TIME MATTERS -- A TOP LEGAL PIM
by
In their quest to offer strong case management programs, some software publishers have lost
sight of the need for equally strong personal information manager features. If such a program is
to become the backbone of the practice, it must also take care of such mundane tasks as group
scheduling and offer basic functions such as auto-dialing. Time Matters has managed to keep this
balance in perspective. It is first and foremost a PIM with excellent calendaring and task
management, but it also includes case management features that are not even included in much
more expensive programs, such as calendaring from rules. With its recent upgrade to version
1.98, Time Matters continues to be a good choice for law firms.
Installation
Time Matters installed effortlessly, and ran without incident across the network. Everything is
contained in just the one set of disks. At each workstation installation you simply identify the
user, tell the program where the main files are located on the network, and start working. The
program has great security features, allowing you to decide the access of each user on several
levels. You could, for example, allow a staff member to view and change the calendar entries of
one attorney, only view the calendar entries of another attorney, and have no access at all to the
calendar of a third.
Training on Time Matters is made much easier through the use of a default "training mode"
version which includes sample files. This allows you to move around the program and enter
sample data to see how the various features work. Although not yet available, the program is
already set up to access a training CD-ROM that will offer explanatory, in-context videos of the
various features.
Features
Time Matters' opening screen is a list of alerts, both events and to-do items. The screen includes
a drop-down list of the other users so you can check their alerts as well -- a very useful feature in
the event a firm member suffers an emergency absence, or if you just need to check someone's
workload for the day.
Once you have reviewed the alerts, you exit that view to the "tip of the day" regarding the
program. As with Windows 95, this feature can become annoying once you have familiarized
yourself with the program, but it can be turned off, or edited to included your own tips,
reminders, jokes or thoughts of the day if you are so inclined.
Once past the day's tip, you are at the main screen. This view has a large button bar across the
top, giving you access to all of the program's tools. Clicking on the calendar button yields a daily
or weekly view. Displayed here are both your appointments for the day and your to-do list,
spread horizontally across the screen, one on top of the other. You can adjust the size of these by
simply dragging the border. Again, you can also check the calendar and to-do list of any other
user by simply selecting their name from the list. Any calendar entry can be marked private by the
user, and those items would not appear when that person's calendar is reviewed by someone else.
The next two buttons are for "events," which is Time Matters' term for appointments, and to-do
items. Contained in the events view, for example, are all of the appointments within a given time
frame, sorted through the ease of a drop-down list. Clicking on "all records" lists all of the
appointments for everyone on the system. You can easily see what everyone is up to for that day
or even that month. But far more impressive is the ability to filter the appointments through
whatever criteria you choose to create. With one click, you can see all of the scheduled items for
a given case or attorney.
This same filtering approach is implemented with the remaining views, including the address book
and list of cases. You could, for instance, instantly create a list of all pending bankruptcy cases in
your office being handled by a certain attorney. Now any good PIM will permit you to filter
information with the use of categories or keywords. The difference with Time Matters is that the
search function is rendered transparent through the use of the drop-down lists.
Time Matters offers a very detailed screen for contact information, including entry points for
facts such as the contact's birthday and spouse's name. Selecting the "related" tab causes Time
Matters to do a search of any other entries related to this person. You are then presented with an
outline formatted report showing all of the related matters. Clicking on any of those displays that
item. Any of the screens can be customized, and there is an additional "customize" tab so that
even more fields can be created.
Time Matters also provides a "Day File" button that lets you create a custom view of your
information. So, instead of moving from the daily view to the contacts list in order to make the
day's phone calls, you can elect to have all of the information you will be using for the day
displayed on the same screen. You could put the day's appointments on the left, and tasks,
contacts and cases on the right. It's like creating a daily to-do list that includes all of the ancillary
information you will need to complete the tasks.
Special Features
Time Matters has the ability to create scheduling templates. For example, when a trial date is
assigned, it creates several deadlines that must be calendared. With another PIM, you would have
to calculate those dates and enter them individually. With Time Maters, you simply enter the trial
date, and all of the prior dates would be calendared. Time Matters allows the entry of individual
rules, such as whether to count holidays and weekends, whether to add days if notice was mailed,
and what to do if a due date falls on a weekend. Along this same line, Time Matters also provides
a date calculator. Instead of counting on a calendar to determine when a response is due, you just
enter the date of service, and Time Matters calculates the due date.
If you use Timeslips for your billing, you will really appreciate the dynamic link used by Time
Matters. In other words, Time Matters is actually linked to Timeslips' database. With a few
clicks, you can import all of your client information from Timeslips to Time Matters. When you
enter client information into Time Matters, it is also entered into Timeslips. No more entering the
information twice. Thereafter, if you make a change to a client's information, it is also changed in
Timeslips. When you finish with some activity, you can click a button marked "make slip," and a
slip is actually created in Timeslips.
If you have never gotten around to networking your computers, Time Matter may finally convince
you to do so. It can greatly decrease data input time by allowing data items to be assigned to one
or more of the users. For example, when a new case file is created, most firms create a "players
list" that provides all of the addresses and telephone numbers for the clients and opposing
counsel. That information might then be entered again in a network-accessible address book, or
individually in the PIM of each applicable attorney. Worse yet, it might remain only as a hard
copy list in the file that must be pulled out every time someone needs to make a phone call.
With Time Matters, that information can be entered once, and then by clicking on a group name
from a drop-down list, sent to the address book of every team member that might have use for it.
In this manner, all of the users can maintain their own address books, including their own personal
entries, instead of relying on one master address book.
Support
Calls to Time Matters were also answered by an answering machine, but were returned within
minutes. Time Matters provides six months of toll-free technical support. Thereafter the cost is
$95 per year for a single user; $150 for a five user network. If you prefer to pay as you go, the
cost is $35 per call. The support department is open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., EST.
In order to address any glitches, add new features, and maintain maximum connectivity with other
programs such as Word, WordPerfect and Timeslips, Time Matters has adopted a policy of
issuing frequent updates. In fact, the company's goal is to update the program every three
months. This could be a very costly policy if users had to pay for all these updates, but they are
provided at no additional cost if you subscribe to the technical support plan. Otherwise, they
range from $35 to $59 each. Even then, since each update will upgrade all previous versions, it
is not necessary to purchase every update.
Details
Time Matters, version 1.98. Available in 16-bit version for Windows 95 and 3.x. There is also a
DOS version. Price: Single user, $249; Five users, $449. Data.txt. Telephone: (800) 328-2898.
Internet: www.timematters.com. Six month trial period.