Smokeball Email Automation
"Our legal assistants were spending hours each day just filing emails. We needed a system that could handle the volume without compromising accuracy."
A Sunshine Coast law firm with over 40 years of experience faced a modern problem: email overload. With hundreds of client emails arriving daily, legal assistants spent significant portions of their day manually renaming, categorising, and uploading documents to client files in Smokeball. This administrative burden was consuming time that could be spent on client service.
NFI built an intelligent email management system that integrates directly with Smokeball. The solution automatically scans incoming emails, classifies them by matter type, applies consistent naming conventions, and uploads them to the correct client folders. The result: $28,200 in monthly savings and legal staff refocused on higher-value work.
The Problem
For a busy law firm, proper email management is not just about organisation: it is about compliance, client service, and operational efficiency. Every client communication must be documented and filed correctly. Manual processing created significant bottlenecks.
Email Volume Overload. The firm receives hundreds of client emails daily across multiple matters. Each email requires review, categorisation, and proper filing. Legal assistants were spending the first hour of every day just processing the overnight email queue, with more arriving continuously throughout the day.
Manual Filing Burden. Every email needed to be manually renamed according to the firm's conventions, then uploaded to the correct client file in Smokeball. This process required opening each email, determining the relevant matter, navigating to the correct folder, renaming the file, and uploading. With hundreds of emails, this consumed hours of staff time daily.
Inconsistent Naming. Without automation, document naming varied between staff members. Some emails were misfiled or difficult to locate later. When solicitors needed to find a specific client communication, they often had to search through multiple folders or ask colleagues, wasting valuable billable time.
The Solution
NFI developed an automated email management system that handles the entire workflow from inbox to Smokeball, ensuring every email is correctly classified, named, and filed without manual intervention.
1. AI-Powered Email Classification. The system automatically scans incoming emails and intelligently categorises them based on content, sender, and context. It identifies the relevant client matter, determines the document type (correspondence, court document, financial record, etc.), and flags priority items that require immediate attention.
2. Intelligent Document Renaming. Every email and attachment is automatically renamed according to the firm's standardised naming convention. The system extracts key information (date, sender, matter reference, document type) and constructs consistent file names that make future retrieval simple and reliable.
3. Seamless Smokeball Integration. Processed emails are automatically uploaded to the correct client folder within Smokeball. The system maintains the firm's existing folder structure and filing logic, ensuring documents appear exactly where solicitors expect to find them. Comprehensive logging tracks every action for audit purposes.
The Results
$28,200 Monthly Savings. The automation delivers substantial cost savings by eliminating manual email processing time across the entire team.
Legal Assistants Save 5 Hours Daily. Five legal assistants each recover one hour per day previously spent on email filing. This time is now available for client service, document preparation, and other high-value tasks.
Lawyers Save 2 Hours Daily. Four lawyers each recover 30 minutes per day previously spent searching for misfiled documents or manually filing urgent correspondence. This translates directly to increased billable hours.
Consistent Document Management. Every document now follows the same naming convention and filing structure. Solicitors can locate any client communication within seconds, confident it will be exactly where expected.
Scalable Operations. The firm can now handle increased email volume without proportional increases in administrative staff. As the practice grows, the automation scales effortlessly.
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