The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/163881
case studies What do people love about the system? Everything I listed as pain points, of course! communications platform that will help us stay agile and responsive in the face of the ever-changing needs of our firm. What's Next? I should note that we are using Lync 2010. Being the cautious group that we are, we did not feel comfortable deploying 2013 since it had just been released when we started planning our system. That being said, I can't wait to upgrade. There are exciting features in the new client that some users are already clamoring for. This is the most compelling aspect of the migration to Lync. Unlike our previous unwieldy phone systems that we held on to for decades, which were difficult to manage and upgrade, we now have a Anne Costello is the Technology Manager at Grippo & Elden, where she has worked since 1991. Contact her at acostello@grippoelden.com. LAW DEP AR TM E It's the best tool we've ever introduced! WHY WE LOVE LYNC! by Mike Russell of Liberty Mutual Insurance I almost can't live without it. 34 Peer to Peer Although the legal department is just one piece of our large Fortune 100 enterprise, the efficiency by which our attorneys and support staff conduct their legal business has a significant direct impact on the company's bottom line. Our use of Microsoft's Lync contributes to those efficiencies and helps geographically separate teams work as cohesive units. Looking back a few years to our first Office Communications Server (OCS) implementation, instant messaging and the concept of presence caught on fairly quickly, particularly within the paralegal and support staff community where resources assigned to a case were geographically separate from the attorneys. Those of us involved with technology training and support immediately began using OCS in lieu of other "webinar" technology, too. Starting with Lync 2010, we introduced fully unified communications. Voice telephony with email integration was adopted eagerly by all highly mobile professionals. Some groups had previous experience with an older softphone technology that just never lived up to expectations, so they were understandably wary trying yet another computerized telephony solution. We've since seen a savings of over $500 per person exchanging a physical phone for one of the myriad available Lync form factors (i.e., headset, handset or speaker). Most recently, the addition of easily portable "room cameras" from vendors such as Polycom have further enhanced team meetings and multilocation collaboration. Additional integrations we hope to bring using Lync 2013 include the ability to join Cisco TelePresence and Logitech LifeSize calls. Although our migration from 2010 to 2013 is still ongoing, there's much to like, and people have already noticed the multitude of "little conveniences" that further make their electronic workflows seamless and enable even more collaboration. NT