Choosing the right tools for our job is much easier today than it ever has been before.

I’ve been writing about technology for a long time. For many years, it was marked by constant change. Computers got faster and faster with ever-greater capacity. The same thing happened to mobile phones and tablets. Suddenly, over a very short period of time, storage and processing moved to the cloud, and the speed and capacity of our devices mattered less. We could rely on the experts employed by our hosting providers.

Amazingly, the cost of technology has dropped dramatically while the power and performance is exponentially higher. Life is good.

In 2013, we require certain essential technologies to power our practices. To have less than the bare minimums described below is foolish given the cost and effort required to obtain and service what is mentioned. These key pieces of technology allow us to serve our clients effectively and efficiently as well as at a minimal cost. It’s tough to compete without adopting these tools.

Essential Hardware

Laptop: A laptop is the core technology in the family law practitioner’s toolbox. It matters little whether it’s a Mac or a PC. For example, $250 Chromebooks perform as well as $1,500 MacBook Pros at many tasks. The machines are less important than the cloud-based software. The web browser has become the most important application. The machines are, for all intents and purposes, so inexpensive as to have become disposable.

Mobile phone: Again, in this very mature environment, a multitude of devices suits the needs of family law practitioners. It makes little sense, given the subsidized prices, to purchase anything less than a top-of-the-line iPhone or Android device. Either platform meets the needs of our practices, but the iPhone beats the Android for ease of use and availability of advanced applications. It’s tough to argue that any other phone is “essential.” A mobile phone is sufficient to meet all of your needs. VoIP phones are easy and cheap to obtain, but who really needs something more than a cell phone today?

Great Internet: All of our technology investment becomes useless if we lose access to the Internet. It’s essential that we have good quality, high-speed Internet everywhere we work. Thankfully, high-speed Internet is available most everywhere via mobile carriers, cable companies, and phone companies. You need sufficient bandwidth and reliability to conduct business anywhere you choose. Given the essential nature of our connections, it makes sense to have redundancy here, and a second connection can save you the loss associated with downtime.

Scanner: The paperless office is no longer a dream; it’s a reality for most progressive businesses. It’s no longer tricky or complicated to eliminate the paper, and most practice management systems now provide storage for the data. The Fujitsu scanners continue to stand out for their reliability for small practices. The Fujitsu Scansnap S1500 is the workhorse for many small offices. If portability is important to you, try the Fujitsu Scansnap S1100: it’s what I have on my desk.

Earbuds or headphones: These seem trivial but really matter when you’re using your laptop for making phone calls, holding a videoconference, viewing webinars, attending seminars, listening to music, and watching videos. You need a good pair of earbuds or headphones. I’d recommend a particular pair if I could, but ultimately things on or in your ears are very personal and depend on your taste. The primary requirement for these accessories is that they feel good on your ears. For headphones, you’ll have to choose between over the ear and on the ear. For earbuds, you’ll have to choose in ear vs. outer ear. Everyone has a different opinion about what feels good and what hurts.

Essential Software

Microsoft Office: This is a program I love to hate. It’s essential simply because everyone uses it. Personally, I prefer to use a different word processor for my work, but I’ve still got to have a copy of Office. The bottom line is that, regardless of how the alternatives promise you that they can create a document compatible with Microsoft Word, the alternative programs can’t accurately convert documents. The same is true of spreadsheets. You’ll want to look at your documents in Word before you send them along to others if they were created in anything other than the official Microsoft software.

Browser: In today’s environment, you’re spending most of your time on your browser. Most web browsers are fine. Some offer more varied extensions than others that make particular activities more efficient. I’m a fan of Chrome from Google, but all of the mainstream browsers are excellent. There’s little downside to having multiple browsers installed on your laptop and switching back and forth.

Password manager: Unfortunately, every password can be cracked, given enough time and energy. However, that doesn’t mean that you should make it easy for the thieves. Use a unique password for every service you use and make it complicated with a series of letters, numbers, and symbols. The only way you’ll remember those complex passwords is with a service like LastPass. This service helps you generate and use passwords so you’ll avoid data breaches.

Abbreviation expander: I type “vty” and my MacBook abbreviation expander, TextExpander, turns it into “Very truly yours,” saving me a bunch of keystrokes. When I type “jobreject,” it expands into eight paragraphs of text explaining why we won’t be hiring the applicant. You’ll save an incredible amount of time over the course of the year using a product like ActiveWords for the PC. These programs, available for both the Mac and the PC, are inexpensive and powerful. They are essential.

Essential Cloud Services

E-mail account: Most of us now do the majority of our communicating via e-mail. It’s the best and worst thing to ever happen to us. Obviously, you need a reliable e-mail provider. We use Google Apps. You should establish e-mail on your own domain so that your e-mail address is YourName@YourDomainName.com. You don’t want to be like those silly lawyers who use Yahoo.com or AOL.com as their e-mail domain name. Most e-mail providers will also hook you up with calendar and contact management applications.

Legal research: You’ve got to have access to cases, statutes, treatises, and all the other documentation of our profession, and thankfully, it’s more accessible than ever. You’re certainly getting calls from the big names, but plenty of less expensive vendors provide similar services. Fastcase does a great job of providing much of what we require at a fraction of the cost of some of the legacy providers. Of course, the big names constantly seek and find ways to distinguish themselves and provide additional value, so they’re worthy of consideration. You’ve got to have access to the research material to function: it’s essential.

Practice manager: There was a time where installing a practice management software product meant spending buckets full of money. That’s not the case today. Products like Clio and RocketMatter get you up and running in 10 minutes for $50 per month or less per user. You don’t have to install any software or buy any servers. They roll out new features monthly and can move a practice from ancient to leading-edge systems in the blink of an eye. These products are a no-brainer, and you can assume your competition has that figured out already.

Document assembler: Are you still cutting and pasting and using old forms for examples? Document assembly allows you to fill in the blanks automatically. TheFormTool and Pathagoras  integrate tightly with Microsoft Word and allow you to build templates on the fly. The next time you create a document will be the last time you have to create it manually if you have one of these tools installed. Document assembly technology makes you more efficient every single time you create a new document. Some of the practice management software offers rudimentary document assembly, but a stand-alone product will provide greater flexibility.

Fax: Yes, we still use fax. I think everyone else in the world has abandoned this technology, but not us. What’s that about? If we still have to use it, we can at least use a service like eFax to bring it right into our e-mail.

Task manager: You need a good to-do list. Of course, a pen and pad will do, but a program like Wunderlist is so important to my workflow that I’ve included it among the essential technology. This very mature space has so many offerings that it’s senseless to go into detail. Find one you like, incorporate it into your life, and stick with it. It makes a difference.

Storage: Even with a practice management system, you’ll end up with some files in need of storage space. Dropbox and Box do a great job of providing remote hard disk space in the cloud. Of course, Google Drive is even less expensive and makes a great deal of sense for those using Google Apps for their e-mail and calendar.

Remote support: In a world without servers and phone systems in our offices, it’s easier than ever to ditch the expensive computer support people. There’s no need for them to be lurking around most offices. You can hire a provider to maintain your laptops and phones and do it all remotely. They log in when you need assistance and fix your problem. They’ll also handle routine maintenance, upgrades, and system security issues for a small fee. We pay $25 per user, per month, for our provider, who maintains a 24/7 help-desk for our users.

Non-Essential Technologies

iPads and Amazon Kindles: Many practitioners tote around a range of devices on top of their laptops and phones. I see iPads everywhere I turn, and they are terrific devices. The same goes for Amazon Kindles. Are they essential? No. Are they nice to have? Yes and no.

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Adding an extra device to your arsenal is worth doing if it meets some need in your practice. Every device requires a certain amount of energy to maintain. You’ll find yourself installing and uninstalling applications. You’ll need to upgrade the operating system and applications to stay current and secure, and you’ll need to remember to load, unload, and charge the device as necessary. If the iPad or Kindle makes a difference in your practice, then buy one. If you can’t justify the device in your practice, then don’t feel pressured to acquire one simply because everyone else has one.

Antivirus software: Security software is more important and simultaneously less important than ever. How is that possible? It’s more important because the efforts to breach your systems are at an all-time high. It’s less important because it mostly doesn’t work against sophisticated attacks. The security providers are trying alternative approaches to securing our data and keep coming up with new ideas. Thankfully, many practitioners store most of their data in the cloud, and security is the responsibility of engineers with specific training and expertise.

The most important effort we can make is learning about our use of the Internet and avoiding the temptation to click on something dangerous that makes us vulnerable. Education is the key to security. Of course, much of the security software is now available for free, so better safe than sorry. Listen to your support team.

The essential technology of 2013 is easier than ever to select, implement, and enjoy. You no longer need to be a computer scientist to make these tools work in your practice. We live in an age where nearly all of our technology smoothly accomplishes the designated task and enables us to serve our clients efficiently and effectively as well as at a reasonable cost.