Why Small Law Firms Across The US Need Quality IT Services & Support

Lawyers and staff now rely on modern technology, which makes it necessary for law firms to have experienced IT support readily available for troubleshooting and maintenance of equipment, applications and systems when things go sideways.

State-of-the-art IT services for legal practices specialize in support of software platforms and applications designed for the unique document and processes needs of lawyers and their legal, admin and management staff.

Full-Service IT Management for Law Offices

Managed IT Services for law firms offer adequate network monitoring and support, 24/7Help Desk support for users, cyber-security, virus protection, file backup and recovery, and everything else law practices need in IT support.

Having an IT specialist in law office software platforms and applications means lawyers and staff can focus on their own roles, free from Googling around for solutions over hours or days of lost productivity, in attempt to understand problematic IT features or functions, or resolve more complicated issues.

Leaving IT in the hands of IT specialists increases efficiency of legal case management, time and billing accounting, and other law office functions, and helps maximize profitability of legal practices. Experts can keep systems running smoothly, quickly and effectively address issues, and be accessible to answer questions from attorneys and staff, and provide prompt solutions to any problems. That frees you to stay fully focused on helping your clients and growing your law firm.

Below is a list of some of the most important benefits of outsourcing IT support for small law firms.

Advantages of Having a Managed IT Services for Law Offices

Small firms are less likely to have the resources that large firms may have to hire an IT employee. Outsourcing brings all of the experienced IT support your firm needs, and at only a fraction of the cost for a full-time IT employee.

1. Saves Time for Lawyers and Staff

Keeping up with changing technology standards, software updates, firewall, virus protection, cyber-security, and so on, for a law practice amounts to a full-time job. So, lawyers and office support staff sometimes attempt to maintain IT systems and resolve problems. Of course, small law firms must minimize time wasted on futile efforts to resolve IT issues. After all, when those efforts are unsuccessful, staff must still call for outside IT help. So, their time would, of course, have been much better used for legal work.

2. Saves on Overall IT Costs

Controlling spending is always a priority for a self-employed professional. However, IT and IT support is not a budget line item on which cutting too deep is likely to save. In fact, it can cost much more than the cost of Managed IT Services fees if an emergency repair or correcting a law office computer networking problem becomes necessary. So, attorneys can do the math to discover that, for smaller practices, outsourced IT support is a very cost-effective solution—instead of a costly one.

3. Helps Ensure Online and Offline Security

Small professional offices and businesses are often targeted by hackers, because they know that they’re the least likely to have strong internet security. A hacker can disable operation of your law practice for an extended period. Your IT support specialist audits your current security systems and makes necessary improvements to best protect your law firm, including deploying, maintaining, and improving security of servers, networks, computers, and mobile devices. Outsourcing slashed IT expense in critical areas like security, while providing the same level or better service as a top-quality in-house team.

4. Increases Overall Productivity

Managing all IT issues for nontechnical people is an unrealistic proposition. Your whole law practice operation can be up-ended without an IT professional who is ready with the skills needed to rapidly troubleshoot software or network problems, repair peripherals, and efficiently get your systems back to running properly. Your legal tech expert can also optimize the hardware and processes you’re using, to maximize productivity across your entire law office.

5. Improves Communications Efficiency

An outsourced IT department sets up your tablets, smartphones and other company devices, as well as video chat, presentation capabilities, etc.. Your IT support manages professional office phone systems and VoIP as well. Experienced IT professionals install your phone system, enable email and fax interfaces, provide toner, ink and other supplies, provide thorough training and support on all user options, and maintain your systems in proper working order. These combined capabilities make communication incomparably easier and more efficient, which facilitates increased productivity.

6. Provides Secure Data Storage and Analytics

Your law firm’s client files, employee records, financial documents contain precisely the kinds of sensitive data that cyber-criminals are continuously searching for. Your IT professionals can establish an internal database for your firm with enough well-secured capacity to store all records, without concerns about hacking. Your data can be backed up to the Cloud, allowing you to access your firm’s records from anywhere in the world. Data analytics services can also be provided, to reveal information that can inform conclusions, support decision-making, improve productivity and support growth efforts.

7. Ensures Prompt and Effective Solutions to Problems

In the many law firms that don’t yet have adequate IT support, everybody from attorneys, to the office manager put in charge of IT, to the tech-oriented receptionist may throw their time at tech problems. Making IT management a lawyer’s or office admin’s responsibility takes away time from their duties in areas of work in which they’re most effective and can be most productive. It also sets up the firm for serious difficulties in the event of a problem.

8. Keeps Law Firms Up to Date in New Technology

Lawyers need to keep up with legal technology, in order to stay competitive. But, there’s so much available that it’s like undertaking a new field of study to process it all. Having your own legal software market expert available to walk you through the key research points to move things along much more quickly and easily. Your legal IT expert can direct you toward new technologies for improving, managing, monitoring, integrating, and even repairing systems. Your IT support staff installs equipment, provides thorough training and continuous user support, and maintains network oversight.

9. Provides Expert Education and User Training

A key service that IT services for lawyers provide is the help to improve IT infrastructure and processes and make recommendations to increase profitability by making your IT work better for your purposes. Having a legal IT professional with continually updated knowledge of today’s technology can significantly increase the efficiency of your systems and processes and show your team how to maximize use of your technology to increase the profitability of your law practice.

When Should a Lawyer Obtain Outsourced Law Office Computer Support?

Ultimately, whatever the size of your law firm, specialized legal IT support should not be viewed as optional, but as a basic operational necessity.

If your answer is yes to any of these questions, it’s probably time to look at outsourcing your IT support.

Do discussions about IT issues take too much time at your firm?
Are there any employees who spend a lot of time fielding IT complaints and trying to resolve software issues?
Do lawyers and staff members at your firm spend too much time trying to figure out many of the functions of new software or equipment you’ve added to your system?
Are you unsure whether or not sensitive files are adequately protected?
Are you getting insufficient value from your technology investment?

Choosing the Best IT Support for Law Firms

When you decide to bring in your outsourced legal IT support team, your operations will immediately regain time once spent on administrating your IT and on attempting to resolve issues. Your legal IT specialists will bring the necessary experience to managing all issues that confront law firms. The most effective legal IT support specialists can adapt to your office’s unique needs, address them while maintaining cost-effective support, and scale your IT to accommodate your needs as your law practice grows.

Parkway Tech, IT Support for Law Firms

As a leading provider of Managed IT Services for law practices, Parkway Tech provides complete IT support, software development, project planning, data center services, and IT consulting for small law offices throughout the United States. Our top-level technical skill and deep commitment to the industry’s most responsive and effective customer service is why we’re so well trusted with the IT infrastructure of our long-time client law firms.

For More Information

For information on nationwide IT management and support services, call Parkway Tech at (336) 310-9888 to schedule a no-obligation IT systems assessment by a legal IT specialist.