Time Matters Version 9 – Upgrade?.. to Enterprise?

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There were recently questions posted to a list serve regarding Time Matters 9 and the searching capabilities compared to Version 8 and also whether or not to upgrade to Enterprise. The question also referenced not needing the new features of Time Matters 9 other than faster searching.

To answer the first question, the searching is faster in Version 9 because they have added a feature which indexes your data regularly and uses the DTSearch engine. The global/conflict search is extremely fast. You may not need other features in Time Matters 9, but there are some that you may really like, such as the Archive Wizard or the User Defined Record Types (UDRs).

The second question on whether or not to use Enterprise really depends. There are a lot of factors to be considered for this decision. How large is the current database? How extensively is the program being used? Are you experiencing slowness? The upgrade to Enterprise (in my opinion) is never a bad thing. It is faster and more stable. But whether or not it is truly needed would really be determined by what your current needs or issues are.

Time Matters and Email – To Use or Not to Use

There varying opinions and sometimes FEAR on using the Email feature of Time Matters. Personally, I believe that if it is set up and used correctly, it is a GREAT feature to be using. But there are specific ways to use it most effectively and to limit instability. It has to do with the setup and the processes used. Remember, Time Matters was never designed to be a full blown email program – the same as Outlook was never designed to be a full blown case management system.

If the purpose of Time Matters is to centralize ALL of the data regarding a particular case or matter, why wouldn’t you use the Email feature? No one is going to be able to open your Outlook email to see whether or not that client responded to a very pressing question.. it really needs to be in the database.

Some hints: Set up the personal inbox for a MAPI (Outlook) email account, but follow this process for using it. 1) Open your Outlook Inbox first, remove any email that is not client related by deleting junk or moving other important non-client related email to specific folders in Outlook. 2) After you have taken these steps, open your Inbox in Time Matters and save your client related email back to its proper matter/case. 3) Keep your Time Matters Inbox as CLEAR as possible (don’t use the folders in the Time Matters Inbox).