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WORLDOX/Web Portal/Extranet:
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By Christy Burke, Marketing Manager, WORLDOX
Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, LLP is a 125-attorney firm located in Los Angeles. The firm, established in 1908, has grown to a total staff of 250. Mitchell initially selected WORLDOX as its Document Management System ("DMS") of choice in 1997. The key reasons for choosing WORLDOX were the product's cost-effective pricing and the fact that they would not have to implement SQL or hire a SQL administrator to maintain the DMS.
With many lawyers traveling frequently and many needing to work from home at night or on weekends, Mitchell had the need for a high-performance remote access tool that would be easy to use and available 24/7/52. The firm's Technology Committee began discussing the issue and became interested in WORLDOX/Web, which it began evaluating in 1999. According to Paul Banks, the MIS Director of the firm, the current remote access solution, Citrix, required software to be available on both sides of every connection and was not suitable for the traveling or vacationing attorney. Citrix needed to be either supplemented or replaced. Partners and traveling attorneys decided to develop a Portal for the firm using WORLDOX/Web.
WORLDOX/Web enabled remote access to documents from any Internet browser so users could access documents from computers that didn't have the WORLDOX software installed. Via WORLDOX/Web, traveling attorneys and employees who worked from home or the road would be able to View, Search by text or profile, and Check Out/In documents. WORLDOX/Web also enabled downloading and uploading of documents.
In late 2000, the firm purchased WORLDOX/Web, and began to work with World Software Corporation, developers of WORLDOX and WORLDOX/Web, to customize the product for its specific needs. By early 2001, Mitchell's Portal project was underway. World Software Corporation assisted Mitchell's system engineers as they built the Portal. Since WORLDOX/Web's interface was pure HTML, Mitchell's technical team was able to tailor the screens to reflect their own color scheme and brand identity. The firm's WORLDOX/Web Portal project was completed in June 2001.
MIS Director Banks states, "The WORLDOX/Web product worked really well. We had no major problems in implementation. Two issues that did come up were solved by installing Novell applications. First, we solidified the security of our documents by installing Novell's Border Manager interface, a firewall product. The other issue we encountered was that people would log in and their password would not be retained for future use. We solved this problem by installing Novell's Secret Storage product, which retains passwords once they have been authenticated."
Since the WORLDOX/Web Portal was introduced at the firm, between 30 and 50 attorneys have been actively using it to retrieve documents while out of the office. Paul Banks believes that the WORLDOX/Web Portal has been a great benefit to the firm.
Banks comments that "productivity increases have been the biggest advantage. The portal we developed with WORLDOX/Web technology allows us to stay competitive with our peer firms. Our attorneys say that the portal has resulted in a significant return on investment (ROI) since its launch last year."
Mitchell envisions greater future potential for WORLDOX/Web. The plan for WORLDOX/Web Portal is to create an Extranet which would make certain documents accessible to primary clients. The WORLDOX/Web Extranet project is tentatively scheduled for 2003.
In closing, Paul Banks cited three reasons why he would recommend building a Portal using WORLDOX/Web:
1. Convenience and ease of use for traveling attorneys
2. Ease of communication
3. Backup for any primary remote access technology (e.g. Citrix)
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