How Activity Duration is Tracked

Any time the matter window is opened, and information is entered into any of the fields under Matter Details, an activity item is generated.

This Activity is always tracked; however, you can choose not to include it in AutoTime. It will be recorded as Matter admin in Smokeball. 

An action to create an item that will operate as a task. This will be logged as <<Name of Activity>> in Smokeball.

Activity is tracked when working in the matter Archie tab in Smokeball desktop app. This includes typing, clicking, scrolling, or moving your mouse into the Archie chat window (not the history panel).

The timer will continue to run as long as the Archie tab remains open and active. If you stop interacting with Archie for longer than your firm's default billing increment (e.g. 1 minute, 6 minutes, 15 minutes, or custom), the timer will pause. Upon resuming the activity, the timer will resume. Closing the Archie tab or closing the matter window will stop the timer immediately.

This will be recorded as Matter related research and documentation in Smokeball. 

Any full length activities under 30 seconds will be discarded.

When creating, editing, or reviewing a Word, Excel, or PDF document, an activity item is generated. It will be logged as <<Document Title>> created>><<Document Title>> created, then edited, <<Document Title>> reviewed, or <<Document Title>> edited in Smokeball.

The timer starts when you open a document from Smokeball.  As long as it is the active window and you are clicking, scrolling, typing or moving your mouse over the document, the timer is going. 

If you pause one of those activities for more than the duration of your firm's default billing units (1 minute, 6 minutes, 15 minutes, or custom), the timer will pause.  Upon resuming the activity, the timer will resume. Closing the active window or saving and closing the document will stop the timer immediately.

Note: As firms cannot charge for time spent on invoicing, PDFs opened from the Billing > Invoice folder in Documents on a matter will not be billed.

Email activity is grouped daily per person per matter as emails are sent or received.

You can group by subject line per person, per day, per matter for AutoTime (set in staff member's settings).

In order to be recorded, a matter needs to be tagged to the email. Time will not be logged if the email is not associated with a matter prior to closing. 

The timer begins as soon as you open an email or hover your cursor over it in the preview pane. It will continue as long as the email remains the active window and you interact with it by clicking, scrolling, typing, or moving your mouse over it.

If you pause one of those activities for more than the duration of your firm's default billing units (1 minute, 6 minutes, 15 minutes, or custom), the timer will pause.  Upon resuming the activity, the timer will resume.  Closing the active window will stop the timer immediately.

Emails reviewed for a minimum of 10 seconds are recorded as activity. If an email is reviewed again within a 10-minute window, the accumulated time will be applied.

This will be logged as <<No.>> emails sent/reviewed regarding <<Email Subject Line>>.

As selected in Billing units

Each item in a subject line group is rounded up to 1 minute

Calendar events in Smokeball that occurred in the past are shown as activity items. This will be logged as <<Event Name>> attended in Smokeball.

If the event time and duration change, these will be updated in the activity duration.

If you review a file in File Preview for more than 30 seconds, it will be recorded as a document activity. The timer will continue as long as the preview is open and you are interacting with the document by clicking, scrolling, or moving your mouse.

If you pause for more than the duration of your firm's default billing units (1 minute, 6 minutes, 15 minutes, or custom), the timer will pause.  Upon resuming the activity, the timer will resume.  Closing the preview or changing to another document for review will stop the timer immediately.

The activity is tracked whenever a new memo is saved to a matter, viewed, or edited. This will be logged as Memo edited – <<Memo Title>> or Memo created – <<Memo Title>> in Smokeball.

If you pause one of those activities for more than the duration of your firm's default billing units (1 minute, 6 minutes, 15 minutes, or custom), the timer will pause.  Upon resuming the activity, the timer will resume.  Closing the active window or saving and closing the memo will stop the timer immediately.

Activity in the Messages is recorded when a user spends at least 30 seconds sending a message or previewing a file. Reading messages for at least 10 seconds is also recorded.

The timer starts when you click on the message.  As long as it is the active window and you are clicking, scrolling, typing or moving your mouse over the message, the timer is going. 

If you pause one of those activities for more than the duration of your firm's default billing units (1 minute, 6 minutes, 15 minutes, or custom), the timer will pause.  Upon resuming the activity, the timer will resume.  Closing the active window or message will stop the timer immediately. 

If you open the file during review, entries will be created for both the Messages and Document review time portions.

Messages/Communicate activity is also tracked from the Mobile app.

This will be logged as <<No.>> messages sent/received or <<Document Title>> reviewed in Smokeball.

When a user marks a task as completed, a task activity is created. This will be logged as <<Name of Task>> in Smokeball.

This occurs regardless of whether the task is completed from the task list, daily digest, or mobile app.

Incoming and outgoing VXT or Zoom calls will be logged as completed tasks in Activity.

If a phone number is associated with a contact and matter, this task will automatically be added to the matter.

If the phone number is not associated, the call will still be logged. Users can assign the activity to a matter based on the caller ID information.

This will be logged as Phone Call through VXT or Zoom in Smokeball.