Samsung phone systems integrate to the DPS Case Management System for HEY Bendalls Property Lawyers


DPS200Karl Irons the managing director of HEY Bendalls Propery Lawyers of ELY Cambridgeshire decided that he wanted to fully utilise the dialling capabilities of DPS’s case management software. He felt his solicitors and team would benefit from having the system dial contacts that are on the file, saving the time taken for the call and the corresponding attendance note against the file, automatically.

He went further and wanted incoming calls to automatically display a screen showing the client and the possible matters that could relate to the call. This would allow the practice to handle calls more quickly and more professionally. Thus they would increase their level of service but with no extra work for the fee earners or secretarial staff and would begin time recoding the call to the correct file.

The argument in its simplest form was if I can recognise calls on my mobile phone then why can’t I recognise them in the office and have the system tell me which matters these clients might be ringing about?”

This made absolute sense and the potential benefits were considerable. Clearly, for this to work Karl needed their telephone system supplier- BSAS Telecoms, DPS and Samsung – their phone manufacturer, to work together in order to deliver the solution he needed.

The DPS case management system is already phone-enabled and the simple installation of TAPI (Telephone Applications Programming Interface, which is actually a standard for most phone systems) allows DPS to dial numbers and save the attendance notes to the case. This part did not require any extra work on anyone’s part other than the phone supplier who was responsible for actually installing the TAPI interface.  Karl then had to write a SQL script to tidy up his telephone database to provide a uniformed number (without brackets, spaces, etc).

The next part, which was called CLI (Caller Line Identification), needed slightly more cooperation and work. The incoming telephone number is passed to a module of the telephone system that reads it and then tests it against the database to find a matching client or contact with that specific telephone number. Of course, the telephone number could be the mobile, office or home phone number of the client or contact and all numbers need to be tested.

BSAS were instructed by Karl to write a DPS CLI interface to enable the displaying of calls. The company has subcontracted the work to Samsung Xchange Specialists (Mondago) who assisted them with this project.  As experts, they could collect the incoming phone numbers and, using the DPS file structures, test it to find the correct client and if possible, the corresponding matter(s) in DPS.

The module was built in 2013, and went into use in early 2014. One year later it has proven itself invaluable to the business and become a staple of the day-to-day operation of DPS at HEY Bendall Property Lawyers.

Karl Irons said: “I have done a lot of work customising DPS Outlook Office- our case management software.  The telephone integration was one element which I felt took case management one step further and really turbo-charged our efficiency. I think BSAS did a great job and with DPS’s cooperation, produced exactly what we required.

Osman Ismail, managing director of DPS commented on the news: It’s fantastic to see users like Karl shaping the system to be what they need. This is precisely the way we recommend DPS to be used to get maximum efficiency for a business. I applaud Karl for the way in which he has pulled together all the interested parties and managed them to produce the best results for his business.”

David Nunn from BSAS said Developing the DPS module was a relatively straightforward procedure for us as we are a very specialist company that understands the programming that connects phones and software. The case management software from DPS was already TAPI-enabled which meant that our integration and work was focused on the CLI side of things. Karl knew exactly what he wanted and specified it to us. DPS stepped in with the advice and help we needed to achieve it and the project was completed on time, on budget and to specification. We are happy to provide the same advice and assistance to other DPS users.”

 

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