Your Office: Don't Leave Home without It
by Brett Burney & Adriana Linares
November 2007 ( Originally Presented at ABA TECHSHOW 2007)
Never leave your vital files behind again. Brett Burney and Adriana Linares show you how to bring your office with you wherever you go.
Taking Your Documents with You (Document Storage and Access)
How can something so small be so big? We are always amazed at the lightweight and portable devices with gigs of storage space available to us. These hardware devices certainly make traveling with your files easy. But what options do you have over the Internet that allow you to store and access your documents online and why would you be interested? Having your important documents online make them accessible from any computer with web access, won't get lost in a luggage transfer in Atlanta, can be accessed by other users and won't get wet this hurricane season. So whether you want to move between computers on multiple platforms or backup important data in the event of an emergency, this is something you should know about.
Box.Net is an online service that offers 1 gig of storage for free. XDrive is another service that offers up to 5 gigs for free. Other services include OmniDrive, MediaMax, and Mozy. If you have a Yahoo! account, you can access the Yahoo! Briefcase which only gives you 30MB for free, but it's free, simple, and easy to use.
Collaborating with Others on Documents
Few will argue that Google hasn't taken the lead in online document collaboration. Google Docs is a free service from the Internet sweethearts that allow you to store and share word processing documents and spreadsheets online. Instead of gumming up e-mail servers with bloated attachments, just upload your document to an online service and send an invitation to others who need to work on the document. You can track who made changes to the document, and see the various revisions over time. You may not ever need to "track changes" again!
Nothing quite gives you that Google simplicity and intuitiveness, but similar services include WebOffice from WebEx and HyperOffice.
Meetings from Anywhere
Why spend hundreds of dollars traveling across the country to give a presentation when you can sit at your office and host it virtually? Online meetings may not be the proper venue for everything, but they're perfect for quickly sharing a document, or showing a PowerPoint presentation when you can't be in the same room with your audience. Everyone can see the presentation on their computer screens, and usually dial into a teleconference number for the appropriate audio. It's also a wonderful way to collaborate on documents in "real-time."
Pricing usually varies between $40-$50 per month, and some services limit the total number of attendees. Popular services you've probably already heard of or used before include WebEx, starts as low as $39 per month) and Microsoft Live Meeting (formerly "Placeware" but not quite sure what Microsoft is doing with this yet). Two other services that are making a splash on the scene include Adobe Acrobat Connect, formerly Macromedia Breeze starting as low as $39 per month) and GoToMeeting, owned by Citrix and starting as low as $39 per month.
Making and Taking Phone Calls
Just what is VoIP? It stands for Voice over Internet Protocol. Simply stated, it’s something that allows you to use an internet connection to phone and even see another person.
Types of Calls
Calls can be made from computer to computer or from computer to a regular landline phone. Some VoIP services limit the free calls to only other people with the same service – that is, a Skype user can call another Skype user on Skype for free. Skype and similar services also allow you to call anyone on a “land line” for a nominal fee. Video calls are becoming easier to make and most VoIP services offer video options at low, or even no charge.
Service Types
There are two main types of services, both require broadband internet access: internet phones and voice chat.
Internet Phones require a nominal monetary investment and special hardware. They use phones that look, feel and act like traditional land lines and may require you to sign a contract. They aim to replace traditional phone lines in a home or small business.
Popular choices for internet phones include
Voice chat services are generally free and run through a desktop or laptop. Typically you will have to install software and perhaps make a small hardware investment: a microphone ($10) or a USB powered video camera (about $40). These computer based services allow you to call from your computer to another computer or again, to land lines depending on the service. The good news is that you can take your “phone” with you anywhere. The bad news is that to carry your “phone” you have to tote your laptop around.
Popular choices for internet phones include:
What will it cost?
Costs vary from free to fairly low and usually include the ability to make international calls for pennies per minute. Voice chat services are free when you are making a call to a user on the same service (i.e. Google Talk to Google Talk).
What happens if your internet connection goes down? Would that mean you don't get calls (or that they don’t ring through to his cell phone)? Not always. If you’re using on of the internet phone services such as Packet8, then you calls will likely forward your calls to an alternate phone number without a hitch. If you’re using an internet voice chat service such as MSN or Yahoo Phone, then yes, you will be “disconnected” until your service is restored.
Voicemail is a standard feature for all internet phones these days, but some VoIP plans let you opt to have voicemail messages delivered to your email account. A bonus! Why is this useful you might ask? Well, for starters, it often makes more sense to keep voicemail messages in an email file folder, especially if it’s something related to one of your cases. Navigating past stored messages on a phone is a pain, so it’s unlikely that one would store a voice mail message for more than a week or two. But moving the voicemail out of your phone and into a place where it can be stored separately from other voicemails is highly useful.
VoIP services can be especially useful if you travel to a foreign country. Many international travelers face a typical challenge that plagues cell phone users: your cell phone doesn’t work in foreign lands. But now, if you wanted you could unplug a VoIP device from home and plug it into the Internet router at your international destination. Then you could make unlimited long distance calls to people in the United States as part of your plan. And of course, the voice chat services will work just as if you were still at home.
Remote Access
Remote access services give you the ability to jump into your home or office desktop computer while you're away to read e-mail, copy a document, or view a picture. In order for this to work, you must leave your desktop running, and a high-speed Internet connection helps to speed things along.
Remote access services range from free to $19.95 per month. Several utilities out there including Windows built-in Remote Desktop Connection and various VNC clients require some techie know-how to properly and safely set up. If you're not comfortable with the prospect of configuring your router and firewall for these special services, then try LogMeIn or GoToMyPC. Both of these services are secure and easy to use. LogMeIn has a free basic service that is amazing, or you could pay $12.95 per month for the "Pro" version.
How far can you go with your PDA or Smartphone?
Today's smartphones are really mini-computers. Sure you can use them to make phone calls, but the built-in processors and memory allow you to do so much more meaning that you can be more productive away from your office.
Portable Navigation
Your Treo or smartphone can help you find your way when you're on the road. There are several GPS solutions available for smartphones today including the TomTom Navigator for Treos. These devices including software that you install on your phone and usually a small "pod" (wired or Bluetooth) that retrieves signals from hovering satellites.
If you need a little more help on the map side, Google recently launched an easy to use, mobile version of their spectacular map application known as Google Maps. It’s available for Palm and Windows Mobile users and requires a download and install to your device.
Directory Assistant
This freeware business and residential phone and address look-up tool enables you to dial the number found directly from the search results and even add the entry as a permanent contact to your address book (Palm OS Only).
Intrepidsoft's Area Code and Country Code Look Up
This is a great and inexpensive software that easily returns area and country codes. Check out the free demo version before you buy. You’ll wonder what you did without it! (Palm OS only).
Vindigo
Whether you’re on your way to Chicago or Tulsa, Vindigo is a must have for your Palm or PocketPC device. It offers city guides and maps that list local bars, movies and shopping and even where to find the nearest bathroom! Looking for a Chinese restaurant within walking distance of your hotel? Vindigo knows. Check it out, an annual subscription is only $24.95.
Office on the Go
PDAs and smartphones are not inherently designed to create or edit documents, but several applications let you do just that. Windows Mobile devices already have "Pocket" versions of Word and Excel installed which allow you to open files with the appropriate file extensions. Palm users can download and install the versatile Documents To Go application from DataViz which gives you the ability to read and edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint documents, and even view PDF files.
Some smartphones today even allow you to power a presentation negating the need to travel with a bulky laptop. Pocket Slides from Conduit is a wonderful piece of software that lets you show your slides straight from your phone. You'll need a way to connect your phone to a projector with devices like the Presenter-To-Go from Margi (not available any longer from this site).
Jott is a new service that allows you to capture random thoughts and notes on your phone without having to take your hands off the steering wheel. You simply call a number, say your message, and Jott transcribes it and delivers it as an e-mail or text message. Pinger is a service that lets you send a "voice message" to someone without going through their voicemail or ringing their phone. The receiver gets a text message, calls the embedded number and picks up your message.
Staying Connected On the Road
You can use many smartphones today as a wireless dial-up modem for your laptop. And with data networks today reaching near-broadband speeds, this means you can get online from anywhere (you need to check with your cell phone provider to make sure they allow you to do this). The best application for this is PDANet from a small company called June Fabrics. You download the software, install it to your phone, connect your laptop to your phone (either wired or Bluetooth), and surf away.
Many services take advantage of the smartphone's built-in Web browser and data connection. Google Mobile offers access to Gmail, News, and Search in addition to the above-mentioned Maps. Not to be outdone, Yahoo! offers a similar service Handmark's Pocket Express offers a wonderful assortment of services and the long-timer AvantGo servers up all kinds of news and information services. Several RSS readers are available for smartphones, but Bloglines Mobile offers an easy-to-use interface for your subscriptions.
Lastly, you can even use your smartphone for remotely accessing a PC over the Internet. GoToMyPC.com offers an option for remotely controlling your PCs and Citrix provides several clients for portable devices.
Travel Tools That Can Ease the Pain
Planning for a trip is 'nothing but net. If you haven't started booking your flights over the internet, get on it! You can easily book all your flights online on the homepage of an airline or by one using a consolidated travel website such as Travelocity or Orbitz. But keep in mind that Southwest does not participate in those services; you have to remember to check their site directly. There's a new site called FareCast that aims to predict how much a ticket will cost you and when.
While you're booking and choosing your seats, be sure to check out Seat Guru. This site is brilliant. It gives you detailed information about specific seats on planes. I love the idea behind this site, regular people contribute details about planes and seats and we all benefit. Similar sites include: LoveMySeat and SeatExpert.
Take a look at Airline Quality and WebFlyer to set your expectations about airlines. Webflyer is a great site that rates and reviews all sorts of things related to travel. I like TripAdvisor most to read real-people reviews about airlines, hotels and travel destinations. There's even a site that ranks the food on airplanes! Check out Airline Meals.
Being away doesn’t have to mean being disconnected or in a communication black hole – unless you want it that way! Take some time to learn about all the options available and which ones best suit your personal and business life. You won’t regret it and your quality of life might just thank you for it.
About the Authors
Brett Burney is Principal of Burney Consultants LLC where he focuses his time on bridging the chasm between the legal and technology frontiers of electronic discovery. Brett is a frequent contributor to Law.com's Legal Technology Center, the ABA GP/Solo Magazine, and authors the www.ediscoveryinfo.com blog.
Adriana Linares is a legal technology consultant and trainer, and President of LawTech Partners, Inc., based in Orlando, Florida. Adriana is a frequent speaker at national technology conferences and a regular contributor to nationally distributed legal and business magazines, newsletters, and web publications and currently serves on the Planning Board for ABA TECHSHOW. Visit her blog at www.ihearttech.com.