This week’s post in our series on Cloud-based document management systems was contributed by my colleague Andrea Prigot, a partner at Eastern Legal Systems and a Certified Worldox VAR.
Worldox GX3 Cloud is World Software’s well known and widely respected document management system (DMS), ported to the cloud. Unlike some of the other more basic file-sharing systems profiled in this series, Worldox is designed to manage and secure very large volumes of content, including documents, emails, attachments, graphics files, and other important information. Worldox GX3 Cloud is the most recent addition to the Worldox product family, which also includes Worldox GX3 Professional and Worldox GX3 Enterprise.
Worldox GX3 Cloud allows access from anywhere for authorized users. The cloud server uses Rackspace as its storage partner. Rackspace maintains certifications for the following compliance frameworks: ISO 27001, SSAE 16 and ISAE 3402, PCI DDS, and Safe Harbor (export.gov).
As we have discussed, document management in the cloud can pose a challenge – how to make the experience natural and fast, without awkward uploading and downloading. Worldox offers the right solution: the software integrates directly with desktop applications – Word, Excel, Outlook, Acrobat (both Writer and Reader), WordPerfect, and PowerPoint, so that there is no extra work involved in saving and retrieving documents to/from the cloud. The user experience feels fast and local – only the “Cloud” in the Worldox title bar tips off the user that the documents are not stored locally.
Integration with Microsoft Outlook is natural and impressive, with buttons and prompts to move or copy inbox emails and sent emails (with their attachments) into Worldox. Optional quick profiles allow users to add Worldox folders, viewable within Outlook, that allow users to simply drag-and-drop emails into Worldox. Clicking on the “Insert Attachment” button when composing an email opens the Worldox File Open dialog, at which point one or more documents can be selected and inserted into the email. Documents that are emailed from Worldox can be wrapped in a password-protected zip file, ensuring that only authorized recipients can open the file.
Documents stored in Worldox GX3 Cloud are organized into Profiles, typically defined with fields such as Client, Matter, Document Type, and Author. Up to seven profile fields can be defined in each profile. Multiple profiles can be set up, such as for different departments or for administrative documents. Worldox is a “closed” system; when a user clicks File Save or File Save As, a Worldox profile window comes up which the user must complete to save the document. Worldox supports document versioning, and with the add-on Productivity Suite, versions can be compared.
As in NetDocuments, documents stored in Worldox GX3 Cloud can be organized into Workspaces as well as profiles. The “My Workspaces” function allows you to organize a collection of files in the way you prefer to work with them, and allows you to share that space with other project collaborators in the firm. “My Workspaces” can display bookmarked locations, recently-opened projects and other content to which the user subscribes.
At installation a desktop application is installed that loads the Worldox integration with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Adobe Acrobat (Reader, Standard and other versions), and WordPerfect. Some additional configuration may be needed to link Worldox with the practice management systems Amicus Attorney Premium Edition, LexisNexis Time Matters, and STI’s Practice Master. Additional integrations are available through custom “hooks”; for example the hooks to Internet Explorer and Firefox allow users to upload files from Worldox and to download them into Worldox.
GX3 Cloud also includes a PDF editing and redaction package, via the bundled Nuance PDF. This add-on application converts PDF files to MS Word, Excel, and WordPerfect, is PDF/A compliant, provides Bates stamping, creates and sends multi-file PDF packages, and produces PDFs from MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and from pages in Internet Explorer.
Tight security and optional integration with Microsoft Active Directory is offered with Worldox GX3 Cloud. Individual documents can be locked down (read-only or hidden), and user access to documents by profile, client and matter, and document type can be subject to further security rules. Security can also control whether a user can “break out” of Worldox, by-passing the “closed system” to save or open documents using the normal Windows file save functionality. The Legal Hold feature provides the ability to store and preserve files in read-only repositories with tightly controlled access. Documents in Legal Hold cannot be changed or tampered with in any way.
Clicking File Open invokes a Worldox file browser window, and a user can select documents based on viewing the most recently accessed documents, viewing documents for a given client/matter, or by running searches. Finding documents (including emails) is straightforward – viewing last 20 or 30 files, drilling down on Client/Matter, running a search based on the profile fields (Client/Matter/DocType, Author/Typist or other profile fields), running a search based on the content – full-text searching with Boolean logic including And, Or, Proximity, and Wildcard (word begins with). Search results are returned in seconds due to the rapid searching of indexes behind the scenes.
Frequently used searches can be saved, and can also be placed on the Worldox toolbar as bookmarks. Lists in Worldox can be customized to display columns and to sort in the desired order. Worldox Managers can set up standard views for their departments.
Worldox’s parent company, World Software, has been profitable and privately-held through its 25-year history. Worldox has an install base of over 5,000 companies in 41 countries. Worldox document management, a frequent Technolawyer winner, has been known for stability, functionality, tight security and ease of use, as well as excellent customer support.
In addition to their cloud product, Worldox is available in two “non-Cloud” configurations: Worldox GX3 Professional, hosted on an organization’s internal server, and Worldox GX3 Enterprise, hosted on an organization’s server with external access available to remote offices or independent users.
In all three versions, Worldox integrates directly with desktop applications installed on the workstation. The client software is identical as far as appearance and functionality, making for a smooth transition for a firm to move from one solution to another within the Worldox family. The only indication that the Cloud version is in use is through the “Cloud” in the title bar.
For users who want to download documents directly onto iPads, Worldox WebMobile includes a free app for the iPad.
Worldox GX3 Cloud is an ideal choice for firms that are “migrating” from more traditional, internally maintained document management systems, and want to make a seamless transition to “the Cloud”, while retaining the “look and feel” of a server-based DMS.
Jack Schaller has been active in the field of law office technology since 1989, and has worked with a variety of commercial accounting, legal billing, practice management, and document management software products during his twenty plus years in the software consulting field. During his tenure as a software consultant he has garnered many sales and service awards for his work with legal software products. Jack is a frequent presenter at legal conferences and seminars, and is a regular contributor to TechnoLawyer and other technology publications.