Time Matters 9 SR-3a

Okay, admittedly there have been numerous problems with the intitial release of SR-3, but the good news is the folks at Lexis are working hard to get SR-3a out as quickly as possible. I don’t know anything for certain, but there’s hope we could see something by the end of next week. I’ll keep you posted as I find out more.

Using Time Matters Groups and Hey – What Do Those Little Symbols in the Event List Mean Anyway??

I have run into this question regarding Time Matters calendars and grouped events on many an occasion.  This might clear up some questions for those not familiar with this feature:
1)       There are two different kinds of groups.  There are user groups and there are staff groups.  You should be able to put a staff group in the staff field of an event record and have it assign the event into the individual staff calendars as long as those staff members are a member of that group.  This type of group is created by going to the File Menu and choosing Database, Groups.  When you create an event with the group, there are 2 things you need to make sure of.  A)  The group staff must be the first staff in the staff field and B) when you select the group, make sure the check box “Keep Together as a Group” is NOT checked.  This is only true for the “Group” type staff. The other thing to remember is that when you want to see a grouped event on your calendar with everyone’s individual records, you need to right click and choose “Show Members – Expanded”.
2)       The other type of group, the user group, is set up for using instant messenger or email and is based on the user login.  This type of group is set up under File, Setup, User and Security, User Groups.
3)       When you want to delete a grouped record, keep the following in mind.  If you try to delete the record and get a message asking if you also want to delete linked records, that is because that event was set up by a user as a grouped event and you are not on the “master” record to delete it.  If you go to the event list in Time Matters, there is a symbol that looks like a little sun to the right of the day field (i.e. Friday*).  The little sun symbol indicates that it is a master record.  If you delete that record, it will ask you if you want to delete all linked records.  If you say yes, it will delete everyone’s event associated with it.  If you are not on the master record, it will ask you if you want to delete the record and unlink from the master.  If you say yes, it will leave the rest of the grouped records alone and only delete the specific record you are on.
Here are other event symbol explanations:

Time Matters and Daylight Savings Time Changes

Time Matters has posted Service Releases for versions 7 and 8 to deal with the looming Daylight Savings Time nightmare.  Users of Time Matters 8 can download and install SR1B by selecting Program Updates – Check for Updates from the Help Menu.  Time Matters 7 users must visit the Time Matters Service Center and download SR2C.

Time Matters says that the risk to their program is small for most users and that customers who apply Microsoft’s DST patches will have little to worry about.  Time Matters users who sync to Windows CE devices must apply the Service Releases to avoid issues but I suggest that everyone do so, as these patches usually include minor performance enhancements.  The exception to this is users of World Server 6 and earlier.  These users are much more likely to experience issues.  If you fall into this category, you should consider upgrading to avoid issues.  Remember, these DST issues will return twice a year for the foreseeable future.

For those of you who need a refresher on installing a Time Matters Service Release, the easiest way is to run in on one station and select Install Network Autoupdate when prompted.  Remember to close all programs including Time Matters first.  Once the network autoupdate is installed, simply go to each workstation and close all programs.  Open Time Matters and the update will install.

Of course, you can feel free to call ITP any time you need Time Matters assistance.

Supplemental Documentation for Time Matters 8 SR1A

After you download SR1A for Time Matters, don’t forget to download the supplemental documention and help files.  These can be found on the Time Matters website in the Service Center.  Login to the Service Center and select Service Release Downloads then the link for Service Release 1A.

On the right side of the window are links to several useful files.  The first, SUPDOCS8SR1A.pdf, is supplemental documentation related to Service Release 1A including information on Acrobat 8 integration and the Time Matters Timesheet.  The second set of links is unique to the different versions of Time Matters (i.e. Business, Legal, Accounting, etc.) and is named TM8BM8SR1ADOCL.EXE with the “L” indicating legal.  Download the one appropriate to your firm and save it to your desktop.  Once downloaded, run this file to update the Time Matters help files on your workstations. 

Time Matters Releases SR1A for Version 8

For those of you who did not know, Time Matters 8 allows you to check for available updates by selecting Program Updates – Check for Updates from the Help Menu.  If you check today, you will discover that Service Release 1A for version 8 is available for download and install.

SR1A provides four key enhancements:

• Adobe 8 Integration
• Microsoft Office 2007 Integration
• Windows Vista support
• TimeSheet support added for TM Only users

Remember to close all other applications before you install any Time Matters Service Release.  Also, if you choose to utilize the network autoupdate feature, advise your users to exit all applications and reopen Time Matters first.

Better yet, if you have any questions about installing a Service Release, call ITP.  We are here to help and will make the process is quick and painless.

What Is the Best Way to Integrate Email with Time Matters?

I am asked this question quite often.  I might be among the minority of CICs in this regard, but I never recommend Time Matters as the sole email client for my clients.

First off, I would attempt to use Time Matters Professional as a primary email client.  Eventually, even the volume of emails and attachments will overwhelm the system.  I believe this to be true even in firms that a very good at email housekeeping – and most are not.  While it is not quite as likely to develop problems, I also don’t recommend Time Matters Enterprise for the primary email client for a number of reasons.

First, it was simply not designed for it.  Time Matters has done an outstanding job of developing an email client but, let’s face it, there are other programs that were designed for email and do a better job.  Second, I like to keep my case management system free of junk and, unfortunately, a lot of the email received every day is just that.  Lastly, the integration between Time Matters 8 and Outlook does everything I want it to do, especially when I am using Time Matter Document Management.

For this reason, I recommend my clients use a system in which Outlook serves as the email client for incoming emails but also turn on the MAPI email link in Time Matters.  Emails arrive in Outlook and are sent to Time Matters via TM Connect along with their attachments, which are then saved via Time Matters Document Management before being deleted from the email.  Once I have used TM Connect, I can reply to the email from Time Matters (via the MAPI link) or Outlook, it is related to its attachments, and I can access it from the Email list or sublist.

This method uses the best of both programs.  Outlook can hold a large number of emails in the Inbox and the non-Matter related emails stay there rather than filling up the Time Matters Inbox.  Only the important emails end up in Time Matters and, once there, can take advantage of the case management features I need.

Time Matter’s PDF Writer

For all those using Time Matters 8.0 you’ve got to try out the built in PDF writer if you already haven’t.  Whatever old method you’ve been using to create your PDFs is probably now a waste of time.  Of course, you need to be saving your documents into Time Matters, but once they’re there it’s so simple to create a PDF.  Here’s how it works:

1. Find the document you are looking for via the Documents List or the Documents tab on the Matter.
2. Right-click the document you want to create a PDF from while it’s in the list.
3. Select “Create PDF” from the menu and in a couple of seconds your new PDF document is created and added to the list.

You can also convert a document to a PDF and include it as an e-mail attachment in one swift stroke.  Just follow the steps above, but instead of selecting “Create PDF” from the menu, select the “E-mail document as a PDF” option and bang, your document is attached to a new e-mail ready to go.  Whether you’re attaching your PDF to an e-mail or just creating one, it’s a sweet new feature in 8.0.  Try it.  You’re almost certain to save time using TM instead of your Adobe software.

One thing to note is that Time Matters will retain the document name (with a new PDF extension) as well as any other information contained in the Document record fields.  In our case, we assign a unique document number in “User2″ to every document saved into Time Matters, so a new PDF document record created from another document has the same number as the original.  Not a biggie for most firms, but it’s worth noting.