Using Microsoft 365 to streamline your law firm

Do you find yourself managing various different platforms and apps to run your law firm? Do you feel like it’s time that you streamline the way you run your practice? 

Microsoft has made it easier than ever before with its productivity suite, Microsoft 365 – a collection of cloud-based solutions that work together to streamline and manage office practices.

How to use Microsoft 365 effectively

Microsoft 365 provides a centralised platform for managing your law firm. It is designed to help you get your work done more efficiently and effectively. Whether you’re looking to save time or simply more efficiently handle client communications, Microsoft 365 has solutions to help improve your office practices. 

First, let’s look at how you can use Microsoft 365 to save time. You may find yourself spending a lot of time creating and managing files. Take the time to learn how to utilise cloud-based file storage, and you could see a reduction in those time-consuming tasks. 

By using Microsoft 365, you can streamline communication, create and manage files more efficiently, and feel more confident that your communications are organised, searchable, and easily accessible.

Document storage and management

Microsoft 365 enables more efficient and effective legal record-keeping with the ability to create, store, and access digital files in one place with apps and tools like OneDrive, SharePoint, and Exchange. It supports a variety of file types, including PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, audio and video, and images.

Using the Microsoft 365 suite reduces the time it takes to find important documents by providing a central location for them to be stored, increases security by allowing only authorized users to access documents they need, decreases the chance of losing important files, as they are automatically backed up.

By taking advantage of these features, your law firm can help protect itself from liability and ensure that its records are kept safely and securely.

Efficient workflow

Having an efficient workflow can help you avoid clashing and missing deadlines. If you’re constantly having to alter or reschedule deadlines, you could be wasting a lot of time. By using a cloud-based workflow solution, you can manage projects more effectively. You can create templates to help create documents, manage calendars, and create communications in a more efficient manner.

With a workflow solution like Microsoft 365, you can more easily create and manage projects and assign deadlines and responsibilities, as well as assign due dates to projects and create agile dashboards to stay on track and manage workload more effectively.

Access and collaborate from any location

You may find that your employees need access to certain legal tools and software while they’re working remotely, or from locations other than your office. With a cloud-based platform like Microsoft 365, you can easily grant access to remote employees.

Teams is a collaboration tool that allows your employees to communicate in real-time, share files, and edit documents — all while reducing the amount of time they spend traveling to meetings. Outlook is am email and calendar app which allows employees to manage their schedules, communicate with clients, and keep track of important deadlines.

Enhanced client relationship management

As a law firm, you may need to manage client relationships and strengthen your client relationships. Microsoft 365 provides enhanced CRM functionality to help with this. Apps like SharePoint and Dynamics can help your team store, manage, and track communications with their clients, as well as run campaigns aimed at their clients’ needs.

Dynamics and SharePoint are also used to track current clients, prospective clients, and existing contracts. This can be useful for increasing business efficiency and reducing legal costs.

Strong security

Security is an important consideration when utilizing a cloud-based solution. With a platform like Microsoft 365, you can easily set up security measures, such as encryption and access controls to help protect data and reduce the risk of data loss or theft.

Other security features:

Advanced threat protection: Automatically scans for malware, phishing attacks, and other malicious content in real time. This helps protect against unauthorised changes to your network and sensitive data.

Multi-factor authentication: Uses text messages or app permissions to verify that a user is who they say they are. This helps guard against account takeover by unauthorised personnel.

Access control: Set up multiple levels of access for each user in order to manage who can access what information on your device. For example, if you want someone to be able to view all the files but not edit them, you can do so using this feature.

Data loss prevention: Protects against accidental or malicious deletion of files and prevents unauthorised access or use of information.

Migrate to Microsoft 365 and reap the benefits

Microsoft 365 helps law firms get more done, and it’s easy to use. With one centralised platform, you can manage your entire office – from document management to client relationship management, workflow, and collaboration – with just a few clicks. You can even stay on top of compliance regulations and keep your data safe, all from the same place.

The Microsoft 365 specialists at Essential Tech can help you achieve more with less effort, save time and money, and optimise security for your law firm.