Sometimes, we have to make hard choices. Recently, I had to make a decision about upgrading my cell phone and debated whether to get the latest Palm Treo or switch to a Blackberry.

I’ve owned a Palm device for many years that I synchronized to my Time Matters’ contacts, to-do’s and events. A few years ago, I migrated to the Treo 650, a Palm-based cell phone. In addition to having my address list and calendar in hand, I was able to check and send e-mail.

Over time, though, I encountered an assortment of technical difficulties resulting in two replacement phones. And in the past year, I was unable to connect a corded headset and often was disconnected when using my Bluetooth headset. As my cell phone contract approached expiration, I began to consider whether to upgrade to the latest Palm or switch to Blackberry. First and foremost, the device is my cell phone and as a busy professional often out in the field, my priority is reliability.
The Blackberry, in various models, has become the standard device of corporate America, which also relies on Microsoft Outlook running on Exchange Servers. This combination allows synchronization between office e-mail and phones. Outlook is a contact centric program and in an Exchange environment, individuals can have their own contact list and calendar, but can see and share data with an entity wide contact list or calendar. Outlook’s real strength is the simplicity of its e-mail. It uses the contact list information as the source for e-mail addresses and can be set up with folders and rules to sort and organize incoming e-mail. What Outlook is missing is a project or case component. That inability to connect contacts to projects limits its functionality in the legal environment.

What law firms need

Law firms are different animals from corporations. Litigation firms often have many cases for the same client. Even transactional based practices often have more than one file per client. Calendars and notes must be shared among the firm’s personnel. Practice management programs like Time Matters (now known as LexisNexis Front Office powered by Time Matters), Amicus Attorney, Practice Master, Elite, Client Files and many more add that critical case component to their relational databases. This makes it possible to make connections between multiple contacts and multiple cases and view the information. Events, to-do’s, e-mail, phone records, notes and documents also can be connected to a case record, making it easy to collaborate with office colleagues and eliminate combing through physical files.

In addition to needing reliability, my new phone also would need to be my contact and event manager. All recommendations pointed to the Blackberry 8830 through Verizon, my existing cell phone carrier.

Major differences

Although I expected differences between Blackberry and my Treo, I wasn’t prepared for the large number. I knew that Blackberry's direct sync from Time Matters didn’t connect to Blackberry's address book and calendar; rather, they link to their own applications and can’t be used to make phone calls or send e-mail or text messages. To get Time Matters contacts and events into the Blackberry address list and calendar, one must sync Time Matters to Outlook and then sync Outlook to the Blackberry using Blackberry Device Manager software. In addition to the obvious drawback of the double sync, I also must monitor and push the sync along, while with the Treo I was able to press the sync button and go on to something else.

Link to Palm

Time Matters was among the first practice management programs to link to Palm devices. For years, I’ve been able to put the name of the case or matter in the memo section of event records on the Palm. The link from Time Matters to Outlook is more limited and doesn’t include either staff or case information. Our office has had to change how we use the description field so I can quickly identify my events from others and know what file they’re associated with.

So, what else could be so different about two kinds of smart phones? Well, the obvious one is e-mail. On Treo (and you can set this differently), I could manage my e-mail rather than being alerted as each new message arrives. On Blackberry, e-mail seems to arrive constantly and feels a bit more intrusive — at least to me.

The 8830 is a little wider but thinner than the Treo. The keyboard is fine, but I really miss Palm’s touch screen, especially when I call for technical support and must plug in my customer number, select voicemail options, etc. The number keys are a bit hard to access on Blackberry. (Keep in mind, I’ve had this phone only a few weeks so this may be due to my ignorance.) I didn’t realize how handy Palm’s phone display on the screen was until I tried to leave a voice mail for a client the other day. Its switchboard was closed so I got into the phone directory, which required I input the first few letters of my client’s first or last name. There was no way to see what letters correspond to the phone numbers on the Blackberry. I’m hoping someone has an add-on to compensate for this.

Limited options

Among my biggest frustrations with my new phone are the limited options for volume settings and frequently dialed numbers. Over the past year, my assistant and I have begun to increasingly rely on text messaging to quickly and unobtrusively communicate with each other. As a result, it’s important for me to be notified when a new text message arrives. Similarly, I want to be notified immediately when I receive a phone call since most calls are fairly urgent. For me, e-mail doesn’t generally require immediate response. While Palm Treo had no sound to accompany incoming e-mail, it had two easily distinguishable sounds for phone and text messages.

Blackberry users can set one sound for new e-mail and text messages and another for phone calls. Blackberry's inability to turn off the sound completely for e-mail without also turning it off for text messages is a problem for me. The options are either to have all phone, e-mail and text messaging sounds on or only the phone on, which means I’m not alerted to a new text message, or have all functions on vibrate. Maybe it’s me, but I can’t tell the difference between a vibration for phone or e-mail so I find myself constantly looking at the phone for low priority e-mail and missing important text messages.

While it’s subtle and wouldn’t cause me to return the phone, I prefer the Palm e-mail setting that allowed me to select and delete messages I already read. Blackberry's only option is to set it to automatically delete e-mail older than 15 days or delete them as they’re read.

The positives

What I like about my new phone is that with Verizon’s rebates, it was much less expensive than its predecessor and clearly is more reliable. My Bluetooth headset is connected immediately without any manipulation. I switched from a limited to unlimited data plan and like the access to the internet and maps. As with Palm, there’s a billing applet from LexisNexis that lets me record time entries when I’m in the field and sync them into my billing system when I return to the office.

I’m getting used to my new phone and starting to warm up to its strengths. I really like that I can count on getting through an entire phone call without issue.

What really surprises me (and after all of these years working with technology, it really shouldn’t!) is how two seemingly similar devices can be just different enough to be a distraction.

Carol L. Schlein is president of Law Office Systems in Montclair, a training and consulting firm specializing in law firm automation. Copies of her previous columns are on losinc.com, which also lists upcoming meetings and training classes. For information, e-mail info@losinc.com or check the website. Schlein formerly chaired the Computer and Technology Division of the ABA Law Practice Management Section and can be reached at carol@losinc.com.

Questions for Carol L. Schlein on law office technology may be e-mailed to New Jersey Lawyer at news@njlnews.com or faxed to (908) 226-0165.