This year’s finalists are PerceptiveTechnology for Mentor, 2 Ends Limited for 2 Ends CPD Seminars, FerretInformation Systems for BAMM, the consortium put together by ICL and comprisingLegal Technologies Ltd, NICLR, Smith Bernal International, MK Audio, ToptelInternational and Ramick for the Bloody Sunday Inquiry technology, and InterfaceSoftware for IRIS.
Andrew Levison of Baker Robbins, who ischairing the judging panel, says that the distinguished panel of judges found ithard to reduce the 29 nominees to 5: “but the panel, all of whom were involvedin selecting the five finalists, selected nominations where they felt thesupplier was offering something a little different in its use of technology”.
Mentor
Mentor is an intellectual capital managementsystem. It provides an “integrated application toolset” for knowledgemanagement, workflow, client relationship management, data warehousing, documentmanagement and research. It is designed with e-commerce in mind and allows thecreation of a client portal. It automatically delivers an intranet for internalknowledge dissemination and extranets for client communication.
In relation to knowledge management, Mentorincorporates knowledge profiling, full-text indexing, search and retrieval andpush technology. The workflow tools allow the deployment of end-to-end businessprocesses to improve productivity but also to impose strict quality standards.The client relationship management facility combines push and portal technologyto aid greater interaction with clients and deliver an environment forpro-active business development.
For more on Mentor, visit www.perceptivetechnology.com.
BAMM
Many people hear the term ‘welfarebenefits’ and assume that they have no entitlement because they are working.Others simply don’t know anything about them. Yet more are too proud, afraid,or cannot be bothered to seek advice. The result is many people missing out onmoney to which they are entitled. BAMM – Benefits Advice in Multi-Media – isFerret’s proposed solution which they see as a breakthrough in advice and theadministration of welfare benefits and tax credits.
BAMM can be used directly by the person seekingadvice, by an agent on their behalf or by a professional adviser. It isaccessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. BAMM will calculate whether thereis any entitlement, provide help for some of the more complex aspects, andallows the user to fill in forms during the session. If a user just wants theanswer to a single question, BAMM can do that too, providing general benefitsinformation, including where to go if the user would rather talk to a realperson, without the need to answer any questions or do any sort of calculations.If the user’s first language is not English, other languages can be madeavailable. BAMM is completely personalised and wholly confidential, so if thereis a change of mind or the user just wants to think things through, no-one elsewill ever know. BAMM can be added on to kiosks, PCs or intranets, and can runwith a touchscreen, mouse or keyboard, so even technophobes won’t panic.
The Ferret Web site is www.ferret.co.uk.
IRIS
The Interface Relationship Intelligence Serveror IRIS is Interface Software’s new knowledge management platform.
IRIS is an XML-based application server thatprovides a common platform for all internal information about a firm’sclients, contacts, relationships, expertise and experience. It enables portalsor any other KM system to access this content. IRIS is powered by InterAction,the relationship management application and builds on that application. Itcombines InterAction relationship information with data from other applicationswithin the firm, and make it accessible via the Web. IRIS comes bundled withIRIS B2E, a browser-based application. It has strict security standards and canbe protected by a firm’s firewall, used within a firm’s VPN or be protectedby secure sockets.
For more, visit www.interfacesoftware.com.
2ends
2ends CPD seminars use the Internet toreconcile two conflicting demands. The need to keep up to date with the law andthe need to spend as much time as possible producing chargeable hours. It usesthe techniques of elearning to produce CPD qualifying seminars which can beaccessed at any time or place.
The fee earner can use the unforgiving minuteto the full by accessing the seminars and listening to expert speakers, whetherin one hit or in smaller parcels (although most last only 35 or 40 minutes). Theseminars allow the display onscreen of relevant statutory material withappropriate hypertext links. The system also creates CPD records automatically.One other advantage of the system is that there is no need to half-remember whatwas said or to refer to scribbled notes on the side of reproduced photocopies ofbullet points – the seminar can simply be replayed and the relevant part canbe revisited.
See the 2ends site at www.2ends.com.
Bloody Sunday
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry set particularproblems not only because of the difficulty that those conducting the inquiryfaced in grasping all the evidence but because of the need to carry thatunderstanding through to the public. It is engaged not only in a search for thetruth but has to publish the evidence and retain public confidence.
The range of technologies available to theinquiry is wide. Not only are real-time transcription and database storageavailable but an integrated Exhibit Display System displays scans documents,virtual reality and video evidence onto screens and allows the images to beannotated onscreen. Witnesses are aided through the use of a 360-degree virtualreality recreation of 1972 Londonderry and use a finger on the screen tonavigate through it. Lord Saville has said that he believes that the use of the technology has made the proceedings substantially quickerand more open.
…Andthe Winner Is
The winner of the SCL Award will be revealed byDavid Lock MP (Parliamentary Secretary at the Lord Chancellor’s Department) atthe SCL Award Ceremony and Exhibition on Monday 22 January.
