Setting up an iPad for Work

Using a Margolis Edelstein iPad

We are now in the process of deploying iPads to attorneys who have requested them throughout the firm.  We expect to have this done by the end of July.  Because iPads are not really designed for enterprise control, Apple's security measures require the user to set up his or her own device, which requires not only passwords, but fingerprints and answers to personal security questions.

One thing we do ask is that you use your margolisedelstein.com email address for your Apple ID.  If you already have an apple ID using that address, you may use that.  If you have an Apple ID using a different email address, you need to set up a new one.   Without this, the firm could be locked out of the device forever.

It is also important to secure your device with a six digit code to protect client confidentiality.  Do not bypass this step.  Make sure you remember your code.  We cannot bypass it.

Keep in mind that the Firm’s Computer and Internet Use Policy applies to these new tablets. The firm’s purpose in providing them is to help you serve our clients and complete other work required tasks.  We expect you to use them primarily for work purposes.

Setup

When you first turn on your new iPad, you will be asked to set it up. We are more than happy to assist if you run into any problems or have questions.  The following are instructions to guide you through the setup:

1. Select Language and Country (English, then United States)
2. Connect to you office WiFi 
3. Recommend turn on Location Services
4. Touch ID, setup with at least one fingerprint.
5. Set up a pass code.
6. Apps & Data, Setup as a new iPad unless the you already have an iCloud account using your work email.  You should use your work email address for this account.  
7. Skip Apple Pay
8. Skip iCloud keychain
9. I recommend enabling Siri, unless you really don’t want to use it.
10. Analytics: don’t share

Security:

All tablets should always be secured by a password and/or a fingerprint. We are obligated to make every effort to protect the confidentiality of client data.

Since the tablets contain firm data and access to firm networks, you should not allow others to use your tablet.

Your iPad should be set up using your Margolis Edelstein email address.

Maintain an auto-lock on your device.  If it does not lock when left alone, that defeats the purpose of password protection.

Protecting the Device:

The number one way iPads break is by dropping them.  To minimize damage we would like all user to use a tablet cover. These will be provided very soon.

Installing Apps (you should use the following):

Email: Use the Gmail or Inbox App from Google (not the native iPad mail program).

Calendar: Use Google Calendar (not the native iPad calendar).

Document creation: Download Office 365 (MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint) apps from the App Store.  If you work with Google Drive, you may also want Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides.

File Storage: Your iPad comes with a limited amount of storage space. The iCloud backup comes with even less.  Use OneDrive (Microsoft) (1 TB come with Office 365 account) or Google Drive (unlimited storage)

Time Entry: For time entry, you should download the iTimeKeep App.  Webview will not run on the iPad.

VPN: For VPN access to the firm’s network download Forticlient.  To configure Forticlient to access our VPN, find the host for your office on this list.  Port should be 443 and the username and password are the same as what you use in the office.  I also recommend turning on the “hide invalid certificate warning.”

File Server: To access documents on the file server (e.g. MDIR or your H: drive) you will need to set up a program to get there.  Use “Documents 6” by Readdle.  This can be a little tricky to set up.  If you would like us to set it up for you, contact the Help Desk.  If you feel comfortable with setup, here is how it works:

Once you have installed and opened the Documents App, you should see an "In the cloud" section on the left.  Press the "+add" to add a server.  Select "Windows SMB"  Title can be anything, e.g. "Phila M Drive" might be a good choice.  The URL is the connection you want to make: smb://10.0.0.250/data/mdrive (or whatever path you wish to map).  Login again is whatever name and password you normally uses to access the server.  If you are setting up outside the office, be sure you are connected to VPN first.

PDF: Adobe Reader is good for viewing PDF documents.  If you want the ability to mark up a PDF, try Foxit PDF.

Notes: OneNote is integrated with your Office 365 account.  Google Keep will work with Google Drive.  Use either of these.

Research: LexisAdvance App for legal research.

Connecting with Clients:   We want you to use your device to connect with your colleagues and the world, especially in growing your social footprint on LinkedIn or your favorite network. You’re the face of ME, and we want you to reach as many existing and potential clients as possible with your ideas, thoughts and work.

We hope these suggestions will get you started in making the most of your new iPad.  We view this project as a collaborative one. If you have suggestions for other Apps that your fellow attorneys may find useful, please let us know.

OneDrive for MS Office

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that it was possible to open and save documents from MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) directly to Google Drive.  This allows you to access those documents from anywhere simply by being logged in to your Google account.

You can also do the same thing using Microsoft's OneDrive.  If you have not used it before, OneDrive is very similar to Google Drive.  It allows you to save documents in the cloud, accessible from anywhere you have Internet access as long as you log into your Office 365 account.  You can even edit the documents using Microsoft's online version of Office if you don't have the full version of Office installed on the device you are using.  Keep in mind though that the online versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint do not offer all of the advanced features available to you on your downloaded version of MS Office.

When you open or save a document in Word, you should see a OneDrive option.  If you select that, you may be asked to log into your OneDrive Account.  Your account name is your email address.  We sent you an Office 365 password in recent months, though you may have changed it.  If you don't know your password, the Help Desk can reset it for you.

Whether you use Google Drive, OneDrive, or neither is strictly up to you.  Personally, I like Google Drive better since I am already signed into that one always for may email.  If you use MS Word on an iPad, there is no way to connect from there to Google Drive, though you can access OneDrive.

Google also puts no limit on storage space, although OneDrive's 1 TB limit is pretty generous.  Both use encryption to protect your documents when uploading or downloading, and both remain password protected from the view of others unless you share a file or folder with others.

While these online storage options may be convenient if you work outside the office, keep in mind that copies of all client related documents must also be saved to the Matter Directory (M Drive) pursuant to firm policy.

Trashing your Gmail Messages

Gmail offers three ways to rid yourself of email you no longer want to keep around.  You can archive it, mark it as spam, or put it in the trash.  If you archive it, the message will remain in your mailbox forever, just not in the inbox or any of your other folders.  You can find it by looking in "all mail" or by searching for the message.

If you mark an item as spam, it goes into your spam folder.  This has the added benefit of alerting Google that you consider similar messages to be spam.  If you are getting ads that you don 't want to see in your inbox, it is best to mark them as spam rather than simply trash them.  That way, you will not be bothered with as much junk mail in your inbox going forward.

If you have a message that you no longer want or need for any reason, you can delete it by moving it to trash.  When a message goes into your trash, it will eventually be removed from your mailbox entirely.  If you search for an email that is in trash, you must specify that you want Google to search trash.  By default, email searches exclude anything in the spam or trash folders.

The benefit of the spam or trash folders is that you have time to realize that you really need something you had removed.  You can go into your trash folder and move any item back to the inbox. Similarly, you can go into your spam folder and mark an item as "not spam" thus moving it back to the inbox.

In truth, there is no real need to delete any messages anymore.  The firm pays for unlimited storage, meaning you can save as much as you like.  Saving extra email also has no impact on performance in Gmail.

Even so, there are some emails you are certain you never want to see again.  It is fine to put those in the trash.  Some people like to be tidy and regularly empty their trash as soon as they put messages in it.  I strongly recommend against this practice.  Google will automatically delete anything in trash or spam folders after 30 days.  That gives you time to realize you need something, but also ensures that the trash will not pile up in the account forever.  Once you remove an item from trash, it is virtually impossible to restore to your inbox.  It is much better to give yourself that 30 day window to recover anything, before it is gone forever.

Google Drive for MS Office

Hopefully everyone is becoming more familiar with MS Office.  The firm's plan to transition from Word Perfect to Word by the end of the summer remains on track.

Today, I wanted to mention a helpful add-on form MS Office from Google Drive.

Last year, the firm switched to unlimited storage on Google Drive.  This makes it an extremely convenient place to store working documents.  From Google Drive, you can access your documents from anywhere you have Internet access, without the need for VPN.  It also makes it much easier to share documents with others.

If you install the Google Drive for MS Office add-on, you can save documents created in MS Word directly to your Google Drive.  You can also open previously saved documents directly from Google Drive.  The Add-on also works with Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentation. This can be a great time saver for MS Office documents you need to access from multiple locations.

If you would like to download and install Google Drive for MS Office, you can get it here:

https://tools.google.com/dlpage/driveforoffice

Once installed, it shows up as an option on your ribbon.

Keep in mind, of course, that copies of all client related documents should still be stored in the Matter Directory (i.e. MDIR or M: Drive).  If you have working documents related to clients on your Google Drive, just be sure to save a copy to the Matter Directory.

Research Home Page

For many years, the firm maintained an internal Research Home Page on a server based in Philadelphia.  This is the page we typcially set as the home page to open whenever you open Internet Explorer.  It contained all the research links and links to key firm documents that many of you use every day.

Over a year ago, we retired that old home page, replacing it with a new one located on Google Sites. Among several reasons for the change was to allow you access to the site while outside the office and without using VPN.  You need only login with your Gmail password to access it.

I announced the change in this blog post from March 2016.

For about a year, we maintained both the old and new page as we worked out the kinks.  However, about three months ago, we officially retired the old page and simply forwarded you to the new one.

I announced this change in this blog post from Februrary 2017.

Recently, the aged server that has been hosting the old page began to fail.  We had to take it out of commission.  This has created some confusion.  If you still had a link to the old page and were being forwarded to the new one, the forwarding would no longer work.  Instead, you now simply get a "page not found" error.

If you are trying to get the old page, through an address such as:

10.0.0.251/research/home.html

or

192.6.120.251/research/home.html

you will get an error message.  This is never going to be fixed and is not coming back.  Instead, you should update your link or home page setting to take you directly to the new site:

The new site is located at:

https://sites.google.com/a/margolisedelstein.com/home

You can also access it from http://research.margolisedelstein.com

If you need any assistance updating these links the help desk can assist.

Ransomware

Over the weekend you may have seen various news reports of a worldwide ransomware attack hitting thousands of networks.

Ransomware is a form of malware (bad software designed from some  harmful or illegal purpose).  It encrypts all of the files on your computer then notifies you that if you want the description key, you must send the author money in exchange for the key.  Without that key, you will never be able to open any of the encrypted files again.

Most ransomware needs to be invited onto your computer.  Hackers do this by tricking you into clicking on a link and agreeing to install it on your computer.  This one was a little more dangerous since once it gets into a local network it can attack any computer that has not been updated with the most current Windows security updates.

All firm computers are configured to update themselves automatically.  This is why you occasionally get notices from your computer that it will need to restart to install updates.  It is very important that you don't disable this function, even if it is occasionally annoying.

If, at home, you are using an older XP computer, or a computer that does not have updates turned on, you are playing with fire.  You are vulnerable not only to this but other attacks as well.  It's a bit like leaving your front door unlocked when you leave for work each day.  Nothing may happen, but do you really want to take that chance?

The firm's primary defense against ransomware is a good backup system.  If our network gets hit with ransomware, we would have to delete all the current file and restore from backup.  Longer term, we hope to put in place a document management system that will protect our files from such attacks, even if some computers on the network become compromised.

To read more about the latest attack, check out these articles from the BBC, NPR, and the Verge.

MS Office

As of today, everyone in the firm should have an Office 365 Account.  You should have received an email from Office 365 allowing you to download a setup program, which will install MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and a few other Office programs on your computer.

Hopefully by this time, it is not a surprise to anyone that we are doing away with WordPerfect and moving to MS Word as the firm's supported word processor.  I announced this change in a Blog post last August.  In March, I published this post and this one announcing the move to Office 365, which includes the most current version of MS Word (2016).

If you did not get an email allowing you to install Office 365, or lost the one we sent you, please email me or the help desk and we will send you another one.

Cain Elliot will be offering training classes beginning soon.  You should have MS Office on your computer before you take that class.  I strongly recommend playing around with the program ahead of time so that if something you do is a problem, you can ask about it during the class.

There are also online training videos available here: http://www.gcflearnfree.org/topics/office2016

I am addressing this issue again, because I want to make very clear to everyone that I will not be making an Obama-like promise that if you like your word processor you can keep your word processor.  You cannot.   The firm is moving to MS Word and you need to make sure you are up to speed on its use.

We expect to be using MS Word exclusively for all new documents by the end of this summer.  That deadline will come sooner than you think.  Please act now.

Thanks.