Questions and answers about Ilves MyActivities Pro
We have collected frequently asked questions and answers about Ilves MyActivities Pro. Ask for more information or request an introduction here.
The text is divided into four sections. Go to the section you’re interested in by clicking the title.
• About MyActivities Pro
• Compliance and Information Security
• What can MyActivities Pro do
• Customization
About MyActivities Pro
Searching for billable tasks across multiple systems is a daily struggle for lawyers. Forgotten tasks and lost work hours lead to profit leakage.
MyActivities Pro brings a lawyer’s daily activities onto a personal timeline, from which they can easily drag and drop actions to be billed. The service minimizes time leaks and also frees up working time for lawyers. Additionally, the service standardizes time entries, which saves time for those review invoices, and eventually improves the customer experience.
What are the strengths of the service compared to competitors?
According to the feedback we have received, MyActivities Pro is one of the easiest-to-use time-tracking services on the market. The service can be implemented without training, as the user interface is designed to be very user-friendly.
Significant financial benefits compared to the total investment. Our initial costs are significantly lower than those of our competitors due to our strong background in integration solutions and services. Ask for more information about the integrations we offer as a service, unlike our competitors.
Our elegant method of tracking activities without requiring applications to be installed on devices. This makes the service easier to implement, as lawyers do not want tracking software on their devices. Our method also reduces cybersecurity risks. Tracking software can also slow down computers, which is never an issue with our service as we track time-tracking activity data at the API level, rather than by monitoring users’ devices.
The innovative use of artificial intelligence in disrupting the time-tracking process. Our vision is to disrupt the time-tracking process by automating it as much as possible in collaboration with our customers. Ask us more about our AI vision.
All products of the Ilves product family are flexibly available to the organization that has acquired the service. See the Products menu or ask for more information about our upcoming Ilves Work AI Assistant, which will be released in 2/2025.
Is it possible to pilot the service?
Yes it is. Piloting the Basic version from Ilves Cloud takes just one day to set up on our side, after you have signed the subscription agreement. We only need information from your IT to connect Microsoft 365 and iManage (if in usage). Once you are satisfied with the activity and time tracking capabilities from your data sources, it is effortless to proceed with the Pro version and integration with your billing system.
Is the integration with our billing system bi-directional?
Yes, it is. Users can see all their time entries and the total amount of time billed in one place on the Ilves MyActivities Pro UI, provided that your billing system’s API supports bi-directional integration.
I can’t find our billing system on your connector list. Is it possible to develop an integration with our billing system?
Yes, we are happy to give you an offer. It is typically a straightforward project to create a tailored connector between your billing system’s API and our time tracker’s API. Contact us to learn more about Ilves MyActivities Pro integrations.
Is a mobile app available or is the user interface mobile friendly?
The user interface of Ilves MyActivities is responsive and accessible on mobile devices through VPN. We plan to optimize the user interface for Pro version during Q3/2024. Teams APP is also available and can be used on mobile devices through VPN.
Do you have a roadmap for further developments of MyActivies Pro?
Yes, we do. The main features of the product are complete and have been tested and proven to work with our reference customers. No significant changes are expected in the near future, except for the release of the next phase of AI automation in 2025, which will revolutionize the recording of billable hours. We are continuously collecting improvement suggestions from our customers and staff.
Are the future developments such as UI improvements of MyActivities Pro included in the Saas cost?
Yes, small user interface improvements, security updates, and the development of basic user reporting are included in the SaaS costs according to our pricing. New AI features will also be included in the price of the AI extension purchased by our customers in 2024, even in the future.
Compliance and Information Security
The service has been designed to be highly secure and operates seamlessly in the background. It does not require the installation of tracking software on users’ devices, thereby eliminating the need for manual efforts from both IT and users.
Can you provide an overview of the technical architecture?
Please contact us to learn more about the technical architecture of Ilves MyActivities Pro and the entire Ilves Enterprise Suite architecture.
Our Cloud service provider is Equinix or Azure depending on your preferences. Both service providers meet the strictest security requirements.
Is the service penetration tested?
Yes, it is. According to the report, the security level is very good. Please request the report from us.
Do you you use sub-contractors?
The entire application has been developed by Ilves in Finland. No outside development resources or sub-contractors have been used.
What can MyActivities Pro do?
MyActivities Pro has all the same basic features as any other competing product. The main distinguishing factor is the ease of use. We have designed the user interface to be as user-friendly as possible, both as a whole and in terms of individual features. Below are frequently asked questions about individual features. Feel free to ask us for more information directly.
Does Ilves MyActivities Pro have a timer feature?
Timers are available as an extension. The feature is integrated into the time entry form. The timed time entry drafts are conveniently displayed at the top of the “All Time Entries” view. Multiple timers can be used simultaneously.
Can activities performed for a single client during the day be logged as a single entry?
Yes, its possible. This is done in a few seconds by selecting the customer with the customer filter, selecting all activities (Ctrl+A), and dragging all the different types of activities for the day onto the time entry form. The AI extension creates a suggested entry for all activities with the press of a button.
Can MyActivities track phone calls?
Yes, it can. We support both Enreach and Moontalk calls. Enreach offers a fixed line webphone among others in Estonia and in Sweden.
Can MyActivities track Teams chats?
Yes, Ilves MyActivites tracks Teams group chats. We can adjust the grouping of discussions and rounding up according to your time recording policies.
Can MyActivities track Calendar entries?
Yes, it can, and we can combine them with Teams calls data to track the actual time of the meeting.
Does the service show the time I have spent writing an email?
The AI extension makes a suggestion for the time spent writing an email based on the content of the email. It can distinguish between the email’s attachments and the time spent preparing them.
Without the AI extension, the service unfortunately cannot track the time spent writing an email, as it operates without requiring monitoring applications to be installed on the user’s devices. As a result, the activity is only tracked when the email is sent. A rule-based time suggestion, such as 15 minutes, is applied to the sent email. The timer feature, available as an extension, allows time tracking to be started in situations where writing the email will take more time than the minimum charge based on the rule-based suggestion.
Is it possible to enter time entry for everyone in a meeting at once?
Unfortunately, not yet. It’s a great idea, and we have added this feature to our roadmap.
Does MyActivities Pro support recording time entries, for example, once a week?
Yes, it does. Activities can be found on personal timelines for up to 30 days back. The product supports all methods of making time entries.
Is there a team dashboard on MyActivities Pro?
Team dashboards are on our roadmap as part of the new product named “Data Boards,” with a preliminary focus on clients and matters. For more information, see Ilves Data Boards.
Does Ilves MyActivities Pro retain information about activities related to the time entry?
The data is normally retained within the system for 30 days. It is technically possible to retain the data for a longer period, but this is a matter of agreement. A longer retention period would increase the need for server capacity and hosting costs.
Is it possible to link multiple activities to a single time entry so that the system automatically pre-fills the description texts for all selected activities?
Yes, it is. The user can select any number of different types of activities and drag them onto the time entry form. The service automatically generates a pre-filled time entry description, either listed separately for manual editing or as a summary description created by the AI for all selected activities.
Can activities performed in the browser be automatically recognized as belonging to a specific client or task?
Yes, it is possible with our browser extension, if the service URL or content contains the client’s and/or assignment’s name or identifier. The implementation is customized in such cases and requires a few hours of configuration work.
Can I modify the pre-filled time entry drafts on the time entry form?
Yes, you can. The time entry can be edited afterward until it is locked in the time tracking system.
Can a time entry be created without manually linking an activity?
Yes, it can. This is done by selecting the [Add] function above the time entries. Activities can be added to the time entry later. You can also start a timer for it if the timer extension is enabled.
Can AI be given client-specific instructions for time entry narratives?
The AI extension already takes into account previously made time entries for the task when generating time entry suggestions. It is possible to create client-specific instructions for drafting time entry texts and use them in the suggestions.
How does the browser extension display the time used in the web service?
The browser extension tracks the selected web services you have pre-listed, so opening a web service starts the timer. The timer stops whenever the focus is no longer on the browser window or when the tab’s URL changes. When visiting these selected services, the lawyer will see a green clock icon in the browser as an indicator that their activities are being tracked. The use of other, non-listed web services is not recorded by the service, which is important to communicate to users during the implementation process.
How does Ilves MyActivities Pro track iManage and SharePoint/OneDrive activities?
We use login/logout, save, and auto-save data from the systems to track the time spent. The tracking can be adjusted according to your needs for both iManage and SharePoint.
The AI extension makes a suggestion by utilizing the aforementioned data, along with the document’s metadata.
Does Ilves MyActivities Pro have a proofreading feature that detects typos in time entries?
Time entries are pre-filled based on the language of the assignment in the time tracking system, using activity data from connectors and predefined rules. The AI extension enables proofreading of manually entered description entries during the submission phase.
Does MyActivities Pro offer tracking status towards our KPIs?
Status towards KPI’s is not yet available as a product. However, we can provide extensive data for your reporting needs through the advanced Ilves EMIE API. We also offer a customizable user interface template for your data analytics requirements. We also offer a user interface template to provide a cost-efficient data analytics solution for your needs. Read more about Ilves Data Boards and contact us to get an offer.
Is the application multilingual?
Yes, the system is designed to support usage in all languages, but currently, the user interface is only available in English. The language of the assignment is automatically detected, and time entry suggestions are generated in the language of the assignment. With our newest AI add-on, the language of the generated suggestions can be changed from the user interface.
Does the data disappear, if connection to the network is lost?
Activities collected by the service are retained on the server, even if the network connection is lost. The same applies to time entry records that have already been sent from the service to the time entry system. If the network stops working while entering a time entry, the system will notify at the time of submission that the time entry could not be sent. In this situation, it may also happen that the individual time entry needs to be added again.
How does Ilves MyActivities work if I switch between different systems?
You can freely switch between systems. The service automatically tracks your activities and time spent on connected systems.
Customization
We offer innovative organizations a wide range of cost-effective opportunities to develop their operations, including the possibility to tailor our services to match your needs. Contact us, and we will tell you more.
Is it possible to customize the time entry fields?
Yes, the basic configuration is described in our integration guide. Upon your request, billed as hourly work, we can customize the time entry form fields to fit your requirements.
Can time rounding be adjusted according to our custom guidelines?
Yes, it can. For example, a 25-minute Teams meeting can be automatically rounded to a 30-minute time entry. When the user drags multiple activities at once, each activity can be rounded up separately.
Can the appearance of the Ilves MyActivities Pro be customized to match our corporate branding?
Yes, it can to some extent. Please contact us and request a quote for the project.
Can the service be gamified?
Yes, it can. We are familiar with the concept of gamification and offer our clients a gamification solution for the time entry process, built on the basic solution currently in production. Ask us for examples of ideas and a quote.
