Product News

**** HIPS HIPS HIPS ****
Home Information Packs (HIPs) are a big topic on many people’s minds at the moment. DPS have developed a complete solution for HIPS, which is explained further in this article.

STAGE 1 Team Quoter - The HIPs solution starts with the brand new Team Quoter web based quoting module for conveyancing work. This module can be attached to your own web site or it can be given to your ‘work providers’ such as estate agents, to allow them to instruct you on a HIP through this portal. Team Quoter is a smart program that runs on the back of your own web site or can be hosted by DPS. The quoting portal’s style can be adapted to match your web site and is a very easy to use module that allows a firm to quote for HIPS, Sales, Purchases, and joint Sale and Purchases. Once the module is loaded onto your web site it simply asks for the type of transaction and property price that a quote is required for. Once this information has been entered a complete on screen quote can be produced. All the fee rate tables and disbursements are user adjustable and well documented. You can try out the system on the DPS web site at www.dpssoftware.co.uk/webquote

Once someone has entered an instruction into Team Quoter, the matter details are emailed to the One Office Robot which is the next part of the solution.

STAGE 2 One Office Robot - The One Office Robot picks up the instructions and automatically creates a new case for you. Depending on how you have set up the Robot, it can automatically write the opening letters, send forms or complete all the documents for the file opening procedure for you.

STAGE 3 One Office Case Management - One Office now runs the matter for you. Since it knows the type of case created, it only shows you the workflow and procedures for that particular type of case. For example, if the matter is a HIP then only the documents relevant to a HIP are shown to you. The work that has already been done will be marked on the file and the documents for this are stored against the file

STAGE 4 Progress file tracking - With progress running in the background any changes to a file are published up to the web automatically. HOWEVER you can set progress so that it publishes the whole of the paper file as well, which means the whole of the conveyancing / HIP matter file is available to be read on the web by authorized users.

If you would like to get more information on this solution then please contact fbongiorno@dpssoftware.co.uk or your account manager.

Disaster Recovery is the “new old” concern worry on everyone’s mind. Disaster recovery is the new way of saying what happens to your business if disaster strikes? Say you were flooded, the computer servers in your offices stolen, or a fire strikes? The senior partner of a firm came back from holiday to find that his main office server’s hard disks had failed. No problem, a new server was brought in and set up. That took a day or so to organize and then the job of restoring from the tape back up started. This firm was religious about their backup and they had backup tapes for every day and operated weekly and monthly backup tapes.

The daily tapes did not restore, more to the point there was nothing on them to restore, and the other tapes were all corrupted. This is a business employing at that time 60 staff, none of whom now had access to their DPS case software, any client data or any accounts.

What now? Well the client was lucky, very lucky, just a few days before one of the DPS applications developers had taken a full data backup and pulled it to our offices as they were writing reports for the firm.

We were able to restore their data to the position 5 days before the disaster struck.

Why “new old”? The problem has been around for years but there is new focus on it now. Never before have businesses had to rely on their computers and data as much as they do in the current business environment. If the computers do not work then the company does not work. It is a mission critical part of any business

The company involved above? They decided that there was no point in taking that kind of risk any more and have now got a full disaster recovery plan and methodology.

If you want to learn more about disaster recovery and how other firms have made it a part of their business model then please email mdicarlo@dpssoftware.co.uk and she will be able to send you more information on this.

**ONLINE SDLT SUBMISSION** - We have covered this in previous issues of e-zines and have now produced some ‘How Do I’ notes for you in how to use the On Line Submission software. Please remember you must register with the government gateway http://www.gateway.gov.uk/.  The update is free of charge and available to all users under maintenance. The ‘How Do I’ notes for On Line SDLT submission are available from the web http://www.dpssoftware.co.uk/. If you are unsure of what version of DPS you are using then please contact your account manager or fbongiorno@dpssoftware.co.uk on 020 8804 1022 for further details.

	Crime Corner

 

CDS Overtime Reports - the CDS opened and closed class reports have now been changed and they include the social and unsocial hours worked by each fee earner during any period of time. These reports can easily be exported to excel, which by using simple formula you can calculate overtime payments for each period. The enhanced reports can be loaded onto your system, just email support on support@dpssoftware.co.uk and they will be able to schedule the installation for you.

Coming Events REMINDERS

 

DPS User Meeting 2006 - The last user meeting in January 06 was very successful and all the attendees got so much from the meeting that we agreed to set another meeting within 6 months.  We are on the process of organizing another meeting within the next few months, so please keep visiting our website on the event section for more info and new updates.

:: http://www.dpssoftware.co.uk/

Exhibition Law 2006 14^th & 15^th June Birmingham

See us at the Law2006 exhibition on the 14^th &15^th June 06, Hall 10, NEC, Birmingham.

For more information please visit: http://www.thesolicitorsgroup.co.uk/     

Client Focus

Mackintosh Solicitors – “Also being welcomed into the DPS family this quarter are Liverpool city centre firm Mackintosh Law. They have implemented DPS PI Case Management and Cashier accounts software on an SQL platform after having got frustrated with their previous software supplier. The practice employs approximately 30 staff who have taken to the changes with confidence. ‘What’s aided the conversion and installation has been the positive relationship between all parties involved’, says James Drew of DPS who managed the project, ‘Both the staff at Mackintosh Law and the staff at DPS involved with the conversion, installation and training of the software have created extremely positive relationships with one another that will serve well in the future. I think everyone has enjoyed working together to reach the goal’. Mackintosh Law originally saw the software at the Legal IT show in Manchester last year and were clear that DPS had the abilities to refine a system to their unique work types. Everyone at DPS looks forward to continuing to work with them in the coming years.”

Help Support Line

0870 4130393 is the central help desk support number for all products.  This one number works at local call rates throughout the country and covers the full range of DPS products including PCS. The number will direct you straight to the support desk. There are currently 5 staff permanently on the support desk and we aim to answer most queries during the same call. Alternatively you could e-mail the support desk at: technicalsupport@dpssoftware.co.uk If support does not meet your expectations, please let us know and we will do our best to deal with your request as soon as possible!

Who's Who

After a long career covering HR, Training and Computer Project Management in the Finance Industry, Jeremy joined DPS in 1994 as a Trainer.  He has had a hand in the development of DPS over the years and runs the DPS User, Advanced User, Developer, as well as bespoke courses, both at the Enfield Training suite and on site.  "I've seen more of England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the last 12 years than I had done in the previous 40!" says Jeremy.  He is well known by most of our clients and is also the Business Link Consultant and a qualified NLP practitioner.

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