Notes By Client/Matter

[Alan T]

I'm a lawyer and want to use OneNote to keep notes for each Client/Matter I
work on. I want the notes to be stored in our Document Management Software
("DMS"), currently DocsOpen 3.9.6. We are investigating upgrade to either
Hummingbird DM5.1 or Interwoven (formerly "Imanage").

I'd like the following features:

* an easy way to "code" notes by client/matter.
* separately, an easy way to "code" notes by contact. For example, if I
get a call from a CPA about a particular client/matter, I'd want my notes
coded separately for both. Let's assume that my contacts are all in Outlook
2003.
* once I've taken the notes and coded them by client/matter, an easy way to
export a time entry into timekeeping software (like DTE), or at least to an
ascii file for periodic import.
* my notes should be viewable from the DMS by any other attorney working on
the client/matter.

Is that too much to ask?

 

[Ben M. Schorr, MVP-OneNote/Outlook]

Unfortunately OneNote doesn't presently offer any integration with document
management systems -- you might be able to use one of them to intercept the
File | Save call and then use OneNote to do a File | Save As but that seems
like a lot of work.

This may spark some interesting ideas for future features, though I suspect
that adding the "bureaucracy" of a DMS into the OneNote experience isn't
exactly what the designers had in mind.

-Ben-

 

[Alan T]

Thanks for the prompt response. I'm curious, though, since most
professionals who take notes do so for a given client/matter or patient or
account or customer, why wouldn't a systematic approach to "filing" notes be
a good thing for OneNote?

 

[Ben M. Schorr, MVP-OneNote/Outlook]

Filing notes, yes. But a document management system tends to impose a lot
of overhead and metadata that is outside the application itself. I think
OneNote is designed to be a little more "self-contained" than that --
although you certainly could use a SharePoint server and publish your notes
there for common access and categorization.


--
Aloha,

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, OneNote-MVP
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/schorr
Microsoft OneNote FAQ:
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/schorr/Computers/OneNoteFAQ.htm

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