Results of YouGov survey reveal that consumers expect to be let down by solicitors failing to adopt modern methods of communication 

Total Ltd (Total), a provider of managed mobile data and applications to the professional services industry, today announced the results of a survey it conducted with YouGov, focused on consumer expectations of solicitors and how they communicate with their clients. The survey revealed that 75 per cent of respondents who expressed a view would prefer to communicate with their solicitor using modern forms of communications, such as email or a mobile phone, but only seven per cent expect that to happen to any degree. The results of the survey coincide with the launch of Total Mobile Office, a managed email and mobile applications service designed for small and medium sized businesses in the professional services sector.

Individual discussions with solicitors in smaller practices have revealed that they are keen to meet the consumer demand but are held back by understandable concerns. Damon Parker at Harcus Sinclair commented, “Many of us in legal practice have experience working with large firms where secure, reliable, backed up and well supported office based and mobile email systems are the norm. In that environment email in the office and on the move is standard practice and you often also have access to relevant mobile applications like digital dictation.”

Adam Van Straten at Van Straten Solicitors, explained: "Until recently I understand that corporate-class communication systems simply have not been available for smaller legal practices like ours. Standard solutions do not meet the stringent requirements for security, reliability and compliance that we need and we do not have internal IT departments to support us.”

Stuart Baikie, Managing Director, Total ltd, said: “The YouGov findings support our own internal research which reveals that consumers will not only accept email as a valid form of communication with their solicitor, but by a significant proportion, it’s the preferred method. It’s equally clear that solicitors want to meet the demand – the larger firms for instance, are often at the leading edge in the adoption of new communications technologies because they know the benefits for clients and for the efficient management of their businesses.

“Although it is hard to believe that in this day and age there are legal firms that have still not made the switch to digital communications, we need to appreciate that the smaller practices have genuine concerns about switching over to an electronic system. They will not do so until they have the peace of mind that they can address compliance issues while ensuring that all documents and correspondence are protected, and secure.”

The announcement of the YouGov survey results coincides with the launch of Total Mobile Office, a managed email and mobile applications service designed for smaller businesses across the professional services sector. This is a fully managed and supported, enterprise class service, that combines fixed and mobile email with mobile web browsing and applications delivered via a Blackberry Smartphone. The service is hosted in a secure environment which is backed up on a daily basis.

Total Ltd has spent a huge amount of time and resource designing and implementing mobile access to data services and applications for large enterprises, particularly in the legal sector. Total Mobile Office has been designed to suit the requirements of smaller businesses consisting of a sole practitioner upwards.

Baikie added: “We have been working with larger enterprises in the legal sector for many years now, and it has become apparent that firms on the high street need to have access to the same support and infrastructure to be able to compete at the same level as their contemporaries in the enterprise sector.”

The service can be synchronised across a small business, allowing all staff to share email, calendars and contacts when they are in the office and on the move. Total Mobile Office also provides a platform for sector relevant applications which can be applied to suit the needs of the business. Another key feature is data security, comprising of spam filtering and anti-virus software to ensure the protection of sensitive documents. The service is offered with an additional voice calling plan to provide the smaller business with a full communications service.