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The Strongest Links
The Strongest Links for Road Warriors
August 2006
When I travel on business, my goal is to come as close as I can to having all the comforts of home — or office — at my fingertips. The farther away I am from the things that are comfortable to me, the more disconnected I feel. That's why I put together this set of links that will hopefully make any road warrior feel at home, no matter where they might happen to be. Although we can't take our office with us, we can come pretty close.
Your Virtual Office
Probably the most useful tool a lawyer can have while traveling is the ability to see and use everything that's on his or her computer back at the office. Fortunately, several "virtual desktop" programs are available to accomplish this task. GoToMyPC is probably familiar to many of you; it provides unlimited access to your PC from anywhere. And the price is pretty reasonable, too -- $19.95/month, or $179.40/year for a single PC. You can transfer files from one computer to another, print documents to any printer, and even view your desktop from your Windows CE mobile device. And it's all encrypted, so your data is kept safe. The prices are even cheaper at LogMeIn -- $12.95/month or $69.95/year for one PC. Better still, there's a free version that offers fewer features than the Pro offering.
Your Office Suite
Most business travelers bring a laptop with them, which ought to contain everything they need to create documents. What if you want to collaborate on a document with another attorney or your client, and don't happen to have anything handy to transfer the file? There are several Internet applications that attempt to simulate the Microsoft Office experience, but with an online flavor. My favorite word processing program is Writely ; it's easy to use, can save your documents in Word, OpenOffice, PDF, or HTML formats, and it's totally free. Writely is owned by Google, which also recently debuted its Google Spreadsheets(via Google Labs), a great spreadsheet application with many of the features included in Microsoft's Excel product. Other more fully-realized office suites are ThinkFree and the Zoho Virtual Office ; scroll down for the specific office applications). In fact, the Zoho Office offers many features of interest to the traveler, including a calendar, virtual drive, contacts, and more.
No road warrior should be without the means to convert documents to PDF; I recommend carrying a copy of Adobe Acrobat or other, less expensive PDF converter on your laptop while you travel. If these are not options for you, you can always go a la carte with Create Adobe PDF Online . The site offers five free PDF file conversions, and after that it's just $9.99 a month for unlimited conversion.
Calendar
Having access to your calendar while you're out of the office is very important. Even more important is the ability to update your calendar even when you're gone -- and for you to be able to access the updated calendar on the road. One of the better tools I have found for doing this is Trumba, a web-based calendar program that synchronizes with Microsoft Outlook -- so you can keep a calendar on your computer at work, and have an identical calendar on the Web that's easy to update. There's a free version that offers limited features, but you can get a full version for $9.95 a month/$99.95 a year. If you're not willing to pay for your calendar, consider Google Calendar -- it's free and has some terrific features. While it doesn't synchronize with Outlook (yet), you can download the iCal file to import into Outlook, and you can also view your Google Calendar on your mobile device.
Your Virtual Fax Machine
Let's face it -- fax machines are still a necessity, but it's hard to lug one of those big machines with you when you travel. You can still receive faxes on the road, however, by using a virtual fax machine. The most popular of these sites is eFax, which offers a service no matter the size of your firm. You receive a unique fax number that allows you to have your faxes delivered to you by e-mail, and the Pro version even offers voicemail by e-mail. There's a free version, with more features offered from $12.95-$19.95 a month, and higher prices for larger offices. Another recommended service is MaxEmail, which offers pretty much the same services for faxes and voicemail. MaxEmail also allows you to send a fax to another person via e-mail, which can be very handy if you’re out of the office.
Maps on the Road
Using maps and finding directions while traveling used to be a matter of running into a gas station and either buying a map or asking for help. Now you can access just about anyplace you need to go (in the United States, anyway), all on your mobile device. Google Maps has a mobile alternative that brings the terrific features of its mapping program to your phone. Unfortunately, it won't work on all phones, like my Treo 700p. Not to worry -- there are two programs for Treo and other smartphone users. Mobile GMaps is a free application that displays Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, and MSN Live maps on any java-enabled phone (you'll have to also download the free java viewer). KMaps is a similar program for Treos, and soon for the Blackberry. For driving directions, check out Yahoo! Mobile ; just enter your start and end points, and Yahoo! will provide you with a text listing of step-by-step directions.
Using Wireless
The spread of wireless technology in hotels, airports, and restaurants makes it easy for lawyers to keep connected from virtually anywhere. But how do you find a "hot spot" while you're on the road? Try JiWire -- it's a directory of over 118,000 wireless locations in 128 countries. Just plug in an address or zip code, and you'll get a listing of pay and free wireless hotspots near that location. JiWire is also a great place to learn about using wireless securely and safely; and for just $40 a year, JiWire's SpotLock security encrypts your wireless computer activity and provides a firewall that will protect your laptop against potential intruders.
Phone Anywhere — For Free!
Skype is one of the most popular Voice Over IP (VoIP) applications around -- you use Skype as a telephone, to talk to other Skype users, or even individuals with ordinary land lines. And through the end of 2006, Skype is allowing its users to call any landline in the U.S. and Canada absolutely free. This came in handy when I was in Canada in June, and didn't want to pay the roaming charges on my cell phone just to listen to my voice messages at work. I simply dialed in through Skype, and got all my messages without paying a cent.
Portable Applications
If you're not bringing your own computer when you travel, you might at least consider bringing your own applications. PortableApps.com currently offers 18 programs that you can temporarily install on any computer, and then take it with you when you leave. The programs include the Firefox browser, Thunderbird e-mail client, OpenOffice office suite, and portable instant messaging programs. Load the programs on a USB thumb or flash drive, then plug them into the computer you're temporarily using. When you're done, the program saves itself on your USB drive, and leaves no trace on the host computer that you were even there. Another good program to try is Pass2Go , from the folks who make RoboForm. This product keeps track of your passwords and bookmarks, and logs you into online accounts. Just like PortableApps, it stays on your USB drive, and leaves no evidence on the computer you were using. Even better, all of these portable applications are absolutely free to use.
Searching the Internet
If you're without a computer on the road, searching the Internet can be a daunting task. If you have an SMS-capable phone, it's no sweat. Just send a text message to 46645 (GOOGL) for information on local listings, phone numbers, driving directions, dictionary definitions, currency conversion, and much more -- in seconds you'll receive an answer from Google. For more check out the Google SMS Page . Yahoo SMS (92466) is also a good text search tool.
Bookmarks
I like to have access to my bookmarks no matter where I happen to be. That's why I stopped using saving bookmarks on an individual computer and started using an online bookmark service. My favorite is Yahoo's My Web -- I have the Yahoo! toolbar installed, so whenever I visit a site I want to save, I just click "Save to My Web" on the toolbar. A dialog box pops up, allowing me to leave notes on the site, and "tag" it with words that will describe the site for me; I like this feature, because it lets me save a site to multiple topics. When I search for a site, I can either browse through the tags, or just run a query using Yahoo's search box. Best of all, I have access to those bookmarks from anywhere I can connect to the Internet.
Online File Storage
Now that computer storage has gotten so cheap, many sites are now offering free or low-cost online storage for your important files. You can upload them to an encrypted site, and you (and others) will have access to them from any computer. A few of my favorites include Xdrive, StreamLoad, and Files Anywhere; these services offer gigabytes of storage at prices ranging from free to $12/month for 5GB of storage. If you're looking for a really cheap alternative, every Gmail account offers more than 2GB of automatic, free storage -- just create an account and e-mail those large files to yourself at the Gmail address.
Mobile Security
None of these sites will mean much to you if your laptop goes stolen or missing. Make sure you take appropriate measures to secure your computer. Try a Defcon notebook lock from Targus, or one of the MicroSaver line from Kensington to keep your laptop safe. And if your laptop is stolen, a service such at Absolute can help you out; software installed on the computer works as a type of "LowJack" and dials in every 15 minutes whenever it's connected to the Internet. If the laptop cannot be recovered, the software can also be programmed to remotely delete all data from the computer. For more tips on mobile security, check out my article in this month's issue of Law Practice Magazine.
About the Author
Tom Mighell is Senior Counsel and Litigation Technology Support Coordinator a Cowles & Thompson in Dallas. He publishes the Internet legal research and technology weblog Inter Alia , and is the current Chair of ABA TECHSHOW 2008. He and Dennis Kennedy talk about legal technology, with a focus on the Internet, in The Kennedy-Mighell Report .