Sorry Airlines! Let's Take Legal Meetings Online

That's where a VIA3 e-meeting comes in. An attorney, for example, can convene a meeting, whether planned or spur of the moment, with colleagues or clients anywhere in the world, as long as they have a PC, an Internet connection (high speed required for video), and an optional Web cam and headset for audio and video. It's very easy, much more interactive and a great deal cheaper than traditional audio or videoconferencing conferences! ($200 per meeting host per month for unlimited meetings; no limit to the number of free meeting attendees)

I had the chance to test VIA3 a short while ago from my office in Northbrook, IL, and was extremely impressed by how easy it was to install and actually begin using. Once I had confirmed that my PC met the system requirements, VIACK's helpful and patient client services department in Arizona guided me — first by phone — through the quick process of installing VIA3 from VIACK's Web site (www.viack.com/registration.asp).

Once I'd logged on, we hung up the phone and before long, all of my doubts about whether the audio and video capabilities had reached the quality most legal professionals would be sure to demand were quickly washed away. Wow! Telephone-quality audio and video almost like my television at home has really arrived over the Internet — and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get it either! Very promising from the start!

After making sure my audio and video were optimized for my PC, we got down to the business of learning the many capabilities VIA3 offers. For example, the VIACK team showed me how to bring a document such as a legal contract into a meeting, review it and make edits or insert comments. Only the document “owner” could accept or reject the edits and then “republish” the document so I could see the changes made. The owner could also give me or other meeting participants the ability to edit and make comments as well on the document, but only he could produce a final, approved document.

This brings me to the next fun feature: whiteboarding, which lets you capture ANY type of document to share in your e-meeting, including pictures or Web sites. In the whiteboard feature, participants (if the host enables it) can draw freehand and defined shapes, add text, point to different features on the document, change line colors or just about anything they need to do, and everyone can see the additions as they are being made. Cool! You can create as many pages as you want with the same background, marking each one as “confidential” or as a “work in progress.” They can then be saved, in a VIA3 “file cabinet,” as either a traditional whiteboard document or in html, so it can be opened in a Web browser.

Also extremely helpful for attorneys is the ability to present final PowerPoint presentations to a designated group. The meeting host or a presenter (or multiple presenters) specified by the host makes the presentation. The host controls who may attend the presentation. In this case, the host and presenters can use VIA3's audio feature but the audience can only communicate with them using the text chat window or by instant messaging them.

But the key feature of VIA3 that makes it a winner for me is its security! Other providers make you pay for “optional” security features. Not with VIA3. Unlike other providers of Internet-based applications, VIACK built VIA3 so that all aspects of the meeting are fully encrypted. For those less technical attorneys out there, that means the data, audio and video are completely scrambled (ie, xijdyreposkrs) from when they leave your desktop to the time they reach your colleague or client across the country. Once you close out of a meeting, the data is stored, encrypted, in a “file cabinet” in VIACK's servers so no one can access the data without permission from you. Not even VIACK itself has access to your information (Just don't lose your password! The only way they can help you is if you entered a password hint when registering. A scary thought, but another great security feature!) VIACK also reminded me that the video component adds an extra layer of security by allowing you to actually see who is in the meeting with you. Ingenious!

So how would you use it? There are almost too many legal applications to count! I can see VIA3 being used for emergency situations, where you just don't have time to get to your client's office to help them out. Sure, a teleconference can work in this situation, but you can't jointly create and edit an emergency press release with a group of people efficiently on the phone. Or you can use VIA3 to prep with an expert witness who might be based in Italy, for example, again cutting back on expenses to the client and wasted travel time for the witness.

Client status meetings can also take place on VIA3. If I can't be in “Michael's” office, it's better for our client/attorney relationship to at least be able to see each other's faces! Also, we could quickly pull up documents to work on together, which might not be possible if I'd traveled across the city and forgotten the contract! Same for bigger law firms with multiple offices across the county or corporate counsel who need to deal with multiple attorneys. With VIA3, we can all be in one meeting “room” without ever having to leave our offices. Our big decisions can be reached, or documents approved, in a fraction of the time it would have taken if we'd had to travel.

In summary, VIA3 has proven to me that e-meetings can actually be tremendously beneficial for legal professionals such as myself. Not only is the quality of audio and video better than the competition (or much less expensive than stand-alone videoconferencing suites), the ease-of-use and functionality of the real-time document creation and editing features should win over even the technophobes of our industry. And I can't say enough about the security features! All of these features combined, plus its low cost, make VIA3 an extremely attractive alternative to those face-to-face meetings that we just don't need anymore. Sorry airlines!

Facts

VIA3 E-meeting Service can be downloaded from VIACK's Web site at www.viack.com. The cost per meetings host is $200 per month for unlimited meetings and unlimited number of participants (participants can download an attendee-only version at no charge to them). Instant messaging can be used by anyone for free.

I can see it now: U.S. airlines continue to struggle because some of their most frequent fliers — attorneys — are turning in their wings. No longer do we need to fly nearly as often to client meetings or to interview key witnesses on our most pressing cases. Why? We now have e-meetings, specifically e-meetings from Tempe, AZ-based VIACK Corporation. Sad for the airlines; good for us!

The VIA3 E-meeting Service, originally modeled after the needs and wants of legal professionals, permits users to work together in real-time over the Internet using live audio and video capabilities, instant messaging and text chat, and the ability to jointly create, review, share and edit Microsoft Word and PowerPoint presentations. Even better, it's all built with our security requirements in mind, so attorney-client privilege is constantly maintained – unlike with e-mail or faxing. It's an awesome feature! How's that for knowing their market? Impressive. But more on security later….

We all know the pains of planning and holding off-site meetings, especially those that include clients, lawyers, paralegals, and others from across the city, the country or even the world. Coordinating a time and location can cost a bundle, especially when combined with the travel costs associated with getting and staying there, and the wasted time that could have been spent billing! Ultimately, it's the client that pays, you say, so why worry? We're all learning more and more each day why. Times have changed. Many clients just don't have the big budgets anymore. If we want to keep our clients and get some new ones, paying close attention to their budgets is one good way to do it! They don't have time to be out of their offices for days meeting with legal counsel or collaborating on complicated documents (that process can take weeks writing, faxing or e-mailing back and forth, coordinating edits, resending, and on and on). And they don't want to be paying for you to be traveling around either, if it's not absolutely necessary, when you could be back at your office using their money more efficiently.

That's where a VIA3 e-meeting comes in. An attorney, for example, can convene a meeting, whether planned or spur of the moment, with colleagues or clients anywhere in the world, as long as they have a PC, an Internet connection (high speed required for video), and an optional Web cam and headset for audio and video. It's very easy, much more interactive and a great deal cheaper than traditional audio or videoconferencing conferences! ($200 per meeting host per month for unlimited meetings; no limit to the number of free meeting attendees)

I had the chance to test VIA3 a short while ago from my office in Northbrook, IL, and was extremely impressed by how easy it was to install and actually begin using. Once I had confirmed that my PC met the system requirements, VIACK's helpful and patient client services department in Arizona guided me — first by phone — through the quick process of installing VIA3 from VIACK's Web site (www.viack.com/registration.asp).

Once I'd logged on, we hung up the phone and before long, all of my doubts about whether the audio and video capabilities had reached the quality most legal professionals would be sure to demand were quickly washed away. Wow! Telephone-quality audio and video almost like my television at home has really arrived over the Internet — and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get it either! Very promising from the start!

After making sure my audio and video were optimized for my PC, we got down to the business of learning the many capabilities VIA3 offers. For example, the VIACK team showed me how to bring a document such as a legal contract into a meeting, review it and make edits or insert comments. Only the document “owner” could accept or reject the edits and then “republish” the document so I could see the changes made. The owner could also give me or other meeting participants the ability to edit and make comments as well on the document, but only he could produce a final, approved document.

This brings me to the next fun feature: whiteboarding, which lets you capture ANY type of document to share in your e-meeting, including pictures or Web sites. In the whiteboard feature, participants (if the host enables it) can draw freehand and defined shapes, add text, point to different features on the document, change line colors or just about anything they need to do, and everyone can see the additions as they are being made. Cool! You can create as many pages as you want with the same background, marking each one as “confidential” or as a “work in progress.” They can then be saved, in a VIA3 “file cabinet,” as either a traditional whiteboard document or in html, so it can be opened in a Web browser.

Also extremely helpful for attorneys is the ability to present final PowerPoint presentations to a designated group. The meeting host or a presenter (or multiple presenters) specified by the host makes the presentation. The host controls who may attend the presentation. In this case, the host and presenters can use VIA3's audio feature but the audience can only communicate with them using the text chat window or by instant messaging them.

But the key feature of VIA3 that makes it a winner for me is its security! Other providers make you pay for “optional” security features. Not with VIA3. Unlike other providers of Internet-based applications, VIACK built VIA3 so that all aspects of the meeting are fully encrypted. For those less technical attorneys out there, that means the data, audio and video are completely scrambled (ie, xijdyreposkrs) from when they leave your desktop to the time they reach your colleague or client across the country. Once you close out of a meeting, the data is stored, encrypted, in a “file cabinet” in VIACK's servers so no one can access the data without permission from you. Not even VIACK itself has access to your information (Just don't lose your password! The only way they can help you is if you entered a password hint when registering. A scary thought, but another great security feature!) VIACK also reminded me that the video component adds an extra layer of security by allowing you to actually see who is in the meeting with you. Ingenious!

So how would you use it? There are almost too many legal applications to count! I can see VIA3 being used for emergency situations, where you just don't have time to get to your client's office to help them out. Sure, a teleconference can work in this situation, but you can't jointly create and edit an emergency press release with a group of people efficiently on the phone. Or you can use VIA3 to prep with an expert witness who might be based in Italy, for example, again cutting back on expenses to the client and wasted travel time for the witness.

Client status meetings can also take place on VIA3. If I can't be in “Michael's” office, it's better for our client/attorney relationship to at least be able to see each other's faces! Also, we could quickly pull up documents to work on together, which might not be possible if I'd traveled across the city and forgotten the contract! Same for bigger law firms with multiple offices across the county or corporate counsel who need to deal with multiple attorneys. With VIA3, we can all be in one meeting “room” without ever having to leave our offices. Our big decisions can be reached, or documents approved, in a fraction of the time it would have taken if we'd had to travel.

In summary, VIA3 has proven to me that e-meetings can actually be tremendously beneficial for legal professionals such as myself. Not only is the quality of audio and video better than the competition (or much less expensive than stand-alone videoconferencing suites), the ease-of-use and functionality of the real-time document creation and editing features should win over even the technophobes of our industry. And I can't say enough about the security features! All of these features combined, plus its low cost, make VIA3 an extremely attractive alternative to those face-to-face meetings that we just don't need anymore. Sorry airlines!

Facts

VIA3 E-meeting Service can be downloaded from VIACK's Web site at www.viack.com. The cost per meetings host is $200 per month for unlimited meetings and unlimited number of participants (participants can download an attendee-only version at no charge to them). Instant messaging can be used by anyone for free.