Cisco IP Communication Solutions: A new Texas law firm establishes a state-of-the-art communications solution with the help of Cisco IP Communications technology. Learn more about Cisco softphone, VoIP networks, and legal document management here.

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by Eric J. Adams, photograph by Michael Schwarz. iQ Magazine

Cisco Systems and eNETsolutions help start-up law firm Ebanks, Smith & Carlson turn IP Communications into a bankable business asset.

Summary
When two Houston, Texas lawyers joined forces to start a new firm, they used the opportunity to establish a state-of-the-art communications solution. With the help of Cisco SMB Select Partner eNETsolutions and a Cisco IP Communications solution, the staff of Ebanks, Smith, & Carlson LLP was communicating smoothly and effectively from day one.

Team Players Cisco Systems and eNETsolutions—a Cisco Premier Certified and SMB Select Partner—provide IP Communications, LAN, and WAN network solutions to deliver strategic and financial benefits to public- and private-sector organizations. Cisco and eNETsolutions work together to develop initiatives and implementation teams that take advantage of Cisco scalable networking technology and eNETsolutions expertise in networking, IP telephony, wireless, security, and solutions integration. From Cisco: SMB Select Partners Help Businesses Succeed The networking needs of a start-up law firm are much different from those of a larger company—nobody knows that better than Deanna Smith and James Ebanks, who opened Ebanks, Smith & Carlson in Houston in 2003. Fortunately eNETsolutions, the Cisco Systems reseller they worked with to set up the firm's network, also knows that the needs of SMBs are unique. eNETsolutions is a Cisco SMB Select Partner, a new designation created by Cisco to help SMBs identify local resellers that can help them reach their technology goals. SMB Select Partners have proven experience working with SMBs and have completed additional training with Cisco products and services designed specifically for SMBs. "eNETsolutions came in with a very well integrated system," says Smith. "It was a little more expensive up front, but it has paid for itself already in productivity gains."—E.J.A.

When attorneys Deanna Dean Smith and James Ebanks decided to form a new Houston law firm in the summer of 2003, they saw it as an opportunity to build a practice using the latest technologies. "Law firms get bogged down with outdated computer and phone systems," notes Smith. "We had the rare luxury of starting fresh, and we really wanted to use technologies that would provide a business advantage. We wanted to do everything in the very best way we could, do it right the first time, and have a system that we could build upon as the firm grows."

IP Communications Calls
Smith and Ebanks called in Houston-based eNETsolutions, a Cisco Premier Certified and SMB Select Partner with a specialization in IP Communications. The eNETsolutions team explained that, unlike PBX systems, which need to be replaced in five to seven years, IP Communications software can support additional features and benefits as it matures, so it will grow along with the firm.

Smith and Ebanks were especially interested in the productivity advantages promised by IP Communications technologies, particularly IP telephony's ability to:

• Integrate with document management and billing programs
• Organize and store phone messages in client folders
• Allow staff to work remotely