While in the process of moving offices, Australian legal firm, Hall & Wilcox Lawyers, decided to seize the opportunity and set their firm on the path to becoming paperless. The mid-sized, commercial law firm was keen to cull the volume of paper it had amassed over the years and implement digital capability where possible to reduce future paper volumes.

It accomplished the move utilising Nuance’s Power PDF.

 ‘Once we had fully committed to moving towards a paperless office, boxes and boxes of paper were scanned and digitally filed for easy access. It was at this point that we realised the limitations of our existing PDF software and the fact that we needed a solution that offered greater capability as well as speed if we were serious about becoming paperless,’ explained Andrew Stott, Technology Services Supervisor, Hall & Wilcox Lawyers.

‘We found that our existing PDF software was far too slow when it came to opening up large documents. And as most files in law firms are large, staff were becoming
increasingly frustrated with the time the software was taking to open as well as save documents.

‘We also realised that the functionality of our existing PDF software was very narrow. The ability to manipulate PDF documents was limited. Tasks such as marking up PDF files, highlighting text, changing copy and adding extra pages was a cumbersome and painful process. What’s more, converting a PDF into a word document was not always straightforward, while making PDF documents text searchable was challenging. Files would often just freeze,’ said Stott.

The firm also required a PDF solution that would allow it to save PDF files directly into FileSite, the company’s document management system. Moving forward, the firm also wanted the ability to insert digital signatures into files and to use the PDF solution across mobile devices. 

Cost was another factor for consideration. With about 250 people in its Melbourne and Sydney offices and many of them requiring access to PDF software, the firm was keen to install a PDF solution that offered competitive pricing. As Andrew explained, ‘The cost of software licensing can quickly add up when it has to be rolled out across a number of devices’.

According to Andrew, Nuance’s Power PDF allows staff to open PDF documents, including large ones, very quickly regardless of the device they are using.

‘Our monthly reports are quite sizeable but Power PDF has no problem at all opening or saving these files quickly from any of our devices. It also lets us search, access and manipulate PDF files, whether they are authored by us or a third party, with complete ease.

“Plus, if we need to convert PDFs to say Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Corel WordPerfect, it does this accurately and instantly. Information is not lost or corrupted. Overall, it has helped us become more efficient and productive as we can do things far quicker and save on time,’ he said.

Staff can now also save files directly from Power PDF into FileSite.

‘Power PDF actually supports a wide range of document management systems and for the user, this means that they are no longer wasting time saving files onto the desktop and then placing them into document management systems. It now happens instantly and seamlessly.

‘Also, another big plus for us is that Power PDF turns static files into ‘live’ forms so that digital signatures can be added. Our partners often have to sign countless documents which can now be done quickly and easily thanks to this feature. This then frees them up so that they can spend more time on casework,’ Andrew said.

See powerpdf.com.au for more information.