Training - it is without a doubt the most important money you spend on a software installation. Without the proper training, it is probable that your implementation will suffer. We are here to help. With 3 different types and levels of training, CNI can help you make the most of your investment in your software.

Group E-Classes

We know you are busy. We know how hard it is to get out of the office for a day, or even half a day. Webinar Training was created for that purpose - you need training but you don't have a lot of time. Our webinar will be focused on the products most often used in a law firm, and we will be adding to our schedule all the time, so check back often. If there is a class you would like to take, but do not see it here, please contact Ron Carter via email at rcarter@cni-incorporated.com with your suggestion.

Firm E-Classes

These sessions will be scheduled specifically for one firm, and last for 2 hours. Our trainer will remote into your computer and assist you with your actual data. During this time, the firm can set the agenda (we can help if you prefer). Whether it be general training, productivity enhancing tools, process evaluations and suggestions for improvement - you tell us and we will deliver. Please contact Ron Carter at our office (513) 312-8381 or rcarter@cni-incorporated.com and he will be happy to provide you with more information about scheduling one of these Firm Sessions.

On-Site Training

The Internet has changed how we do business. The majority of the training we have done in the past has been us coming to your office. In some instances, there is no substitute for that, for many reasons. We still offer that level of service, and are committed to working with you and your firm in the way you feel most comfortable. Whether here in our back yard, or across the country, our consultants will travel to you and assist your firm with your training needs. Please contact Ron Carter at our office (513) 312-8381 or rcarter@cni-incorporated.com and he will be happy to provide you with for more information.

 

Amicus Attorney 5 - Productivity Tips - - Unleash the power of Amicus Attorney by exploring the more advanced features such as document generation, linked events, customization and the Library. Get your questions answered and improve your firm's efficiency so that you can do more, bill more, and go home early.

• Duration 1 Hour
• Instructor Carmen Relatores
• Cost $80.00 per individual

 

Getting Started with Amicus Accounting - Ready, Set, Go! - Time to start using your new time/billing/accounting software! We will help you get Amicus Accounting set up and ready to use to bill your clients and run your firm.

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Carmen Relatores
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Billing with Amicus Accounting - Ready to get those bills out? - Attend this webinar to learn what you need to know about entering and correcting time and costs, through getting those bills out the door.

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Carmen Relatores
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Firm Accounting with Amicus Accounting - You are all set up, your bills are out the door, and now the checks are coming in! Learn how to manage payments, pay your bills, and run meaningful reports.

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Carmen Relatores
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® Word - Tips and Tricks – Unlock the Power of Your Ideas with MS Word 2003 - In this session you will learn tips and tricks to help you use your word processor more efficiently. Produce professional documents with ease as we show you how to insert documents & change formats with the click of the mouse. Customize Word to work the way you do and learn how to use Autocorrect, Spelling and the Grammar tool to keep all of your writing error free. Plus much more!

• Duration 1.0 Hour
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $80.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® Word 2003 I This Webinar will help you to maximize your productivity using Microsoft® Word. You will learn many shortcuts and options for enhancing everything you do in Word. The topics covered include creating, editing and formatting characters, paragraphs and documents, enhancing and customizing documents such as autocorrect, autotext, page numbering, headers and footers as well table, charts, diagrams and templates.

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® Word 2003 II This Webinar will take the Microsoft® Word user to the next level. You will learn advanced Word features including merging documents, selecting and sorting data, adding visual elements such as border, lines and watermarks, creating specialized indexes, and forms, as well as macros and styles.

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® Excel – Tips & Tricks – Learn more about this essential spreadsheet & analysis program. Excel 2003 offers the ability to create, calculate, & manipulate data for all legal professionals. We’ll teach you everything you need to know including budget building, payroll tables, charts, graphs, formulas, data tables, and a whole lot more!

• Duration 1.0 Hour
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $80.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® Excel 2003 I This Webinar will help you to maximize your productivity using Microsoft® Excel. You will learn many shortcut and options for enhancing everything you do in Excel. The topics covered include preparing and formatting a worksheet, using AutoSum, writing and inserting formulas including absolute and relative cell referencing, creating charts and enhancing the display of worksheets..

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® Excel 2003 II This Webinar will take the Microsoft® Excel user to the next level. You will learn Excel features including advanced formatting techniques, creating and editing templates, and using advanced functions..

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® Excel 2003 III This Webinar will focus on advanced features of Microsoft® Excel. You will learn advanced features including working with lists, creating pivot tables and charts as well as what-if analysis..

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® PowerPoint – Tips & Tricks – Create demonstrative evidence by unleashing the power of MS PowerPoint. When it comes to using technology in the courtroom, we can show you how to put custom animations into your slides, add speaker notes and handouts, and use design templates to enhance your platform for your case in any mediation or trial.

• Duration 1.0Hour
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $80.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® PowerPoint 2003 I This Webinar will take help the user to maximize productivity using Microsoft® PowerPoint. You will learn how to create, edit, format and enhance a presentation. Other topics will include inserting images, adding sound and transitions will be covered..

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® PowerPoint 2003 II This Webinar will take the Microsoft® PowerPoint user to the next level. You will learn advanced PowerPoint features such as customizing and managing presentations, integrating Word, Excel and PowerPoint as well as using the photo album feature and Microsoft® Producer.

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® Outlook - Tips and Tricks – Take back control of your inbox - Learn the tips and tricks that will help you use the full power of Outlook to manage your email. We will cover reminder flags, using mail favorites, rules, setting up your Address book, signatures and other preferences to customize your account. Discover how to schedule appointments, save names, addresses, phone numbers and create and modify your own Journal. Find information at the touch of a button and stop wasting time not knowing how to maximize the usability of this organizational tool!

• Duration 1.0 Hour
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $80.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® Access 2003 I This Webinar will focus on the basic features of Microsoft® Access. You will learn how to create, maintain and query a database. Creating forms and reports using the wizard will be covered.

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® Access 2003 II This Webinar will take the Microsoft® Access user to the next level. You will learn how to enhance tables, create advanced queries, and custom forms and reports.

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

Microsoft® Access 2003 III This Webinar will focus on advance features of Microsoft® access. You will learn how to integrate access with the Web and other programs, use the query wizards, create action queries, table relationships, and use macros to automate tasks.

• Duration 1.5 Hours
• Instructor Karen Lankisch
• Cost $95.00 per individual

 

 

Why all the hype? After all, it's just a cell phone. Not! With the right software and accessories, a Treo smart phone can also be a Web browsing device, an email communicator, a remote control for your office PC, a word processor, a movie theater, a digital music player, and more.

Although the Palm Treo has been around for several years, the technology truly matured in 2006 with the widespread availability of a Windows Mobile version (Treo 700w/wx) and high speed wireless data access (Treo 700p, 700w/wx). Most reviewers continue to prefer the greater speed and more intuitive operation of the Palm OS-based Treo 650, 680, and 700p.

For most lawyers, a Treo, a roomy 1 GB or 2 GB SD flash memory card, the right software, and portable folding keyboard can replace a notebook computer, DVD player, and iPod (or other digital music player), when you travel.

There isn't enough room here to list all of the amazing capabilities of a Treo or the thousands of programs and accessories available for it. But here are some places to look:

.

 

We admit that this is an unconventional "best of" pick. It isn't a specific product, but a class of products. It is noteworthy this year because a significant reduction in the price of RAM corresponds with an increased need for RAM in law office computers.

With the somewhat misguided emphasis on processor clock speed, making sure a system had sufficient RAM was too often an afterthought. Fortunately, the processor speed war seems to be over. Indeed, clock speed, once prominently included in the model number of every computer processor, is now surprisingly hard to find without looking it up on the Intel or AMD Web site. With the marketing de-emphasis of clock speed, we can now focus on making sure the performance of law office computers is not crippled by insufficient RAM (aka memory).

If you are running Windows XP, by far the most common law office operating system (at least until Windows Vista, due next month, becomes established), you need at least 512 MB of RAM. A good argument can be made that you should have 1 GB, or even 2 GB, of RAM depending on what software you run and how many programs you keep open at one time. You may be thinking that the PC your bought two years ago came with Windows XP, MS Office, and 512 MB. It ran fine then, so why do I need more RAM just because two years have passed?

First, if you are like most computer users, you are running more software and utilities today than you did two years ago. In the good old days, perhaps all you had open was your word processor and your email program. Now you have a practice management program, time and billing software, an enhanced security suite with a firewall, anti-spam, and anti-spyware applets in addition to the simple anti- virus program you used to run. You may also have on-line legal research running in your Web browser, an instant message program, a scanning program, and Adobe Acrobat open. Add to this hefty mix a hotsync program for your PDA or smart phone and remote access software like LogMeIn or GoToMyPC. Pretty soon, your 512 MB of RAM is stretched way too thin and you are crawling along like you did with that old Windows 98 box you dumped when you upgraded to XP.

But don't worry; RAM is relatively cheap these days. Most PC's purchased in the last three years can handle at least 1 GB, and many will accept twice that. There are few things you can do that will have a greater impact on your PC's performance than increasing its RAM. For most law office users, for now anyway, 1 GB is enough. But if you run RAM intensive applications like scanning software, or if you plan to upgrade to Windows Vista once it is released in January, you will want 2 GB's (and a better video card, but that is another story!).

Adding RAM to a desktop computer isn't difficult (notebook PC's can be tougher, depending on the design). If you can open the case of your computer and find the RAM slots on the motherboard, you can probably do this job yourself. If not, we can do it for you.

Finding the right RAM for your PC requires some care. If you know the brand and model number of your computer, RAM manufacturers have Web-based utilities to help your order the right module.

In 2006, you demanded more from your computer. Now make sure you give it the RAM it needs to deliver. Short of buying a new PC, no other upgrade will yield this magnitude of increased speed and productivity.

 

These two outstanding (and free) services were just too good not to share the "best of" crown this year.

LogMeIn is a speedy, secure, and easy to use remote access service that, in its basic form, remains free. There are also paid upgrades that enhance the service with features such as file transfer for a very reasonable cost. Install LogMeIn on your office computer and you can access your software, documents, and data from any computer in the world with Internet access. If you have speedy broadband connection on the office and remote end, the experience can be almost like sitting at your desk.

Gmail free service from Google, is a great Web-based email system that also works with standard POP email clients such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, and Eudora. Unless you are using MS Exchange, there are many reasons why Gmail should replace the wimpy POP3 email account supplied by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Gmail offers a ton (over 2.5 GB's) of storage for messages and attachments. Your ISP may limit you to 10 MB's or less. Plus, Gmail's Web interface is likely much better than the Webmail interface offered by your ISP. You can import address books from Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo!, and other services into Gmail. Don't delay; sign up for your free Gmail account today.

Send us an email stating you want a Gmail account and we will send you an invite. PUT INVITE to GMAIL in the SUBJECT LINE.

 

We conclude our "Best of 2006" picks with a controversial, but worthy, choice. Naturally Speaking 9 is the best speech recognition software yet. With the right hardware (and the right user), this technology is finally ready for prime time.

Go for the Preferred Edition or higher. Make sure you exceed (by a comfortable margin) the minimum system requirements. These requirements are set assuming that there is minimal other software running. Most of us have many programs open at once and will want to keep them open while using Naturally Speaking, so having a fast processor and, most importantly, plenty of RAM to spare (1 GB to 2 GB's total) is essential. And don't forget a quality USB microphone. Any microphone that plugs directly into your computer's sound card is likely to yield inferior results.

If you have the right hardware, and a willingness to make a few adjustments in the way you work, Naturally Speaking is a great way to get text onto your screen in a hurry with minimal effort. You may have some cleanup and editing work to do. Although Naturally Speaking never misspells a word (except perhaps unusual names); it sometimes selects the wrong word. Careful proofreading is essential.

 

Amicus Accounting demos are available either via the web or on-site. Simply contact Carmen Relatores to schedule a time for the demo. Have as many staff members as you want gathered in front of your computer.

Demos are expected to run 30 minutes. Call (513) 368-0042 or email at crelatores@cni- incorporated.com. Emails should contain a specific request for an Amicus Accounting Demo.

If you'd prefer a demo at your office, please don't hesitate to call. We'll do our best to accommodate your busy schedule.

 

Amicus Small Firm Edition Demos demos are available either via the web or on-site. Contact Carmen Relatores to schedule a time. Have as many staff members as you want gathered in front of your computer.

Demos are expected to run 30 minutes. Call (513) 368-0042 or email at crelatores@cni- incorporated.com. Emails should contain a specific request for an Amicus Small Firm Edition Demo.

If you'd prefer a demo at your office, please don't hesitate to call. We'll do our best to accommodate your busy schedule.

 

Amicus Attorney 7 demo's, the latest version of the leading practice management software are available either via the web or on-site.

You can schedule an Amicus Attorney 7 "newbie" demos or an "Amicus veteran" demos by contacting Carmen Relatores.

So that we can make the demos even more helpful, we will tailor the "newbie" demo for those who have never before seen or used Amicus Attorney. This restriction lets us tailor the presentation to better answer your questions.

For those using prior versions (V+ and earlier) of Amicus Attorney, the "Amicus veteran" demo will be used.

Demos will last 30 minutes. Send an email or call Carmen Relatores at crelatores@cni- incorporated.com or (513) 368- 0042 to schedule a demo. Make sure your message indicates which demo ("Amicus newbie" or "Amicus veteran") you wish to schedule. We will send you the log-in information for the web demo via return email.

 

Below is a list of the current versions of important law office software supported by Cooperative Network Integrators, Inc..

Amicus Attorney: Downloads

• Amicus Attorney 7: build 7.0.1.5
• Amicus Attorney V: v 5.1.1
• Amicus Attorney V+: v. 5.5.1
• Amicus Attorney V+ with Accounting Integration ONLY: v. 5.8.x
• Amicus Attorney X: v. SP1.1
• Amicus Small Firm: v. 5.7.x

 

Amicus Accounting:

Amicus Accounting: release 2006.1.1

 

Microsoft Office:

• Click here and select Check for Updates.

 

Corel Word Perfect:

• Click here then select your version.

 

 

So that we can enjoy the holidays with our families, the offices of Cooperative Network Integrators, Inc. will be closed for Christmas from Friday, December 22, through Monday, December 25. We will reopen on Tuesday, December 26.

We will also be closed for New Year's Day on Monday, January 1.

We wish the best during this holiday season to each of you and your loved ones.

email: rcarter@cni-incorporated.com

phone: 513-755-1377

web: http://www.cni-incorporated.com