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A1-Law / WCFMS Newsletter December 2002
Important Notice
To Unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send me an Email
saying Unsubscribe or Remove Me.
CAAA Convention
It’s in Jan in San Diego at the Del Coronado.
As you may already know, I will be at the CAAA convention
Jan 16-19. There will be a one hour A1-Law user group Friday
from 9-10. Please feel free to join us (attendance may be
limited to 100 people). Also, feel free to join us anytime
for our 24 hour / 7 days a week user group at the Support
Forum on the web at www.AppellSoftware.com where questions
and answers are posted all the time.
In This Issue
New DOR Court Forms, Palm Pilot Integration, Street Maps,
Verifying Your Backups
New DOR Court Forms
It has come to my attention that the WCAB as of 1/1/03 now
requires two new forms:
- The DWC WCAB 9 (rev 1/1/03) Declaration of Readiness
to Proceed.
- DWC Form 4 (Rev 1/1/03) Declaration of Readiness to Proceed
to Expedited Hearing (Trial).
This new update Version 4.4.0 should be available by late
tonight 12/31/2002. Please visit my website at www.AppellSoftware.com
and look for the Version 4.4.0 link.
Street Maps
The latest version 4.3.9 has every street in the state of
California and you may easily print a "street map"
with it. You will need to "map data" which is available
via remote access or soon on the web. Feel free to inquire
for more information on this feature which some are already
using.
Palm Pilot Integration
This is now on very high priority. We plan to integrate calendaring,
case activity, tasks and the rolodex all with the Palm. You
will soon be able to just check off the cases you want "synced"
with the Palm before you leave the office (and that is only
the beginning).
Verifying Your Backups
Once again, it appears that one of my clients thought they
were doing backups and they were not. They even have a computer
consultant - however, that is not relevant to the integrity
of their backups. It would seem that everyone finds out just
how reliable their backup system is when they need it the
most.
Here is a simple suggestion - have the person who does your
backups, create a CD with the backup. Next, have them install
the backup from a CD onto your laptop. Pull a few client cards
and make sure all the data is there. This also has the advantage
that you may take the laptop anywhere you like and you may
view all the information (don't change it since at the present
time there is no way to put changed information on the laptop
back into the main file server).
Backup is just so critical - call it "cheap insurance"
and yet too many offices underestimate its importance. What
could have taken less than 10 minutes for this office is now
going to cost thousands to try and re-enter information of
which some may never be able to be recovered since a lot of
information today is just not entered into the physical file.
The New Support Forum
The support forum is still probably the most undervalued service
that we have to offer because not too many use it. But, those
that do have the potential to learn more about the program
and how others are using it than they otherwise could. You
may visit the forum anytime and read messages and learn questions
that others are asking and view answers to those questions.
You are free to post your replies as well to questions or
start a new thread and ask your own question or questions.
Once again, the more people that use the discussion forum,
the greater the benefit to everyone. The Support Forum will
now automatically send you an Email any time you check the
box to send Email for any replies to the thread you post on.
I automatically receive an Email for any posts on the forum.
Advantages to using the forum
First, it's a great learning tool and everyone can learn from
everyone else. You may learn a lot by just randomly reading
interesting posts on the forum.
Second, it's possible that someone else may answer your questions
before I even read the post. Also, others may share how they
utilize A1-Law in that situation. I don't think people yet
realize the true value of the support forum. For more information,
see the Support Forum.
Third, you may click the Search hyperlink at the forum and
search for a "key word." Since your question may
have already been posted and asked by someone else on the
forum, you may be able to immediately find the answer to your
question rather than have to wait for an answer.
Newsletter Back Issues
Looking for some back issues? You'll find them on our web
site at http://www.appellsoftware.com. They have also been
included in the help file in Version 4.00 up to November 2001.
Problems with Email Support
If you send me an Email and I have not replied within 48 hours
please send a cc to Appell@AppellSoftware.com. Better yet,
feel free to post your question on the support forum so that
others can offer their input and suggestions and everyone
can learn from everyone else. You can access the discussion
forum at http://www.appellsoftware.com.
Remote Access Programs / PC Anywhere
Better support can be obtained if you upgrade to PC Anywhere
with DSL. Check with your consultant about firewalls and security
issues. Some offices are upgrading from DSL to a T1 line which
is even faster. Most important of all, there is no substitute
for a good backup. Have you done your backup this week?
And now for my usual sign-off.......
Until next time, have a great month.
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