What IT Does Your South Florida Law Firm Need To Work Remotely?
Law firms face unique remote workforce challenges. By working with a managed IT services provider, attorneys, paralegals, and staff, can move forward from home.
During these troubling times, fully operational essential businesses are vital to our communities. The COVID-19 crisis has forced many sectors to shutter until the pandemic subsides, but law firms remain a critical resource.
While law firms in South Florida generally based methods and practices on face-to-face interactions and onsite networks, attorneys, paralegals, and other valued firm members are safer working from home. That’s why law firms would be well-served to leverage IT solutions and implement an entirely remote workforce. These are three broad strokes legal industry leaders can utilize to achieve remote success.
Articulate Clearly Defined Communication Expectations
Transitioning to a work-from-home workforce requires careful planning and consideration. Before the pandemic disrupted the personal and work lives of good people in Louisiana, in-person interaction was by far the preferred method of communicating and doing business.
Communication does not necessarily need to suffer because there are typical applications that can be securely accessed via cellphones, devices, and home computers. Consider having a managed IT professional synch attorneys, paralegals, and staff members together with one or more of the following conferencing apps.
- FaceTime
- Microsoft Teams
- Slack
- GoToMeeting
There are a wide range of applications that deliver real-time communication from any location. Once in place, firm leaders are tasked with setting out communication expectations among team members regarding policies, best practices, and regular meetings. These apps can also help legal professionals conduct sensitive attorney-client meetings.
Provide Employees With Essential Remote Access
Although everyday life has meshed with digital access, this reality does not necessarily mean a law firm’s personnel have the appropriate technology to conduct business from home. Consider having a managed IT professional canvas the staff and make a checklist of their devices, internet connectivity, router qualifications, and other salient issues.
Be sure employees have the hardware to connect with your Cloud-based network and complete tasks on time effectively. In the interest of determining cybersecurity, it may be prudent to establish Virtual Private Networks, business-grade firewalls, and encryption capabilities when transferring files online. Other considerations may include adding software and licensing for platforms such as the following.
- MyCase
- Legal Files
- Bill4Time
- LawPay
- QuickBooks
Hardware, software, and enhanced cybersecurity measures are crucial to a law firm’s operational success and privacy protections during these troubled times.
Leverage Remote Customer Care Options
While leaders in the legal professions have concerns that personal relations may suffer due to Stay at Home mandates, that reality runs across every industry. Your valued clients are likely to feel a similar level of disconnection and disruption.
Rather than reduce communication, this may be an excellent time to transition to more phone calls directly, text messaging, emails, and video discussions. Those options can electronically buoy business relationships. Your firm can also implement improved electronic payment options to avoid clients having to send hard copy mail or your admins picking up the checks and bring them to a bank. That’s a mutually beneficial solution that reduces COVID-19 contact, stress, and streamlines customer care.
The current disruption points to an increased need for law firms and other essential industries to revisit continuity strategies and consider permanent remote IT infrastructure. Remote capabilities were already trending in various sectors. Perhaps the time has come to transition South Florida law firms as well.
LAN Infotech is a Microsoft Cloud Services Provider, IT Managed Support company and a leader in helping law firms, nonprofits and medical organizations deploy cloud solutions, manage computer networks, keep data protected and top technology management company. Businesses like yours need technology support to run highly-effective organizations.
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