In today’s article, we are looking at the version of CICERO LawPack that is optimized for mobile. This version was created at the request of our users and is a replacement for the mobile apps we used to have. The most commonly quoted disadvantages of the mobile apps were that they had to be updated frequently, independently of the full version, and that they didn’t offer the same functionality. Hence, the idea grew: since we already have a fully operational version of CICERO LawPack that uses a technology that in itself is mobile-friendly, we only need to create a separate layout that is optimized for mobile devices, and we solve both problems.

Our customers have determined our priorities for this ‘mobile optimized’ version. We asked them what functionalities they needed most frequently on their mobile devices. They were the ability to quickly retrieve information with regard to a contact (or a ‘relation’ as they are called in CICERO lingo), as well as the ability to quickly add a contact. Also high in demand was the job logger, i.e. the ability to quickly register a task one has performed, as well as an overview of the agenda. There wasn’t really a high demand for anything accounting-related, apart from the ability to quickly book a purchase, while one was making it.

And so we have started creating versions of our apps that are optimized for mobile. They offer the same functionality as the regular apps, with a similar user experience but with a slightly different layout. That layout adapts to the screen width of the device that you are using. Elements may be juxtaposed if the screen is wide enough, or stacked vertically if it isn’t, cf. the screen shots below. The mobile layouts work comfortably for screens that are at least 360 pixels wide. Let us have a quick look at the available modules.

Home page

When you log in, you arrive at the home page, which is called Overview. As the name suggests, it gives an overview of three different types of tasks in your calendar and financial agendas:

• Notifications (= tasks in calendar)
• Tasks to examine before billing
• Purchase invoices to handle

Relations

The Relations application manages all the contacts or ‘relations’ of your office. It is the beating heart of CICERO LawPack, where all data from physical and legal entities are kept. In the mobile optimized version, the Add & Search options are available.

Matters

The Matters application handles the legal case management. In the mobile optimized version, you can quickly retrieve cases – along with all related documents, using various criteria.

Tasks

At present, 3 task management modules are available in a mobile optimized version:

• With the Job Logger, you register each performance wherever and whenever you want, so you literally “won’t waste any time”.
• The Overview option presents you with an overview of tasks on a specific date, or between two dates, as well as a gap analysis.
• The Follow-up also offers an overview of tasks between dates.

What does the future bring?
We have been working on a CICERO webmail, that can collect mail from other mailboxes: Exchange, Google Mail, Yahoo, etc. This was done to accommodate some of our users who are using Macs or iPads. If email is collected via the CICERO webmail, the links to the other CICERO LawPack modules are available and it is easily possible, e.g., to mark a reply that is sent as belonging to a specific case file, and to log it in the job logger. We are currently testing the mobile optimized version of the CICERO webmail.