Welcome to the final FilePro update for 2018. Before you take a well-deserved Christmas break, I wanted to take a moment to catch you up on:
- Our FilePro 2020 strategy – implementing a modern interface and improved UX
- Our client feedback survey – summarising your feedback and how we are responding to improve FilePro
Before all that though, I would like to wish you all a safe and happy festive season and I look forward to catching up with you in 2019.
FilePro 2020
Version 18.3, delivered in August, was a major release incorporating the upgrade of our lookup screens.This was widely and quickly taken up. We have received positive feedback around the new interface and improved user experience.
You will soon receive a notification for our next update (18.4) which incorporates the enhanced ‘document preview’ functionality and the new ‘open document’ management screen and process. We trust you will find this process simpler and more efficient.
Lastly, we’re moving on to our processing screens (starting with time entry) and anticipate version 19.1 will be released early 2019.
We are pleased to be holding close to our scheduled milestones thanks to our expanded development team. Their collective strengths and experience will continue to accelerate our output, delivering on our 2020 goal.
Client Feedback Survey
We are now handing out the last surveys for this round and would like to thank everyone for their contribution, both in quantity and the effort to hear from varied roles in your firm. The results have been invaluable.
Many responders have asked for a more modern interface and improved UX. We hope our recent updates are beginning to address this, and we look forward to your input when we run the survey again in a year.
The most popular request is still for more training and familiarisation with FilePro’s features. As such, we are continuing to evaluate how to offer comprehensive and unlimited training included in the file price.
We’re already running more training courses (across different formats) and have added staff to the National Resource Centre (NRC). We’re currently looking for a NSW training staff member to facilitate this initiative nationally.
One of our main ambitions is to provide our new FilePro Essentials course (previously called ‘Basic Training’) to all your firm’s new employees to improve their on-boarding and familiarisation with FilePro. The Basic Training course has been made more comprehensive, including all FilePro’s productivity and automation features.
As well as this, we’re improving the content and accessibility for a number of our courses:
- Document training will be available for key staff who are involved in developing automated firm precedents and the precedent library.
- Book-keeping training will continue to be available for accounting and practice management staff.
- Pop-up training in CBD and regional centres will be lecture-style training, approximately every six months. It will focus on the best use of FilePro to manage productivity, risk and ethics.
- Quarterly Q&A sessions covering thought leadership in a variety of management and accounting topics and how FilePro addresses the compliance with a firm’s fiduciary requirements.
- Webinars covering the enhanced interface and new benefits delivered by each FilePro version release.
- An online library of training videos for your staff to access 24/7.
As usual, all training can count for CPD points and we plan to broaden our content so that you can gain points in Practice Management, Professional Skills and Ethics – three important CPD categories.
Summary
As you can see, there is a lot to achieve and it will be an ongoing process. We are confident that we can deliver this level of training resource to our clients which largely reflects the ideas and requests emanating from your survey responses.
We are well advanced in our preparation and fully anticipate a roll out commencing in February next year. We hope articles like this are keeping you well informed of our intent and direction as we work to make FilePro a practice management experience that helps grow your law firm.
David Keeler
CEO