So you've been thinking about upgrading to Version 7, and you're not sure what to do. Here are some incentives that may help you with your decision.

First, you won't have to pay the $29 shipping cost if you order from Productivity Consulting. You can download a complete price list by clicking on the link at the end of the Feature Article on the right side of this newsletter.

Second, what are the new features? Here are some features that I think will make the upgrade very worthwhile:

• The ability to keep multiple Files and People open at the same time
• Favorites - quick ways to access often-used items
• Text expansion (Auto-text) - allows you to create your own list of text shortcuts that expand into standard text anywhere in Amicus
• Custom Fields & Pages - much easier to create fields and lay them out on a page the way you want to see them (Premium Edition also gives you an unlimited number of fields, and the ability to set up Custom Records)
• Many to many relationships - relating phone calls to more than just one File and/or Person (e.g., on a conference call)
• File and People relationships - associations between Files and People - link multiple People to a Company record
• Log in from any desk in your firm - you are no longer tied to one workstation. You can also easily connect over the Internet (Premium Edition only)
• Attaching documents to a person - not only a file
• Chronologies can now be found on people as well as on a file

There is so much more - click on the link at the end of this article to download a PDF file with a much more detailed list of the new features, and also some information on the two different Editions (Standard and Premium).

And please read the next article for more information about the Amicus 7 - At A Glance Guide, which is now available for download.

Feel free to e-mail or call if you have any other questions about the upgrade, or when you are ready to purchase.

So you purchased Amicus Attorney 7 - and don't have a Certified Consultant nearby to train your firm. Here's your opportunity to learn more about the program - in an easy to use Reference Guide.

This guide is available for download - FREE - and can be printed in full color for your users. The guide contains over 50 pages of information about the features of Amicus Attorney 7, along with color screen shots, and lots of helpful tips for your users.

Click on the picture of the guide, or on the link below to download a zipped file which contains the complete guide.

I was working with a client last month - doing a big database cleanup. They had a lot of duplicate contacts, and as part of my normal cleanup, I go through and combine duplicate contacts into one. Of course, I often come across 2 contacts with the same name, but with a different company name. I make a list of the contacts that I am unsure about, and after I finish with the majority of the cleanup, I give the list to the client for their input.

As they were looking at the list, they mentioned that there were quite a few contacts with more than one company - that needed to be left as separate contacts. Then they asked if there was any way to link these contacts, and asked if there was a Contact Relationship for 'Same Person'.

I knew that 'Same Person' was not one of the default relationships, but I told them that they could create a custom relationship. So that's what they did. It seems to be a good way to keep track of the few duplicate contacts that need to remain in the database.

To create the relationship in Version 5.5, go to the Amicus Administrator, and select Configure - Contacts. Click on the Contact Relationships tab. To create the relationship in Version 7, you must be an Administrator. From the Office module, select Firm Settings from the Navigation Pane. (NOTE: If you do not see Firm Settings under Administration, you may not be set up as an Administrator.) In the People section, click on Relationships.

Click the mouse in the list of relationships right where you want the new relationship to be listed. Then click New, type Same Person, and click Apply. Click on OK (Save in Version 7) when you are finished making changes to the Contact Relationships.

NOTE: If you click on New without first clicking in the list, then the new relationship will be added at the end of the list, and you may not be able to move it to another position. This process also works with other lists in the Amicus Administrator (Version 5.5). Prior to the release of Service Pack 1 in Amicus 7, the new relationship is always added at the bottom of the list. Hopefully this will be fixed in SP1.

Now that the relationship is created, you can assign the new 'Same Person' relationship to both contacts.

Version 5.5 - Open the first Contact. Select Related Contacts from the Brad, and click on the New button. Click on the Contact icon, and select the second Contact from the list. Select Same Person as the relationship. Then select Same Person as the Reciprocal Relationship. Click on OK to complete the process.

Version 7 - Open the first Contact. Select Related People from the Navigation Pane. Click on the Add button. Click on the People icon, and select the second Contact from the list. Select Same Person as the relationship. Then select Same Person as the Reciprocal Relationship. Click on Save to complete the process.

Do you know about the Amicus User Forum? This is a place where Amicus users post their questions, problems, or solutions. (Of course, lately all we have seen are postings with every little bug in Amicus 7. Hopefully that will end, or at least slow down, with the release of Service Pack 1.)

So what is so great about the Amicus User Forum? Often you wonder about a particular feature in Amicus, and just don't have the time to learn more about it. Well, other users may be thinking about the same thing. And when one user posts a message on the User Forum about a particular problem, often it is an issue that has affected many users. I have used some of the postings on the User Forum to come up with tips for this newsletter. Many consultants monitor the User Forum, and when we read a posting regarding a topic that we are very familiar with, we try to offer advice based on our experiences. Sometimes the issue is more complicated than can be answered on the forum; in that case, we recommend that the user contact an Amicus Certified Consultant for more help. Many of the consultants use remote software and can log into your computer and help you resolve your problems quickly and easily.

If you haven't been to the Amicus User Forum before, you can click on the link at the end of this article to log in. If you have not already joined, create a new profile to begin using the Forum.

Once you have logged in, click on More, and click on Mailing Lists. You can subscribe to any lists that you wish to monitor - make sure to click on Save when you are done.

Then if you wish to receive e-mail notifications when other users post messages, click on E-mail Notification (from More Options) and select the appropriate forums. Make sure to click on Save when you are done.

Craig Bayer, an Amicus consultant from Law Office Technology, in Baton Rouge, LA, recently posted a message on the Amicus User Forum regarding one of the important steps to take with Contacts prior to converting your database from Version 5.X to Version 7. It is so important that I decided I would pass it on to everyone.

Amicus 7 allows People (formerly Contacts) to be entered as either Individuals or Companies. During the conversion to Amicus 7, the First, Middle & Last Name fields are scanned for every Contact, and if there is data in any of those fields, the Person becomes an Individual. If there is a Company Name, but no First, Middle or Last Name, then the Person becomes a Company.

In earlier versions of Amicus, many users put the name of the Company in the Last Name field - either for purposes of linking to an accounting system which did not have a Company Name field, or just to sort the contact index by both Last Name & Company Name together.

If your Contacts are set up in this way in Version 5.X, those Contacts will be set up as an Individuals when converted to Version 7, and currently, there is no method to change an Individual to a Company. There is a shortcut to avoid deleting the old contact, and recreate a Company contact. You select the Company record, create a new Person with the same information, and be sure to select Company. Then you can delete the Company record that is the Individual. This process, however, would delete any information that is stored on that old Individual Company record.

You have probably seen many of my articles in the past regarding cleaning up Contacts - now here is another good reason to spend some quality time cleaning up your current Amicus database prior to converting to Amicus 7. Or just call us, and we can help.