Smokeball Q&A

I have a lot of not time sensitive overdue tasks… and i would like to find a specific task by searching all my tasks. 

When I add a time entry and put in less than an hour (0.8 or 0.75), as soon as I start typing the description, the time entry changes back on 1.How do I change for amounts of time that are not an hour? Like 1.5 or .8, etc?I am using the TexasBar Smokeball.

Folks:One of the best features of Sharepoint/OneDrive is the ability for two (or more) people to collaborate on a single document in real time.  I believe this is possible with Google and other tools as well.I saw that Jordan asked about this two years ago, and it was not then possible, but I am wondering if there has been any progress on this feature?If not, how can I use Smokeball’s document storage and activity tracking features but also use OneDrive features?  I feel like I am being forced to choose.  Do I collaborate with client on a document that requires his input--which means that I have to export the document from Smokeball to OneDrive and share it with him from there, but then if I am going to edit it has to be the OneDrive version so that we are both aware of the other’s changes--but that means that I lose Smokeball’s task time tracker. . . Micah

Is there a way to set up reminders to show up on the attorney’s calendar? So, say there is Discovery due on 11/1. Is there a way to show a reminder on the calendar on 9/1, 10/1 and 10/15 that Discovery is due on 11/1 for a certain matter? Or a way to put one reminder on 9/1 and then it automatically “follows” to each day starting on 9/1, until turned off? We came from migrated from a “Time Matters” system to Smokeball and the attorneys really liked that feature.   I have a feeling that the only way this can be done is to manually input reminders on each date. Any possible workarounds? Thank you in advance. Sean

Good morning,I’m just wondering if it’s possible to do a general search for a precedent without being constricted to a singular precedent folder? As in, if I’m after a precedent, but can’t remember what folder it’s in, is there a way to do a general search?Thank you very kindly.

When a client transfers a file to a new attorney, there has to be an easy way to transfer the file to that new attorney. If there’s no way, please implement that feature.

Hello,My firm is new to Smokeball and are still learning about all the features it offers. I see that Smokeball offers the ability to message clients via SMS in their Messages tab, but the images shared in the article are vastly different from what my Messages tab looks like. It appears I am limited to internal messages only. I think we can initiate SMS messages from within a matter yet, but what if we only have an individual added as a contact and don’t have a matter open for them yet/may not open one? Is there a way to message them?And back to my original point, why is my Messages tab so barren? I don’t see any place to add external contacts or manually input a phone number, email, etc like the article explaining messaging shows.My firm is on the Grow plan.Thank you.

I get a message. The red notification bubble pops up on both the toolbar and on the messages tab within Smokeball. I read the message. The red notification bubble does not go away. I do not have any new, unread messages - I’m positive - and yet Smokeball keeps making it look as if I do. I refresh, I close open matters, does not help. It’s extremely annoying because we use messages internally a great deal, so I don’t want to miss an actual new message, so I keep checking just to be sure. How can I make this problem stop?

As predicted, when we lost the autosave of invoice function last month, paralegal staff (who don’t have billing permission/access), now constantly ask for copies of invoices, ask if client X paid for A, B, or C, etc. They need this information to close estates, settle divorces, commence flat fee matters, etc.https://community.smokeball.com/general%2Dq%2Da%2D7/retiring%2Dautomatic%2Dinvoice%2Dsaving%2Dto%2Ddocument%2Dfolder%2Dnot%2Dgood%2D2999We’re still looking/waiting for the billing widget (available to all) to add a “paid” line, but is there some limited view-only access to the billing function we can enable for paralegal staff?  I don’t see it.  My understanding is that access billing is all or nothing. Should there be a limited access, best case it would be ‘view only’, not allowin

When using Smokeball, my colleagues and I notice that random and often erroneous time records will appear in the billing section. These random time records are entries that have already been recorded and appear when signing back onto the platform. Can anyone explain why this occurs? Thank You, Dorian Coehins   

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.

I am trying to do an electronic filing through my local register of deeds online filing platform, simplifile. How do I upload the deed that I created in smokeball? The document is saved in smokeball rather than on my computer server. When I go to upload the document I only have access to my computer server. I also tried to drag the file and I get the prompt that the file is not a supported file type even though it is a PDF. 

I wish to make a minor edit to our email that sends a trust receipt to a client.  I know how to edit an email template, but I can only find invoice buttons, not the trust receipt button, as the support hub mentioned. See screenshot below:I would appreciate some assistance as the support hub explains how to edit the email sending trust receipts, but I don’t have the button for trust receipts, only invoices, invoice reminders, evergreen retainers and deposit requests.  At the moment, we can email a trust receipt, but the email signs off with “Kind regards” and my name, but we want it to say “Yours faithfully” and then our firm name. Thank you!Nancy

We often use the matter tracking feature so that the time spent on our work is automatically tracked however, I noticed that Smokeball will  create multiple time records for time spent on one task. For example, if I am drafting a letter and need to reference a document while drafting the letter, Smokeball will create a time entry for both  drafting the letter and the time I spent reviewing the document. Is there anyway to combine these time records so that they reflect the overall time spent on a task as opposed to multiple different time records to reflect the same task?  Thank You, Dorian Coehins 

I love that I can now see how much a client has in Trust right on that first page in billing. However, I cannot figure out how to get all of their funds available to show up where I can see them easily (i.e. Credits, Operating Retainer, Trust, etc.)Is there an easily accessible way that I can see everything in one place without having to run a report or several reports or an invoice or click on various links? 

I would like to know how to if there was a way to be able to set an alert on the WIDGET which displays an alert that we are close to the agreed amount from the disclosure statement. From what I can see only conveyancing matters has similar allows similar settings. Would family law have a similar setting?Thank you

How do I add  “<<Body text>>”  to my container or template? I don’t see the option in the list of fields. I ran a search when editing a container and a template and I don’t see it in either. Am I looking in the wrong place?

Did you guys remove the ability to invoice a lead? I have been invoicing leads since we started with Smokeball and now all of a sudden I can’t. I don’t know if it’s a change you made when you updated or something wrong in my Smokeball here. 

We use Teams for our telephone service.  Can Teams integrate with Smokeball?

I have a client that wants to be invoiced in USD.  Our default invoice setting is GBP.  Is it possible to change to USD?

For some reason, my Outlook Smokeball integration saves all of the emails one of our staff member writes, automatically, to one specific matter.  Has anyone else experienced this, and is there an easy fix?

I know that I can drag and drop files from Windows File Explorer into Smokeball Documents.  But if I add files that are already there, Smokeball makes two copies of it.  That is not good!Can Smokeball synchronize itself with a matched Windows File Explorer folder? Or perhaps alert if a file to be uploaded is already present?We have found it impossible operate without using Windows File Explorer so we need something that can streamline the process of ensuring that both repositories are the same.

As a criminal practitioner, I need a portable work device that can also serve as my “base station” (ie move between a court room and the office with great ease). There are MANY options on the market, but it seems clear that Macbooks are currently THE best option for this. Significant performance, coupled with outstanding battery life etc. It’s unfortunate that Smokeball is not compatible on Mac’s, and I would have thought, cuts Smokeball off from a significant portion of their possible client base (judging on the number of Mac users I see floating around at court). I understand it’s an entirely different architecture and would require basically a whole re-write of the app (probably?) but is there any plans for it? Even some sort of bridging app would suffice - the web version of smokeball is good for nearly all purposes EXCEPT - filing \ reviewing emails and creating precedents. If there was a mac bridging app that simply gave

Since transitioning to Smokeball, our firm has utilized Law Pay as a payment platform. This integration tool, however, is not very intuitive as far as applying the payments we receive through the platform to our clients’ payment portal. I find that I have to manually apply the payment to their client payment portal. This often creates a little bit of confusion as there is not a way to streamline the process of receiving payment, to the remittance of funds to our firm account. Does smokeball have a way to automatically apply payments received through Law Pay to balances due? If not, is there a way to work around this? 

When someone assigns a task to me, I got a notification.  So-and-so assigned a task to you.  I find the notification both distracting and unhelpful.  Obviously, I still want notifications like “you have a meeting starting”, but I would like to turn off notifications that a task has been assigned to me (which I will see, after all, in my Tasks list).  Is that possible?