The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/163881
Brianna Leung is the Director of Strategic Marketing & Consulting at Traveling Coaches, Inc. She leads the company's strategic positioning and market research efforts as well as directs the award-winning User Adoption Consulting practice. Pairing more than a decade of legal technology experience with her background in sales and marketing, she explores trends around the changing needs of law firm clients and their users, ensuring Traveling Coaches consistently brings targeted and relevant solutions to market. Contact Brianna at bleung@travelingcoaches.com. Back in 2010, I made a bold move; I traded in my company-provided iPhone for a Windows Phone 7 (WP7), much to the bewilderment of my friends, co-workers and most of the legal technology community. With merely a 30-day return policy protecting me from the potential doom and gloom of becoming what seemed to be the only Windows phone user in my personal and professional networks, I doubled down on the Microsoft technology and promise. The dream of extending my Microsoft Office and Outlook world to my phone was too compelling to resist, and I was all too happy to hand over my iPhone, which I found to be great for personal use, but lousy for work. My initial experience and insights were documented in ILTA's March 2011 Peer to Peer article "Windows Phone 7: An End User's Loves and Loathes." Windows Phone 7: An End-User's Loves and Loathes F our months ago, I traded in my company iPhone for the brand new Windows Phone 7 on a leap of faith (with a 30-day return safety net). Our company's mobile contract was up for renewal, and each employee had a choice to make — iPhone or BlackBerry (Torch or Curve). Most folks were ready to turn in their old beatup BlackBerry device for anything new and shiny, but I had already been testing the iPhone 3GS for more than 10 months by then. As much as I loved the cool apps and games, I was constantly struggling with the iPhone's business and productivity limitations — particularly with the keyboard, phone quality and battery life. As a typical end-user, I'm a mobile worker: •I read and edit documents on the road. •I take important calls from just about anywhere I can get a signal. •My inbox and calendars are critical to my daily success, both personally and professionally. •I collaborate with no fewer than four people at any given time and often many more. by Brie Stampe •I live in a Microsoft world by day and a Facebook world by night. •I have contacts scattered across Outlook, LinkedIn, Facebook and various spreadsheets. 10 Loves 64 3 Loathes www.iltanet.org Peer to Peer Whatever smartphone I use needs to be smart enough to allow me to bring all the functionalityandaccessibilityIhaveintheoffice with me when I'm on the road. I wasn't crazy about the iPhone, but I couldn't bring myself to go back to a BlackBerry, so with Microsoft'sgrandpromisesofOfficeand SharePoint integration in mind, I asked to trade in my iPhone 3GS for the Samsung Focus model with the Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system.Knowingthatothersatthefirmandin the legal industry may eventually go in the same direction, I started to keep a list of personal "loves and loathes." Note that at the time I was writing thisarticle,Iwasonfirstgenerationsoftwareand eagerly awaiting Microsoft's upgrade, promised in March, which will include functionality such as Copy and Paste. Loves Loathes Eye appeal and simple navigation: The very snazzy interface includes tiles for key access points — people, phone,calendar,inbox,photos,Office,messagingand custom pinned tiles. Obvious functionality missing from a Microsoft device: There is no Copy and Paste…yet, and no multiword Select or Select All. Tasks or Memos/ Notes are not yet integrated with Outlook. You can't see other people's availability when scheduling appointments. The inbox has limited search and filteroptionsandthereisnocc:lineonnew messages by default. Aggregation of contacts: Social and Outlook contact records are automatically linked and allow for at-aglance views of a person's contact info, social status updates and Facebook photos. Touch keyboard friendliness: Typing is friendlier than on the iPhone, with keyboard aids such as the backspace button and a more user-friendly spell check. Microsoft Office mobile goodies: Create, edit, save and e-mail documents, spreadsheets and presentations, andtoggleOutlookflagsone-mailmessages (hallelujah!). Use OneNote for note-taking by voice or text and sync up to your SkyDrive for access from your desktop. Press a button on an appointment to send an automatic "I'mrunningfiveminuteslateforthis meeting" message to all attendees. SharePoint integration: Open documents or lists on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. I haven't tested this one yet, but I'm excited about the possibility. Comprehensive search: One of only three buttons on the device is dedicated to Search. From the Home screen, the button will open Bing to search the Web. From the inbox or other app, the button will open a search bar to keyword search within the app. Bing also drives the maps and navigation feature, which looks cool, but may be less reliable than Google Maps. Voice commands: Press and hold the Start button (another of the three device buttons) to call up the surprisingly accurate Microsoft Tellme speech feature. You can say things like "open calendar," "call Kate cell" or "nearby Italian restaurants"withouthavingtofirst train the device. Multiple calendars: Manage multiple calendars (including shared Gmail calendars) within a single color-coded calendar or agenda view. Phone quality: People on the other end tell me my phone quality is better on this than my iPhone and I drop fewer calls, though I am still with AT&T. Battery life: It feels similar to the life I got out of my old BlackBerry, and I rarely have to recharge midday. Read the original article " Windows Phone 7: An End User's Loves and Loathes" Limited apps: Supposedly there are thousands in the works,butIstillfindmyselfmissingoutwhenpeople with iPhones and Androids are downloading the latest cool app. I'm still holding out hope for a good Twitter app or other basic tool. Plus, the Windows MarketplaceforMobile(thinkiTunes)isdifficultto browse and search, with everything — songs, artists, albums and apps — piled together into one search result list. Other aggravations: WindowsPhone7hasnounified inbox or conversation/thread view, and offers no customization of ringtones or alarms. Key tap sound effects help with typing but can be annoying and are tied to the main device volume. The alarm feature lacks snooze settings for people who like to snooze morethanfiveminutesatatime. In summary, there's a lot to love about the Windows Phone7,buttherearealsosomefairlysignificant feature gaps that Microsoft has yet to address. Considering,however,thatitisfirstgeneration,I was impressed enough to keep my device beyond the 30-day return. I'm still buying into the promise of full integration and more productivity enhancements to come from Microsoft, so I will continue to use this as my smartphone, and I'll hold out hope for more apps! ILTA Brie Stampe serves as Director of Market Strategies at Traveling Coaches where she leads the company's strategic marketing and research efforts. Pairing 11 years of legal technology experience with an expertise in user adoption, Brie works to explore trends and collaboratively define the changing needs of legal technology learners. Brie has an MBA from Thunderbird with a concentration in global strategic marketing and business intelligence. She can be reached at bstampe@travelingcoaches.com. Peer to Peer the quarterly magazine of ILTA http://epubs.iltanet.org/i/27607/64 65 Fast forward three years, and I'm on my third Windows Phone (WP) device and still a believer, though perhaps still a bit of a loner. One co-worker and fellow dreamer has joined me in the Windows Phone world and another is seriously exploring the possibility (it seems the more people work with their new Surface Pros, the more they see the vision for a single Microsoft platform). Still, the vast majority of people in legal seem to be hanging on to their iPhones and BlackBerry devices. Peer to Peer 61