A Better IT Experience with the ClearONE Solution from ClearFuze
Help Needed! Personal Injury Law Firm Randolph & Associates, APC Gets IT Upgrade
In 2019, Randolph & Associates, APC Office Manager, Christina Arganda, was searching for new IT options. The Santa Monica personal injury law firm was paying a great deal of money for managed IT services and not getting much in return.
The law firm was doing well and was actively involved in the community, with 20 staffers on board and a strong roster of legal clients. Most of their clients are personal injury cases, while others need help with business litigation. This required active channels of communication to be open at all times between Randolph & Associates lawyers, paralegals, other staff and their customers.
Their managed service provider, however, was failing them. “We had a company that felt outdated; they couldn’t keep up with us,” explains Arganda. “They had an old server that wasn’t cloud-based, we weren’t getting quick enough responses on our tickets and they did some management for us, but it wasn’t full service.” Arganda says their in-house server was very slow and crashing frequently and they were afraid of data loss. For a service business, their data is their livelihood. Any threats to its safety had to be taken seriously. That wasn’t all. Their phone system and computers were also old and outdated, and their wireless network was unstable. But their requests for fast and affordable upgrades went unanswered.
ClearFuze contacted Arganda and offered to provide a free ClearONE assessment of Randolph & Associates IT needs. Arganda had interviewed 3 other MSP options and was not impressed. Her immediate impression was that ClearFuze was different. “ClearFuze was very friendly and passionate about what they could do to help us. So, I said yes to the free audit.”
Because Randolph & Associates needed IT and project management help across the board, they were a perfect candidate for ClearONE, with a streamlined process and pricing structure within the right range for a small legal firm.
“When we took a holistic look at the company’s IT challenges and evaluated them for ClearONE, what was happening at Randolph & Associates checked every box. They were having issues with all of their established systems,” states ClearFuze Founder and CEO, Jason Gilbert. “The value-add we could offer them with their business processes was clear.”
ClearFuze Closes the Gaps & Gets Law Firm Working Remotely
There were a number of problems that ClearFuze addressed immediately for Randolph & Associates.
Old law office management software was running on old servers, which were still located in-house instead of on the cloud. Their wireless network had poor connectivity. Security was insufficient. The computers and phones were also several years old and outdated. Their software also wasn’t a good fit for productivity or for their specific needs in the legal field. “According to the employees at Randolph & Associates, everything was running very slowly,” notes Gilbert. “We needed to help them get up to speed with cloud-based solutions and new technology that increased their efficiency and competitiveness in the Los Angeles market.”
Results:
Cloud-based Server: ClearFuze implemented across-the-board cloud-managed equipment. Access points, firewalls, servers and switches are all now cloud solutions, actively monitored and managed. This increased the speed and value of the new hardware and allowed for better controlled costs for everything from installation to upgrades.
From TrialWorks to CasePeer: Only 7 of the staffers in the Randolph & Associates offices were using TrialWorks when ClearFuze signed on, and case and trial processing was different for every single member of the firm. This eliminated the opportunity for streamlined workflows within their legal practice management system. The recommendation to switch to CasePeer meant that company lawyers were able to utilize software designed specifically for personal injury casework. CasePeer prompts all questions and carries cases through from beginning to end, sending out requests and filing documents in an automated fashion.
Microsoft 365: The firm was undergoing a name change at the time of their MSP switch. ClearFuze switched out email addresses and got every staffer a subscription to Microsoft 365 for access to the best productivity tools in the market.
Quickbooks Online: Bookkeeping was moved from Intuit Quickbooks Desktop to Intuit Quickbooks Online, an excellent tool for handling accounting.
New Computers: Computers older than five years were swapped out by ClearFuze so that each team member was working on a current PC or laptop and could transition more easily to remote work as needed.
VoIP Business Phone System: Randolph & Associates, APC was working with a very old phone system and having frequent issues with their service provider Frontier including repeated outages. The new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system saved money instantly, eliminated the issue of outages and enabled quicker remote work—with office calls connected seamlessly to cell phones.
Security Measures:
- Cloud-to-cloud SaaS backup (software is backed up and protected)
- Firewalls (security across cloud, mobile and wireless networks)
- Two-factor authentication with staff and manager cell phones
- Cloud authentication (security breaches trigger immediate alerts for the ClearFuze team)
- End-point encryption (devices included staff laptops and cell phones are encrypted to block any potential malicious activity)
- Domain name system (DNS) filtering (cuts phishing and ransomware threats)
Going 100% Remote: When the COVID-19 pandemic hit ClearFuze was able to transition every Randolph & Associates staff member to remote work without disrupting or disturbing client needs. This also enabled the firm to shut down their main offices in Santa Monica and transition to a smaller space, saving thousands in operational costs.
“We revolutionized how they function as a firm,” says Gilbert. “It was necessary—the security risks were substantial because of how their business could have been taken down at the time.”
Today, Randolph & Associates, APC has safely and securely transitioned to a lighter, more effective workforce, all working remotely without the worry of constant problems with their IT. They are able to do more with fewer people. ClearFuze closed the gaps on their managed and professional services—allowing the business to thrive even during a pandemic.
About the Client: Founded in 1978, Randolph & Associates, APC is a personal injury law firm serving communities in Los Angeles, Riverside (including Coachella Valley) and San Bernardino counties. They have a main office in Santa Monica, and two satellite locations in Rancho Cucamonga and Palm Desert. As a full-service trial firm, they work on cases spanning from vehicle and construction site accidents to elder abuse, sexual assault, and wrongful death cases.
Results Summary:
ClearFuze took the time to thoroughly understand Randolph & Associates, APC, and their needs. They implemented a tailored managed services offering, including the replacement of their old, ineffective platform. Old software running on old servers was switched out. Randolph & Associates are thrilled with their IT and happy with their contracted services.