Version 9.3 of the Smokeball Desktop Application, contains the following new features and refinements.

New features

Staff signatures in Letters

We have introduced the ability to assign a staff signature to a staff member, for use on any document container. This will allow for the automated display of the signatures on specific documents when generated. Gone are the days of automating If/Then/Else statements for signatures!

This functionality also extends to Firm Logos. For a full guide on implementing this, from upload to editing your letterhead, refer to Add your firm logo and signature to documents.

Kanban board dashboard widget

We have added a new Kanban widget to assist users to visualise their matters grouped by stage. There is also a filter by person responsible.

Learn more about dashboards and how to add a dashboard widget.

Assigned matters dashboard widget

We have added a new widget to visualise how many matters a staff member is involved in (Person Responsible, Person Assisting, Staff Tags).

• Use the Numbers View to see at a glance how many matters and leads a staff member has been assigned.
  
• Use the List View to view a clickable list of matters, grouped by staff member.
  

The widget can be customised to allow you to select what statuses to include, select between matters, leads or both matters and leads, and select specific staff.

Learn more about dashboards and how to add a dashboard widget.

Folder/File Explorer

We are introducing a File Explorer button in the files section of a matter.

Selecting this button opens a pop-up window that displays a comprehensive area to navigate and manage your folders and documents.

Assign priority to tasks

You can now set an Urgent, High, Medium, Low or No Priority to tasks. 

Priorities are an optional field and can be set when creating a task, or can be edited after the task is created.

A new Priority column can now be viewed next to the task name, wherever tasks appear (e.g. Task List, Tasks tab in a matter, Daily Digest email and widget).

Refinements

You can now display 50, 100 or 200 matters or contacts per page on the Matter and Contact Lists.

Trigger workflow prompt when transitioning stages on a matter

When creating a workflow, you can now check a box in the stage set configuration to trigger the Workflow prompt window to appear when transitioning stages on a matter. Traditionally this prompt was only displayed at Matter Creation. 

This new feature will allow users to create more nuanced and relevant task workflows that can apply to different stages in a matter.

Publish Online enhancements

When using the Publish Online feature, you can now publish multiple files with one link. 

• If you select one file, Smokeball will download the file and copy the local file path to the your clipboard so you can upload and publish the document online.

• If you select multiple files, Smokeball will download the files and copy the local file path to your clipboard so you can upload and publish the documents online. The files no longer combine into one PDF to be uploaded.

• If you right-click one or more files, the option to Open Browser will appear, which will open your default browser and copy the file or folder path.
  

Compliance Details

We have added a new data screen for tracking Client and Matter compliance details available on all matters and leads. This screen will sit directly below the primary parties on the matter, and allows for easy tracking of key compliance information including conflict and identity check, AML and Source of Funds.

There is a new Compliance Report to return compliance data across all matters, and a 'Compliance Details Summary' precedent that can be used to save the compliance data for a specific matter.

Completion Details / Completion Statement

We have added a new Completion Statement screen to Sale and Purchase matter types, in addition to the existing Completion Details screen.

This update will help to:

• Avoid having to manually type data that already exists elsewhere in the matter, such as Time and Cost Recovery entries;
• Bring together all the Completion Statement data in one screen, giving a clear overview of everything that will be in the Completion Statement document; and
• Provide clear information on where all the Completion Statement figures are populating from, across Property Details, Completion Details, Mortgage Details, etc.
  

Learn more about the updated Completion Statement.

Notable Bug Fixes

• Users couldn’t update time worked quantities without a workaround.
• Specific dropdown menus data were being cleared without intention.
• Custom referral types fields were populating IDs instead of the referral name in precedents.
• Updated wording to be clearer with setup instructions for 2FA.
• Smokeball Google Chrome Extension wasn't searchable on the Google Extension Store.