Smart Collaboration:

Information and modern communication technologies bring us closer together. Firms, both large and small, can connect, explore new opportunities, create value, and grow through collaboration.

Collaboration brings together diverse resources so firms can better serve technology-led clients. Collaboration technology allows firms to tap into specialist expertise or start creative discussions to explore new business opportunities. Indeed, as illustrated by the Law Society, “collaboration enables legal practices to achieve more than any individual firm in isolation. ”The process need not be a formal, expensive commercial venture. Firms can receive a great deal of value from easy-to-use cloud collaboration tools.

Law firms have been good followers of innovation and technology over the last 20 years, but that’s changing today as clients purposefully seek out “trusted advisors” who are fluent in technology and can make inferences from large data sets or even be available to provide advice from anywhere, at any time.

Using Cranberry 8x8 XCaaS communication tools enables your fee earners to advise on matters from their home office, workplace—or anywhere, for that matter—providing real-time advice and assistance.

XCaaS technology is rapidly accelerating change in the legal sector.

Increasingly, it is expected that fellow legal service providers also use collaboration technology in ways that make your work easier, quicker, and more cost-effective. We work in a fast-moving industry, so it is imperative your advisors find ways to do things differently using video meetings, collaboration tools or even instant messaging.

Law firms need to understand how technology is changing their clients’ businesses and must adapt their practices to thrive. Collaboration technology allows us to bring people around one table to resolve a problem quickly.

Video meetings help to close the gap, providing a better understanding of a situation and a stronger basis for collaboration.

For seasoned lawyers, collaboration is a natural way of working. Often, however, even experienced collaborators discover new ways to leverage cloud collaboration tools, which include voice, video, and messaging, for maximum gain with strategic, financial, and talent-related outcomes.

More law firms are integrating video collaboration technology into their workflow, as in-house lawyers combine specialist legal knowledge with inputs from experts to tackle complicated issues and explore business opportunities.

For example, a client planning to offer e-commerce services across Europe would demand an ongoing, comprehensive, cross-organisational effort. A cloud collaboration service would bring together in-house lawyers with their counterparts not only in IT and security functions but also in marketing, billing, the e-commerce vendor, payment provider and customer service.

Teams can communicate and collaborate on project workstreams using high-quality voice, high-definition video or team messaging with secure file or content sharing from any device to get work done quickly.

Forward-thinking firms stand to benefit the most from these digital tools. It’s about understanding the problem at hand and then collaborating with experts to solve the issue using the right technology. In essence, it’s not a new way of doing things, but it is certainly the most effective. People’s willingness to accept new systems and adapt for the future will guarantee success for today’s law firms.

Taking the next step

Whatever your firm’s unique needs are, Cranberry & 8x8 can help you tailor a flexible, powerful, cloud-based solution with integrated contact centre, voice, video, and chat. The 8x8 Experience Communications Platform™ powers engaging, responsive communication experiences that delight clients and make your Practice more agile. Unlike point solutions, 8x8 delivers personalised experiences that boost employee productivity, guarantee platform-wide uptime, and lowers costs.

“It was very surprising to me how welcoming our users were of 8x8. It’s really a testament to how easy and successful the system is.”

Thomas Kline

Director of Information Technology Stark & Stark