 Which central scanning provider is being used — Xerox or eCopy  The Exchange server that receives email notifications

CHAPTER CENTRAL SCANNING

 Which fee earner receives notifications about completed scans when the matter can't be identified

 Which folder stores scans when the matter and client can't be identified, ready to be viewed and saved to the correct matter

Central scanning process

The process of using central scanning with ALB is set out below.

Stage Who or what does this? Description Where? Document scanning Member of support staff

Enters client and matter number plus any other

document details required for your scanning setup (fee earner, document reference etc.) and scans the document

Scanning device

Scan storage Scanning device

Stores image file plus metadata file (contains information about the scan)

Scanning device server Retrieval of document files

ALB Performs periodic checks for scans. Retrieves image and metadata files and checks the details ALB interacting with scanning device server Matter identification and document save

ALB If client and matter number are identified, document is saved to the matter's document history.

If client number is identified but not the matter number, document is saved to the client's document history. If neither the client nor matter number are identified, document is saved to the location specified in Central Scan Pending Folder system parameter

ALB database

Fee earner notification

ALB If notifications aren't in use, no notification is sent.

If notifications are in use and the matter was identified, sends the fee earner

associated with the matter a notification via the method specified in the Central Scan Notify Method system

parameter

If notifications are in use and the matter has not been identified, sends a notification to the fee earner specified in Central Scan Fee Earner system parameter ALB Document checking Fee earner

Checks the scan either via the hyperlink in an email

notification, or directly on the matter's document history

Matter Details - Document History tab Saving unidentified documents Fee earner

Views unidentified documents and saves to the correct client or matter Central Scan Pending Folder Disbursement creation Member of accounts staff Creates a disbursement to cover document scanning, in the usual way

Accounts

RELATED TOPICS

 Using central scan notifications

 Central Scan Pending Folder

 Scanning documents

 Bulk importing scans

 Local scanning

Using central scan notifications

CHAPTER USING CENTRAL SCAN NOTIFICATIONS

completed. If your firm chooses to use central scan notifications these can be via:

 Email

 PMS internal email and associated pop-up message  Both of the above

What is a central scan notification?

A central scan notification is a message that arrives via email or PMS email. It states where a scan has been saved and includes a link that opens the scan. If the notification is for a scan for which a matter or client could not be identified, the notification states that the scan has been placed in the Central Scan Pending Folder, and includes a link that opens the scan.

Want to stop receiving notifications?

If notifications have been set up for your firm, but you personally do not want to receive them, you can stop your own notifications. You can stop them regardless of whether they arrive via email, PMS email or both.

To turn off your own scan notifications:

2. On User Details - Notification Preferences tab, uncheck the

Receive Central Scan Notifications box.

3. Click OK.

Want to resume receiving notifications?

If scan notifications have been set up for your firm, but your own notifications have been stopped, you can restart them if you wish.

To turn on your own scan notifications:

2. On User Details - Notification Preferences tab, select the

Receive Central Scan Notifications checkbox.

3. Click OK.

RELATED TOPICS

 Central scanning

 Central Scan Pending Folder

 Bulk importing scans

Central Scan Pending Folder

Central Scan Pending Folder displays a list of centrally scanned documents for which the associated matter could not be automatically identified. When a scan is placed in this folder by ALB, if notifications are being used, the fee earner specified in the Central Scan Fee Earner system parameter, receives a notification. Alternatively, you can simply check the Central Scan Pending Folder periodically.

On Central Scan Pending Folder you can...

 View a list of scans for which the matter could not be identified  View a scan; see below

 Save a scan to the correct ALB matter or client record; see below  View the information associated with a scan, that is, the metadata;

see below

To view a scan:

1. On the PMS Tools menu, click Central Scan Pending Folder. 2. On Central Scan Pending Folder, either double-click the scan in the

list, or click to select it and then from the Actions menu, select

CHAPTER CENTRAL SCAN PENDING FOLDER

To save a scan to a matter or client record:

1. On Central Scan Pending Folder, click to select the scan in the list.

2. From the Actions menu, select Save to History.

3. On Assign to Matter, at Ref:, search for the client and matter references. The matter Desc: and Client: are displayed.

4. Click to select the folder in the matter's document history in which to save the scan.

5. Click Assign to save the scan to the matter and folder you have specified.

Viewing the metadata

If you can't work out which client or matter a scan relates to, the metadata may help with identification. Any details relating to the

document that were input to the scanning device, will be included at some point in the metadata file.

To view the metadata associated with a scan:

1. On Central Scan Pending Folder, select the scan in the list. 2. From the Actions menu, select View Metadata File. The file

opens.

3. Check the metadata for details that identify the client and matter.

RELATED TOPICS

 Central scanning

 Using central scan notifications

Bulk importing scans

ALB includes a Bulk Import feature that is designed for situations where your firm uses a third party company for scanning bundles of documents that then need to be imported into ALB.

On import, each scan for which the client and matter number are available is saved to the relevant matter, even if the matter has been archived. Scans for which the client and matter number are not available are saved to the Central Scan Pending Folder ready to be dealt with as described in

Central Scan Pending Folder.

You can import scans directly from the CD or other media on which the scan files and index file reside, or from a folder to which you have copied the scan and index files.

To import a batch of scans:

1. On the PMS Tools menu, click Bulk Import.

2. On Bulk Import, to the right of Folder, click to browse for the location of the scan files.

3. Click to the right of Image Index File to browse for the .csv file that holds the indexing details of the scan files.

4. Click Import to import the scan files. When the import is complete, the Report tab opens, showing the number of scans imported, the number copied to Central Scan Pending Folder, and the number of errors.

5. If there are any errors, view details on the Error Log tab that appears. For example, there might be an error because the

filename of a scan you are importing already exists. You can export the error log to Excel, via Actions menu, Export to Excel.

6. Click to close Bulk Import.

Result

Imported scans are saved in the document history of the relevant matters. Notifications are not sent for these scans.

CHAPTER SEARCHING FOR A DOCUMENT ON THE DOCUMENT HISTORY TAB

If any scans have been placed in Central Scan Pending Folder, the fee earner specified in the Central Scan Fee Earner system parameter receives a notification.

RELATED TOPICS

 Central scanning

 Central Scan Pending Folder

 Using central scan notifications

Searching for documents

When searching for documents in ALB, which documents are covered by the search depends on where you initiate the search. You can either search for a document that is associated with a particular record, or you can search globally by searching on every document in ALB.

See:

 Searching for a document on the Document History tab

 Searching for a document globally

Searching for a document on the

Document History tab

On the Document History tab that appears on various ALB screens, you can search for a document associated with the current record.

Specify the text you want to find and whether you want to search the body of the documents as well as the file names. This search only includes the documents listed on the Document History tab.

To search for a document globally, use the Document Management

application, where you can search for any document in ALB. See Searching for a document globally.

To search for a document on the Document History tab:

1. On the Document History tab, click the folder you want to search so that it is highlighted in the Folders pane. You will be able to