Month: April 2019

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Should Law Firms Start Their Own Podcasts?

Lawyers Podcasts

Podcasts are huge these days. Popular podcast Serial has been downloaded millions of times and has become a pop culture phenomenon right alongside other “did they really do it” series like Netflix’s Making a Murderer. Podcasts are also used for informational and educational purposes. NPR offers its programs in podcast form so users can listen at their own pace. They’ve even developed programming that doesn’t broadcast on the radio. It only exists in podcast form.

The podcast has arrived, and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. The question for law firms, as with any new tech innovation, is whether developing a podcast for the firm makes sense. We believe creating a podcast can be a powerful, memorable branding tool. Here are a few reasons why your firm should consider starting one.

A Branded Podcast Builds Credibility and Engagement

The problem most law firms face isn’t competence. The process of becoming a lawyer usually takes care of this. The problem firms face is getting their name out into the community effectively. You want to communicate that you’re competent and successful but at the same time approachable. Much of law firm advertising veers far in one direction or the other. You see “prestige” billboards that may communicate “you can’t afford me” to a good portion of the community, and you see cheesy TV commercials that communicate “we’re not a serious firm” to another portion of the community.

Creating a podcast is a low-cost, low-effort way to engage with your community. You can communicate in a down-to-earth fashion by just being yourself. You can use a podcast to indirectly convince community members of your ability and skill, and you can disarm the negative notions that can come from prestige advertising.

It’s an Inexpensive Advertising Tool

Another advantage of podcasting is cost. It’s very inexpensive to produce a podcast, and it costs nothing to host it. All you need to produce it is some simple audio recording equipment and a topic that you can discuss. Hosting a podcast is a simple affair using a hosting tool like Libsyn. Hosting tools like this one will automatically publish your podcast to iTunes and all the other major podcast services. Once your content is published, you can promote your podcast using your existing social media channels through both regular and paid posts.

Compare this to the costs of producing video for social and the costs of traditional advertising. To produce social video, you’ll have to invest in video recording equipment. If you want a quality product, you’ll probably end up having to hire a video production group to produce them. Then, consider traditional print and TV advertising. The costs are astronomical compared to the costs of producing a podcast.

It’s an Attractive Alternative to Video

Let’s be honest: we don’t all look like the beautiful pretend lawyers on Suits. Even if you are blessed with great looks, you may not be comfortable in front of the camera. If video makes you look shifty, insecure, or nervous, you’re not helping your firm’s advertising efforts. Focusing your efforts on a podcast avoids the difficulties and aesthetic concerns that come with video.

The other issue with video is that they need to be short. Videos, especially in advertising, need to be fairly “snackable.” Podcasts, on the other hand, can take a deeper dive. People often listen on their commute or at the gym, so they are looking for content of a certain length. Going deeper on a given topic is one way to reaffirm your credibility, too.

Getting Started

If you’re ready to start a podcast for your firm here’s a brief guide to the steps you need to take.

Equipment

You can record audio using the internal microphone on your laptop, but it won’t sound very good. Invest in a midrange USB microphone, like the Snowball or Yeti from Blue. The difference in sound quality will astound you. You can easily record one or two people around a microphone like those. If you plan to invite more than one guest onto your podcast, you may need an additional microphone.

Software

If you’re recording only one microphone, your software needs are simple. Free recording and editing programs like Audacity for PC and GarageBand for Mac will do just about everything you need. Call Recorder for Skype is an inexpensive Mac app that will simplify things for you, too. We recommend starting with this simple setup before exploring multi-mic (multi-track) recording. Once you’re familiar with the basic principles, you’ll have an easier time scaling up.

Topics and Launch

All that’s left is to come up with some topics and get going. Choose topics community members are likely wondering about and answer whatever questions they may have. This is a tool for getting clients in the door. Choose topics that offer as much value as possible, topics people will want to listen to.

All that’s left is to launch. Hit record, start talking, and publish!

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Outsourcing Your IT? Something Else To Keep In Mind…

Regardless of who is taking care of your technology, it’s still your technology. If you’re planning on working with an outsourced IT partner, you’ll want to find out ahead of time if they intend to keep you in the loop, will be upfront with you about the work they do, and will help make your technology better instead of just keeping it going.

Check out this week’s Tech Tip for part two of our look at what you need to ask before outsourcing your IT support.

If you have questions, give me a call at (469) 635-5500 or email me at datamagic@datamagicinc.com.

Regards,

Chase

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Why Construction Companies In Dallas & Fort Worth Use Sage Software

Sage is a world-leader of accounting software. They offer different financial management packages designed to support the unique needs of specific industries. Many contractors in the Dallas/Fort Worth area use either Sage 300 Construction, Sage 100 Contractor or Sage Estimator. We highlight their benefits here.

Sage 300 Construction

Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate is an online construction and property management suite for providing complete construction management for accounting, ERP, HR, payroll, payments, assets, construction, and real estate. It’s the most widely-used construction management software in the industry.

Sage 300 Construction will integrate with your business at all levels. It’s an all-encompassing construction solution in the Cloud and helps you complete projects with efficiency.

You Can Customize Sage 300 To Your Requirements

Sage 300 Construction is highly customizable and helps you manage your entire construction project lifecycle with solutions like:

  • Web access to all your financial data.
  • Project reporting on the go.
  • Field-based project management.
  • Customized reporting tools.
  • Cloud-based project and service management.

With built-in inquiries, customizable reports and powerful add-ons, you can take control by defining the information your organization needs, how to access it and when, and make timely business decisions to maximize profitability.

Document Control Is Easy

With Sage Paperless Construction you’ll have greater control of your documents along with an audit trail. You can organize, store and route all versions of drawings, RFIs, invoices, lease agreements, contracts and more.

Sage 300 Construction Provides The Mobility You Need

With mobile construction solutions you can simplify capturing and reporting on job site details. This helps you streamline your office and field communications and run your contracting business with greater operational efficiency on any mobile device.

With Sage Mobile Projects your office and field staff can collaborate easily with mobile access to field reports and requests for information (RFIs). This helps to keep projects on time and on budget.

Your Team Can Collaborate In Real Time

With its project management module, you can reduce your company’s risk by quickly identifying potential issues before they become serious problems. And with Sage’s Construction Project Center everyone on your project can collaborate in real time throughout all phases of a project.

Sage Service Operations provides your field management with the critical information they need while office staff receive real-time updates from the field. This results in higher quality work, improved efficiency, and maximum profitability.

Provide Insights To Help Make Better Decisions

Sage 300 Construction has built-in inquiries for easily customizable reports. Add-ons like My Assistant, My Communicator and Office Connector help you define the information you need, in ways you need to access it to help you with decision making to maximize productivity.

Impress Your Clients

Sage 300 Construction lets you improve communication with clients and streamline your service operations. The Service Management module simplifies dispatching, field management, and billing. You can see the status of any service call including the time it’s scheduled, the service to be performed, and the technician assigned to the service.

Others Rave About Sage 300

They like its accurate, timely control over project matters, including accounting and financial processes, and in the way that they need to see the information. And they say that it provides greater control of documents and a clean audit trail, therefore reducing the risk usually involved in construction work.

Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate include these dispatching features and efficiencies:

  • Display as many as 450 service calls and 48 technicians at one time on the easy-to-use dispatch board.
  • Monitor technician availability, workload, and scheduling conflicts through the dispatch board’s enhanced visual controls.
  • Retrieve a customer’s service history, geographic location, and accounts receivable information.
  • Sort assignments by date and time and prioritize service calls by estimated start and finish times.
  • Look up parts by item code, category, or description.
  • Track material runners and materials on order.
  • Enter a purchase order while working inside the dispatch board.
  • Drill down for access to additional information about specific service calls.
  • Attach technician, customer, and equipment notes to work orders.
  • Pull up a list of installed equipment including detail such as model number, service history, or warranty length.
  • Check details of warranty types and service agreement coverage.
  • Perform searches for existing work orders.
  • Automatically carry over unfinished work orders to the next day.
  • Let customers know exactly when technicians were dispatched using time stamps.
  • Map out each technician’s schedule for up to five weeks.
  • Call up technician records, status, pager numbers, and more.
  • Use time stamps to create an audit trail of actual hours worked and cross-check them against technician time cards.
  • Track non-work-order time such as training, shop time, or vacation.
  • From the dispatch board, perform skill checks by technician.
  • Track what inventory was used on each work order.

It includes these billing features and efficiencies:

  • Automate pricing with small job fixed-rate pricing, flat-rate pricing, or markup/discount.
  • Bill multiple work orders based on one invoice.
  • Bill customer accounts or individual service locations.
  • Implement a work order approval process prior to billing.
  • Create a variety of invoice formats to suit your purposes.
  • Invoice work orders on the fly.
  • Set up unlimited rate tables for labor, materials, equipment, and other costs per customer.
  • Establish special discounts by customer.
  • Customize call types with their own labor rates.
  • Price travel by trip charge or miles.
  • Automatically price parts based on item or mark-up file.
  • Add miscellaneous charges.

Sage 100 Contractor and Sage Estimating May Be All That You Need

Sage 100 Contractor is designed for growing, mid-sized companies using Excel or other generic software packages. It provides easy access to job cost and project management information.

Sage 100 Contractor provides easy access to complete critical business and project information for small and mid-sized contractors. It includes

  • Automated bank feeds.
  • Electronic document management routing.
  • Integrated payroll and timecard management.
  • Mobile service operation.

Sage Estimating is designed with a familiar spreadsheet look and feel. It integrates with eTakeoff Bridge, Dimension, and AutoDesk Navisworks to speed the take-off process and simplify building bids with 2D and 3D content.

Sage Estimating is the most advanced pre-construction bidding solution on the market today.

  • Build estimates from both 2D and 3D content.
  • Use superior digital takeoff tools.
  • It fully integrates with industry-leading BIM solutions.
  • It provides a robust collection of pre-populated cost databases.

How Much Does Sage Cost?

Sage offers a range of solutions to fit diverse business sizes and budgets. Actual costs are determined by the number of users, specific modules purchased, implementation, customization, and training needs. The figures below will give you a general estimate for what your software-only investment might be.

  • Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate start around $10,000+.
  • Sage 100 Contractor starts at $5,000+ Subscription pricing that’s also available.
  • Sage Estimating starts around $3,500+.

These are just three IT solutions that can help you improve the way your construction company operates. Contact Data Magic Computer Services and we’ll tell you about others.

If you liked this article check out others in our Blog. Here are a few to get you started:

Windows 7: Under One Year Until Support Ends

9 New Game-Changing Additions To Microsoft Office 365

Why is my Windows 10 Pro Deactivating?

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Microsoft Ending Support For Windows 7 (What You Need To Know)

Windows 7 Support In Dallas/Fort Worth

 

Still Using Windows 7?

Is your company still using the Windows 7 operating system? This stalwart, reliable OS has been a popular solution for many businesses looking for stability and functionality.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. As of January 14, 2020, Microsoft will cease providing updates and security patches for Windows 7. That gives your business a brief window in which to change to a new operating system.

What Does the Windows 7 End of Life Mean?

When Microsoft ends its support of Windows 7, it means the cessation of all support, paid and unpaid, for the operating system. At present, the company is offering “extended support,” meaning paid support only. It no longer offers complimentary support that may have been included in software license or licensing programs. Until January 2020, it will continue to provide security updates but no new design or feature improvements.

Can I Use Windows 7 After Microsoft Ends Support?

You can certainly continue to use Windows 7 after Microsoft stops its support. However, you do so at considerable risk. One of the most important parts of managing your operating system is to ensure that it is protected from viruses, malware and other nasty infections that can derail your technology. Hackers know that Windows 7 is ending and will be looking to exploit the lack of updates and attack computer systems at businesses still using the OS.

What Other Impacts Are There to Stopping Support?

When Microsoft stops supporting an operating system, it’s a signal to other software developers and hardware companies to stop providing upgrades and updates to their products on the Windows 7 OS, too. While that support may linger beyond the January 2020 date, it’s likely to end at some point.

In addition, newer hardware components and peripherals are likely to stop working on your computers and devices still using Windows 7. This may create serious compatibility issues with other programs or tools you and your employees need to keep doing business as usual.

How Prevalent Is the Use of Windows 7?

Despite facing its demise, Windows 7 continues to be among the most popular operating systems. As of February 2019, Windows held an 87.4 percent share of the OS market. In 2018, Windows 10 eclipsed Windows 7 as the most popular OS worldwide, with 39.2 percent compared to 36.9 percent. In an attempt to speed along adoption of Windows 10, Microsoft had given away the newer OS for free in recent years, though that program has now expired. In one of the company’s most recent Windows 7 releases, Microsoft has included a reminder encouraging people to switch.

How Can I Address the Windows 7 End of Life?

The best thing companies can do is to plan to upgrade to Windows 10 well before January 2020. Microsoft has made this process easy, with little to no disruption to files. The user interface is very similar between Windows 10 and Windows 7, ensuring there will be minimal operational challenges for your employees.

Who To Contact For Windows 7 Support in Dallas and Fort Worth

The optimal way to approach a Windows upgrade is to work with your IT partner. At Data Magic Computer Services, we help companies migrate to the new operating system and provide ongoing training and support to assist users. To learn more about how Data Magic can support your Windows 7 migration, contact us today.

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Password Management: What Lawyers Must Know

Password Management

Passwords are a problem. In one sense they are exactly the opposite of what they should be. They’re hard for users to remember but easy for intruders to guess or steal. The user frustrations with the current system make it ripe for abuse, and that’s exactly what’s taking place every day.

The best solution for lawyers and law firms alike is to implement a password management utility. We’ll take a look at that solution after exploring the nature of the problem in greater depth.

The Problems with Passwords

Can you even count how many digital sites and services you’re required to log in to with a username and password? Most people have upwards of one hundred. It’s challenging, if not impossible, to keep them all straight without some kind of assistance. People usually resort to one of several very insecure methods to solve this. One of the most common is reusing the same username and password on multiple sites.

Password Reuse Is Easy but Dangerous

Security professionals will tell you that reusing passwords is dangerous. This is because when (not if) your credentials are captured or stolen on one site, you become vulnerable on every other site that uses those same credentials. The problem here is that it’s just so easy to reuse passwords, especially on accounts we don’t consider to be sensitive in nature. Nearly half of security professionals themselves admit to reusing passwords, even though they know firsthand the dangers of doing so.

Strong, Unique Passwords Are Too Hard to Remember

If you’re not supposed to reuse passwords, then what should you do? Ideally, you should create a strong, unique password for every site. Each one should be lengthy (the longer the better) and should contain a mix of lower and uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols. The longer and more complex the password, the harder it is for a computer to crack it. People won’t be able to guess Gbje23+3zp?$T0n very well at all.

The problem with a password like Gbje23+3zp?$T0n, though, is obvious. You’ll have a tough time remembering even one of those, let alone a hundred.

Experts will suggest other tactics, like turning a familiar phrase into a password. “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth a new nation” could become “4s&7yaoFbfaNN”. This method uses the first letters of each word (along with numbers and symbols where appropriate) to create a passcode that’s nearly inscrutable but that’s easier to remember.

This method helps, but it doesn’t scale well. It’s true you’ll have an easier time reproducing that than the previous example, but you’ll still have a tough time replicating that a hundred times over.

The Solution: Password Management

The best solution to the password conundrum is using a password management utility. Setting up a password management utility isn’t difficult, and putting one in place greatly increases your digital security. Once you’ve set up a password manager, you don’t even need to remember all those passwords. You just have to remember one.

How Password Management Tools Work

Password managers are programs or apps that function as a digital safe, or a digitally encrypted locker. All your passwords are stored inside the safe. Password management tools will also help you create long, complex, unique passwords for all your accounts. Some can even do this automatically once you supply your existing credentials.

With a password manager, it’s easy to maintain a different complex password for every account, because you no longer need to remember those passwords yourself. You just need to create and memorize one very strong password for the password manager itself.

Once you’ve set up a password manager, it will autocomplete the login fields on most websites. For the few that don’t auto-populate, you can access a database of your account credentials and copy and paste the proper credentials into the corresponding fields. All the major password managers also offer some degree of integration with both iOS and Android. Your passwords remain accessible, yet secure, on your mobile devices.

The Security of Password Management Tools

Password management tools stake their reputation on their security. They aren’t perfectly secure—nothing is. The Washington Post notes some of their flaws. They are, however, a vast improvement over most people’s current password practices. No one gets access to your vault without your master password, and hackers won’t get that password from the utility makers since they don’t store your master password anywhere. There’s no database to be hacked.

On that note, make sure your master password is itself long and complex. Consider using the “familiar phrase” tactic described earlier.

Conclusion

Lawyers have an obligation to keep their digital accounts secure. Doing so manually is difficult if not impossible. Implementing a strong password management solution is the answer. If you have more questions about implementing a quality password management system for your law firm, we’re here to help. Contact us today to discuss the options available.

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Outsourcing Your IT? Here’s What You Should Know!

If you’re outsourcing your IT support, it’s more than likely because it’s not a job you can take on yourself anymore. But before you hand that job off to an IT provider, you’re going to want to ask a few important questions. For example, what their approach to Data Backup and Recovery is.

Check out this week’s Tech Tip for part one of our look at what you need to ask before outsourcing your IT support.

If you have questions, give me a call at (469) 635-5500 or email me at datamagic@datamagicinc.com.

Regards,

Chase

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Creating Internet Browser Tags

The internet is a wonderful place, full of billions of terabytes of information available for you to find. That sounds like a great thing, right?!? It can be, but it can also make getting back to a preferred resource quite a challenge. It’s not unusual to be researching a specific topic and find exactly the information that you need. You know you’re going to want to reference the site again, so you add a bookmark. Fast forward several weeks, and you’re trying to refer back to the material . . . but for the life of you, you’re not able to find where the bookmark is hiding in the laundry list of bookmarks that you’ve created over the years. Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem of organizing your internet reference sites and it’s easier than you might realize.

The World Wide Web is a Wonderful Place

With more than 1.6 billion websites online at the time of this writing, it’s not surprising that it’s tough to find a single grain of wheat in with the chaff. Even when you consider that there are only 200 million sites that are active, that number is still staggering. It’s actually surprising that we are able to find anything of interest, and is a true testament to the power of search engine algorithms that results are valid as often as they are. Hundreds of thousands of websites may be available on any particular topic, and competitors for your products could be located anywhere in the world. With all this scattered information, it becomes ever more challenging to make sense and create organization midst the chaos that is the internet.

Getting Organized Online

Creating a quick bookmark used to be the go-to way to save your spot so you could reference it later as needed. These bookmarks can be saved from browser to browser, exported and imported when you change platforms and synced across devices so you always have access to your saved websites. Unfortunately, this also means that you’re accumulating many saved links over the years, which can make it quite tough to find related sites with a few clicks or taps. One way that you can keep all of your sites together and add organization is to add tags along with bookmarks to websites that you expect to visit again in the future. You can add tags such as:

  • Vendors, for people you would like to work within the future
  • Competitors, so you can quickly skip through your list to research their new offerings
  • Health and Wellness, to see the latest research on topics that concern your family
  • Research, to learn more about the various technology that may impact your business in the future
  • Vacations, to pull together ideas you can share with friends and family members

Each time you’re adding a tag, you’re able to create a grouping of information that you can then reference again in the future. This method is far superior to simple bookmarking, as it lets you correlate the results of your searches by putting several sites in context with each other.

The proliferation of websites is unlikely to diminish in the future, so this quick productivity hack will help you make sense of the madness that can result in bookmarking sites over the years. At Data Magic, we are always looking for ways to make data easier to understand and improve your understanding of technology. Contact our tech wizards today at 469-635-5500 to experience technology support that truly works like magic.

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With So Many ERPs To Choose From – Which One Is Right For Construction Business In Dallas – Fort Worth? 5 Comparisons

Any construction business that wants to compete in today’s technology-driven environment needs up-to-date software solutions. And Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is one of them. It integrates your company’s departments and disparate work processes into a single system so you can manage your core operations with a single solution.

Identifying the best ERP system for your organization is integral to your success. But it can be difficult to decide which ERP program to choose. To help we’ve highlighted 5 of the ERP applications our clients in Dallas-Fort Worth find helpful.

1. NetSuite ERP is a scalable cloud solution that mid-sized construction businesses and enterprises rely on. It’s a leader in the industry due to its financial management capabilities and business intelligence which helps you make well-informed data-driven decisions.

NetSuite ERP manages all your logistics while reducing the total cost of ownership. It will help you increase the accuracy of procure-to-pay processes and optimize the value of your workforce with integrated human capital management features.

If you need order management, NetSuite’s platform helps to accelerate order-to-cash processes with sales and fulfillment operations tied to pricing. Is has best-in-class production management features that provide complete visibility into your production workflows so can get products to market efficiently and on time.

NetSuite ERP includes solutions for:

  • Front- and back-office processes
  • Financial management
  • Revenue management
  • Fixed assets
  • Order management
  • Billing and inventory management

2. Infor M3 ERP is a comprehensive solution designed for businesses that make, move, or maintain products. It is designed for medium-to-large businesses.

Infor M3 and Infor M3 Cloud both offer multi-functional capabilities that are combined with highly productive new technologies to support mobility and team collaboration. Its flexible deployment options and implementation accelerators yield a low total cost of ownership and a short time-to-value.

Infor M3 utilizes the Infor OS technology platform, which enables M3 to address your business needs beyond a traditional ERP system.

Features include:

  • Global financial visibility
  • Game-changing analytics
  • Agile supply chains
  • Fast, secure deployment
  • A service-centric business model
  • Consumer-grade user experience
  • Web-based homepages
  • Social business
  • Mobile access
  • Integration and workflow
  • Document management
  • Business intelligence
  • Flexible deployment

3. SYSPRO ERP is a fully integrated on-premise and cloud-based business software for the planning and management of all areas of your construction company. It’s built to deliver industry-specific functionality and can be adapted to your unique business requirements. It comes with 50 self-developed modules.

With 40 years’ of experience, SYSPRO is able to provide built-for-industry frameworks designed to help you benefit from best practices, especially in highly-regulated industries, while minimizing the cost, time, and disruption involved in ERP implementation.

Components include financials, sales, customer relationship management (CRM), inventory, operations, and supply chain management.

Features:

  • It’s customizable and focuses on solving complex business challenges with a simple approach.
  • It’s adaptable. As your business grows and your processes and practices change, so does your SYSPRO solution.
  • Work when and where you want with SYSPRO Cloud ERP.
  • It provides a simplified deployment In global partnership with Microsoft Azure and offers a simple way to transition to, configure and maintain.

4. Oracle’s PeopleSoft® Enterprise supports functions such as human resources, finance, IT, procurement, marketing, services, and sales across all industries.

PeopleSoft is an ERP solution that integrates human capital management (HCM), financial management, supplier relationship management, enterprise services automation, supply chain management, and campus solutions modules, and can be deployed either on-premise or in the Cloud. PeopleSoft Enterprise has eight main modules with a total of 3,539 features:

  1. Financials
  2. Human Resources
  3. Manufacturing
  4. Inventory Management
  5. Purchasing Management
  6. Quality Management
  7. Sales Management
  8. Product Technology

5. SAP ERP has all the capabilities of supply chain management, product lifecycle management, human capital management, financial management, and customer relationship management solutions in a package that’s suitable for small or mid-sized companies. It can be deployed as Software-as-a-Service or on-premise as a hybrid model. You can customize it to suit your construction company’s unique requirements.

SAP ERP is:

  • Smart & Adaptable: Leverage intelligent ERP with built-in machine learning, predictive analytics, optimized processes, and automatic updates.
  • Fast & Affordable: Tap into SAP’s world-class cloud infrastructure to run lean and flexible business processes. Get up and running quickly for a low monthly cost.
  • Secure & Reliable: You’ll be covered from system security to compliance. Your data will be hosted on world-class servers with global teams dedicated to its safety.

These are just five ERP solutions that can help you improve the way your construction business operates. Contact Data Magic Computer Services in Coppell, Texas to learn more.

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Is Your Tech Firm Conducting Quarterly Technology Reviews?

No matter the line of business you’re in, outsourcing your IT services to a managed service provider (MSP) provides a world of benefits. Both your internal systems and your online presence will be optimized and streamlined, tech problems will be taken care of right away, and you’ll have more time to focus on what matters.

Quarterly Business Reviews

Aside from providing excellent customer care and competency in their field, great MSPs employ the best IT experts, are there for you when you need them, stay up-to-date on new technology, and … they do one other important thing.

They conduct Quarterly Technology Reviews.

What are Quarterly Technology Reviews?

Quarterly Technology Reviews or QTRs are meetings your IT services company regularly conducts with you to assess the effectiveness of your current tech investments and them, your managed service provider.

A QTR occurs quarterly or four times per year, and it’s up to your MSP to book the appointment; you shouldn’t have to. When you see that your MSP is taking the initiative with QTRs, it’s a great sign that you’re working with a leading company. At a QTR meeting, you’ll be able to provide feedback to your MSP about the service they’ve been providing and the technology you’ve been investing in.

What are the specific benefits of a Quarterly Technology Review?

For you, the client, the benefits of QTRs are numerous. You’ll have an open platform to discuss any bugs or issues you’ve been having with your technology or possible problems with computer systems, email, the website, etc. Just remember that for immediate problems, you shouldn’t wait for the QTR and should merely contact your MSP right away — that’s what they’re there for.

In the end, if your MSP conducts QTRs with you, your business will see the following benefits:

  • Improved current technologies and/or the implementation of new systems where needed
  • Saved money when you limit spending where it’s not required
  • Enhanced compliance with regulations and security
  • Improved productivity
  • Streamlined efficiency

For your MSP, the most significant benefit of Quarterly Technology Reviews is showing you that they care and are monitoring your success. This goes a long way in maintaining their clientele.

QTRs also allow a tech firm or MSP to highlight your company’s return on investment or ROI (your investment being them, for the most part). As a client, they want you to be alerted to the fact that their company cares about you and that their services are worth it. Whether there are problems to fix at a QTR meeting or not, your MSP wants to reiterate that you need them.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing for you, the client. After all, you hired them and are paying them for their services. Allow them to show off for you, and don’t be hesitant about voicing any issues you have so that they can be fixed quickly. A tech firm who conducts QTRs with you wants to keep you as a client.

When will your first QTR meeting be as a new client?

Naturally, as a new client, you won’t have a quarterly technology review right away.

Even after a few months post-contract signing, there just won’t be enough time to verify that your new systems, technologies, and other implementations are working correctly and providing you with the necessary benefits.

Therefore, your MSP will likely schedule your first QTR for at least 90 days after you go live.

But keep in mind that your MSP shouldn’t wait too long to conduct your first QTR. After all, the first review meeting is the most important because most problems will have become evident at this time.

While you can certainly contact your MSP right away whenever you need them throughout the first 90 days, as a client, it’s likely you’ll feel better bringing up issues in a formal meeting — especially when the problems are rather large or pervade several types of technology.

You want to know that your MSP is on the ball and ready to ameliorate any issues right away.

Where are most QTRs held?

In a perfect world, you’d meet one-on-one, face-to-face with your MSP for your quarterly technology review. However, this won’t necessarily be possible, and that’s probably okay.

After all, if your MSP has numerous clients and is conducting QTRs with everyone, they would always be at QTR meetings. And on your end, too, you’ve got work to do and may not have time to schedule formal sit-down meetings four times a year — just to check-in on technology that’s already been established and working.

Instead, it’s likely your first QTR will be face-to-face, if possible. If you’re a large client, your MSP should definitely make this effort. After that, however, most QTRs are held via video or phone conference.

In the end, Quarterly Technology Reviews remain one of the absolute best ways to stay in touch with your MSP about the efficacy and benefits of your current technological investments. As you search for a high-quality managed service provider in your area, be sure to ask about QTRs. Those companies who provide them are likely to take a better interest in their clients’ success — and that means good things for you.

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Learn the Power of Google Reviews for Lawyers & Law Firms

Google Reviews for Law Firms

There’s no better means of promoting a professional business today than the use of online reviews. Positive third-party online reviews can take your law firm to the next level. Personal referrals and word of mouth have their place in drumming up new business, but they will never come close to the exposure you can receive through online reviews. Positive online reviews across multiple platforms and search engines could very well be the key to the success of your legal firm.

How Important are Reviews for Attorneys?

When consumers are looking for an attorney to represent their interests in a legal matter, where do they turn to first? Modern technology has made the Internet the number one source of information for just about any business inquiry consumers may have. This makes it essential for law firms to have a strong online presence in order to compete. Your online presence should include a fair amount of positive online reviews.

Positive online reviews can help establish your law firm as experts in the legal field. Studies show that in 2017 alone, over 97% of consumers turned to online reviews to help them choose a company to do business with. Approximately 85% of consumers acknowledged they trusted online reviews more than a referral from family or friends.

When it came to searching for an attorney, 75% of consumers indicated they used online resources to find the lawyer they needed. Approximately 65% of these said their decision to hire a certain attorney was influenced by online reviews. If perfect strangers can have such a major impact on people’s decision to hire an attorney, imagine the potential you have of increasing your customer base by petitioning your clients for reviews.

Effects of Online Reviews on a Law Firm

Positive online reviews can give your law firm greater standing in your local community as they reveal what fellow residents have to say about their experience with your firm. Positive reviews from former customers can put your name on the top of the list when people need an attorney to handle their legal affairs.

With so many people resorting to online reviews to help them find an attorney, it’s to your advantage to make reviews readily available to your online target audience. The more positive reviews your firm has, the greater your chances of being selected over your competition.

Naturally, you want to avoid having bad reviews posted online. But few or no reviews could be just as detrimental to your cause as it gives consumers the impression that your law firm is inexperienced in its field.

The goal is to encourage former clients to write positive reviews that make a good impression on individuals who are in the process of selecting an attorney to represent their legal interests. With so much competition among law firms today, people aren’t willing to settle for just an “ok” attorney- they want an attorney who stands out in his field. They’re even willing to travel to the next town to hire an attorney with excellent reviews.

Review Count and Scores

In a recent survey regarding the use of online reviews for hiring attorneys, 264 people out of the 316 interviewed indicated they would only hire law firms that received, on average, a 4- or 5-star rating on their reviews. This shows how much consumers value reviews in selecting a lawyer. If your firm’s rating falls short of these expectations, you could very well be losing clientele. Poor reviews obviously have a negative impact on people looking for the services of an attorney. To get top reviews, your law firm needs to provide top services to your current clientele.

Keep in mind that third-party reviews across various platforms will carry more weight than reviews placed on your website. Consumers expect you to post positive reviews on your site. Third-party reviews, however, generate greater validation and trust.

In addition to good ratings, consumers want to see a fair amount of reviews from former customers as this gives them a more accurate picture of how people view the services you provide. The combination of review count and review score influence consumers in selecting an attorney.

Where Should You Collect Reviews?

Quite frankly – everywhere you can! By collecting reviews across multiple platforms, you’ll reach a greater audience. You could also narrow your prospects to the most effective platforms, i.e. Google and Facebook, as these two sites are where the majority of people wind up when doing business searches.

Google reviews carry a lot of weight when consumers search for law firms due to the company’s reputation for providing relevant content. Google is well aware of the influence ratings have on consumers searching for an attorney online. For this reason, Google prioritizes law firms that have a substantial amount of positive reviews in their search results.

How to Increase Your Firm’s Reviews

Knowing the influence that positive reviews can have on your law firm should motivate you to solicit as many reviews as possible from former clients. If you’ve provided exceptional services to your customers, positive reviews shouldn’t be so difficult to obtain. Most consumers are happy to comply. In fact, the best time to request a review is immediately after services have been rendered, assuming your customers are happy with the services they received.

Once you start receiving reviews, take time to monitor what people are saying about your firm. This gives you a better idea of how you’re doing, from the perspective of your valued customers. Make an effort to respond to as many reviews as you can – positive and negative – to show you’re interested in what your clients have to say.

Never ask employees for reviews and never pay or offer incentives for reviews, as this goes against Google’s policy.

How to Handle Negative Reviews

When you ask for reviews, there’s always the chance of getting negative reviews along with the positive ones. Although negative reviews can lower your overall rating, they can also provide you with opportunities to see where you need to improve. A few negative reviews here and there can even make your law firm appear authentic.

By handling negative reviews in a positive manner, you can earn customers’ trust. Always make an effort to address issues brought up in negative reviews. Apologize to your client to wipe the slate clean. If you can rectify the problem, do so, even if it’s at your own expense. Your sincere efforts to make things right can convert an unhappy client into a satisfied client who will let others know what you have done.

In Summary

The success of your law firm depends on providing exemplary services to your current clients and drawing in more clients who are in need of legal help. Positive Google reviews will play a key role in accomplishing this goal.

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