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General Q&A

Have a question for the Smokeball community? Can't find what you're looking for? Ask it here!

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  • 1,753 Replies
Ben
Ben
started this topic

How to use Smokeball Q&A

Welcome to Smokeball Q&A! What is this category for?Whether you are just beginning to move your firm over to Smokeball or you’re a veter...
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715 Conversations
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Anonymous
posted in General Q&A
Hotkeys and keyboard shortcuts - do you use them?

There’s been a few conversations here in the community about wanting to use keyboard shortcuts or hotkeys in Smokeball to quickly get something done without extra mouse clicks. For example, CTRL+S to save CTRL+F to find something are pretty common ones in other software.We know @atharkhan would love to use keyboard shortcuts when tagging emails and @JKibler to open and save a memo. Our own @Sara Sultan loves them, and can probably teach us all a thing or two!Do you use keyboard shortcuts too? What would use use them for?Answer our poll and put in your suggestions in the comments or send us a feature suggestion - we love hearing your thoughts.(and, if you’re wondering what’s currently possible in Smokeball, @leonzhou gave an example) 

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atharkhan
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ksbaileyContributor
posted in General Q&A
Contacting clients regarding billing software change.

Does anyone have a template we could use to inform our clients before bills go out about us changing billing software and making the change to Smokeball? 

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RSLGContributor
asked in General Q&A
Uploading files to Smokeball via Zapier

I’m trying to setup a automated task when a new file is put into a folder in a SharePoint document library into Smokeball using Zapier. The folder has the matter number as the name. I can get Zapier to identify the matter number but I am unable to to then match the matter number to the matter id, which is needed to upload the file.The Smokeball integration only allows me to a find contact but not a matter.Any ideas.

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BaylinContributor
posted in General Q&A
Stop events from disappearing

Hi all,  Our firm has recently moved from Outlook’s calendar to Smokeball’s calendar. However, we prefer Outlook’s settings where we can see still events after they have passed. Is there an option in Smokeball’s settings to stop events from disappearing after they have passed? Thank you 

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Roy Clifton
Community Manager
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AMC AmandaContributor
asked in General Q&A
Interest charges on Unpaid Invoices with no further work

We have clients who we have ceased to act for that still have outstanding accounts. How can I send them a monthly invoice to charge them the interest on their outstanding account?At the moment the only way I can see it working is to charge them a $0.10 disbursement every month to trigger an invoice, charge interest on the overdue debt and then waive the $0.10 disbursement the next day so it doesn’t add to the balance.

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dtowsterContributor
asked in General Q&A
Post Pages Update -- Search Feature Worse

Smokeball Developers,Is there any plan to update the desktop app search functionality now that you have implemented pagination (as opposed to infinite scrolling)? Something about that update changed the search functionality such that it is unable to pick out a term from more than one field of data.By way of example, please see the following four employment discrimination matters:Internal Reference: 1234; Client: Walmart; Type: Employment Compliance and Investigation; Description: Bob Smith Internal Reference: 5678; Client: Walmart; Type: Employment Compliance and Investigation; Description: Jane Doe Internal Reference: 9123; Client: Target; Type: Employment Compliance and Investigation; Description: Bob Smith Internal Reference: 4567; Client: Target; Type: Employment Compliance and Investigation; Description: Jane DoeIn these examples, if I type “Walmart Bob Smith” into the desktop app search feature, I get zero matters as a result. If instead, I type “Bob Smith” into the desktop app s

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Sam King
Smokeball Team
mallorylarkby
mallorylarkbyContributor
asked in General Q&A
Smokeball and New Outlook

Has anyone started using the New Outlook and been able to link e-mails to matters to Smokeball?

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Smokeball Team
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Morgan SContributor
asked in General Q&A
can different staff roles be created?

Can I create new staff roles? The standard ones offered at my level are pretty limited.

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Sara Sultan
Smokeball Team
atharkhan
atharkhanRegular
posted in General Q&A
Smokeball on Snapdragon X Elite

Hi All, I am not sure if anyone on here has a laptop with a Snapdragon X Elite.  It is my understanding that the performance of this latest round of ARM chips from Qualcomm is comparable to Apple’s M series chips.  Additionally, the Windows X86 emulation has allegedly reached a point where Smokeball would run without issues despite it being not natively written for ARM. If anyone has any experience with Snapdragon X Elite, please do share it.  Thank you!-Athar. 

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atharkhan
atharkhan
atharkhanRegular
posted in General Q&A
Smokeball on Mac Update - February 2024

Since I receive messages about this topic sporadically, I just wanted to add some updates to the original post.Smokeball does work on an M (ARM) based Mac.  I do not know whether this is because Microsoft have improved Windows 11’s X86 emulator, whether Parallels has made improvements in the latest version, or whether Smokeball has revised its code over the last few iterations.  It is probably a combination of all three.  In any case, it does work.  Smokeball cannot run as a “native” app on M (ARM) based Macs because Apple does not support Boot Camp, which allows for dual booting a Mac into Windows.  Apple has not given any indication that they intend to continue supporting Boot Camp. For now, all you need is a copy of virtualization software such as Parallels or VMWare Fusion.  You can create a Windows virtual machine, and install Smokeball as you would on a normal Windows-based computer. Smokeball’s web-based app has been substantially revamped which means you have access to more fea

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atharkhan
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JackieContributor
asked in General Q&A
Matter Details

Is there a way to make ‘Child’ always come up in Matter Details (in all Estate Planning matters) without having to add it to each matter in Matter Settings?

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Smokeball Team
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crozContributor
asked in General Q&A
Is it possible to add recurring time entry?

Is there a way to add recurring time entry? Example, I have a monthly review of some documents/items outside SB.

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Sara Sultan
Smokeball Team
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andreabb79Contributor
asked in General Q&A
Delay Delivery Emails

Hi, so I often use delay delivery on my emails in outlook if I’m working late or on weekends and want the email to go the next business day. But I have noticed that despite the email being generated from SB and tagged for the matter, when it sends, it doesn’t show up in the matter.The only way to get it showing is to untag and retag the matter in the email.Is there a way to fix this?Thanks

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AMC AmandaContributor
asked in General Q&A
Credit Note Refunds

We have a client who has a credit note on their account. The matter is now closed so we physically need to pay the credit note to the client. How is this done in smokeball? I can only find how to apply against invoices.

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Sara Sultan
Smokeball Team
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DavidleameyContributor
asked in General Q&A
update on smokeball on Arm Windows

Hi is there an update on how smokeball is expected to run under emulation on the new copilot+ PC'S ro be released on 18th June 2024? Is there any workarounds if it's not running eg via the Web?

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JSR600Contributor
asked in General Q&A
Can I have just emails under the Email Tab?

My boss wants to have just emails under the Email tab in each matter, but all of our folders for the matter show up there as well. Why is that? Is there a way to have the folders show up just under the Documents tab and not under every other tab as well?

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Sara Sultan
Smokeball Team
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LMSContributor
asked in General Q&A
My files are not saving

I got a problem since last week or so, and the files I recieve from clients on the messages tab are not downloading to my computer. I don’t know if this is due to the updates on the app

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Sara Sultan
Smokeball Team
carter_james
carter_jamesContributor
posted in General Q&A
Can Microsoft Azure AI Be the Silent Paralegal Your Firm Needs?

You know what’s wild lately? The way Microsoft Azure AI is slowly becoming the kind of quiet assistant every law firm didn’t know they needed. Like seriously imagine having a paralegal who never sleeps, never misses a detail and doesn’t get overwhelmed no matter how long your case files are. That’s what it feels like when you start using AI tools from Azure.I first got curious when a colleague mentioned how they were using Azure’s AI to help sort through discovery documents. At first I thought it was just another tech thing that sounds cool but adds more work. But the way it handled document tagging and finding repeated patterns blew my mind. We’re talking about scanning hundreds of pages in minutes and pulling out names, dates and even contract clauses that would normally take a whole afternoon.And then I looked into how Azure handles client intake. It can recognize text from scanned forms and auto-fill fields which saves so much time. Like instead of a client sitting for thirty minut

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carter_james
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WichitaLawyerContributor
asked in General Q&A
Archie - NON-Matter Materials

I have looked but have not been able to find anything to answers my question. Is there a way to have a “knowledge base” of non-matter materials that Archie can access while in a matter. For example, The United States Sentencing Guidelines are 620 pages long in the PDF version. I would rather not add this document to every matter, but I would love to be able to access it while using Archie for case specific questions. This would go for the US Code and state criminal laws.  Is this already a thing and I am simply missing it? ThanksJim

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Funkytown
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KVenditContributor
asked in General Q&A
PDF/VOIP Fax

We have Ooma as a phone/fax service. To send a fax, we drag a PDF into the application. We cannot drag a PDF from SB into the application as it says it doesn’t recognize it as a PDF. So currently, we have to save the PDF to a temporary file and then drag and drop it into the fax application. Is there a quicker way to do this from within SB? Can anyone tell us why the PDF isn’t recognized as a PDF when we try to drag it out from SB?

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farrowaContributor
asked in General Q&A
Is it possible to dictate into SB notes?

I cannot type my notes all day long. But I could dictate them.  Is it possible to dictate into SB? Does anyone have an app that works or easy process 

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Sara Sultan
Smokeball Team
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SandyPDXContributor
asked in General Q&A
New HIPAA Attestation Form Requirements

Curious if Smokeball has set up anything re this new Hipaa attestation form.I was about to try to upload it into our system and try do it.Also wondering if anyone already did so and may have tips/advice. 

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Sara Sultan
Smokeball Team
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StevenWContributor
asked in General Q&A
Signatures in Archie-generated emails?

I use Archie to generate emails.Is it possible for these emails to automatically include my signature?I would like text with hyperlinks and an image ideally.

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Sara Sultan
Smokeball Team
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rumpoleContributor
asked in General Q&A
Problems with smokeball compatibility

Hi there,  I was wondering if anyone had any ideas or suggestions. I am a recent user of smokeball. My laptop is 3 years old and was struggling to run smokeball and other applications at the same time. I bit the bullet and recently bought a new laptop so I could run smokeball and other applications. I bought a top of the line laptop with more RAM (32GB) same brand as my existing laptop (Lenovo) same operating system (windows). When I went to download smokeball on the new laptop, I had all sorts of problems. I rang smokeball support for help. They tried to install smokeball and had issues. Finally I was told that smokeball doesn’t support the processor that my new laptop has. The processor is Snapdragon(R) X Elite - X1E78100 - Qualcomm(R) Oryon(TM) CPU   3.42 GHz.Does any of this sound right? Are there any work arounds or solutions? Otherwise it seems that I have spent $3000 on a new laptop for my business that I can’t run smokeball on. Any help appreciated. Thanks

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onesimContributor
asked in General Q&A
Email receipt for invoice payment

The only thing I can find in help is how to email a Trust receipt, but I want to email clients a receipt for when they have paid their invoice.

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