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02/20/15
What We Do
Filed under: General, Vertican Technologies
Posted by: George @ 1:59 pm

Vertican Technologies provides world class software services and solutions in support of ethical recoveries, helping to make operations more efficient, compliant, and profitable. Through our diverse offering of products, we are able to meet all of your ARM technology needs. Securely send and receive data through YGC. Our collection software packages Q-Law and Collection-Master, give you the tools to manage every aspect of you organization. With Image-Master, you can scan, save, index, and manage all of your media electronically.

Compliance isn’t static. Use Vertiply to prove you’re proactively monitoring and adapting. Vertiply helps you manage and oversee every aspect of compliance from policy and procedures, to complaints and employee remediation. As innovative market leaders, we also created Vertiply Data Link (VDL), a secure, web‐based portal to manage vendors providing single point management for all compliance data.

Our knowledgeable staff and comprehensive software packages will automate and streamline your collections cycle from beginning to end.

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09/16/14
A Week in the Life of Vertican Technologies
Filed under: From the President, Vertican Technologies
Posted by: George @ 8:45 am

Last week was a very exciting one for Vertican Technologies.

Monday:
By Monday, the Q-Soft team had gathered here in New Jersey. They spent Monday at the CLS office and Tuesday at the YGC office, meeting the other Vertican team members.

Tuesday:
On Tuesday evening the entire Vertican Technologies team was together for the first time in one place. We had a picnic-like dinner at my home. A very minor and light rain didn’t dampen spirits at all. Dr. Ronen spearheaded a group activity that stimulated interaction amongst everyone, and everyone had a great time. Other games were played, including badminton outdoors and pinball indoors.

Wednesday:
Wednesday was the CLS beta-focus group meeting that has traditionally kicked off the CLS user meeting. Thanks to all our beta testers for another spirited and lively discussion, and for being beta testers. Every other Collection-Master user benefits from the time and effort you put into helping us test our new software releases.

Thursday:
Then, beginning at 8 a.m. on Thursday, the very first vConference began, with users from all four Vertican companies (Q-Soft, Fillimerica, YGC and CLS) in attendance. It was very exciting. I began the day with a short introduction. Isaac followed with a presentation of our vision for Vertican Technologies going forward. Then Kurt Sund demonstrated Vertican’s first new software offering, Vertiply Compliance. Vertiply is our compliance management software tool. It is a powerful and unique tool designed specifically to manage all the moving parts that are required to adhere to today’s client and government requirements. It was enthusiastically received. Be sure to ask to see a demo of this powerful software at any of the upcoming trade shows beginning at NARCA in Las Vegas in October.

Following the Vertiply demo, the group broke into separate sessions, designed specifically for the software in use in each office. Thursday evening we had a fabulous dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse (don’t go to one of these places unless you’re VERY hungry!). After dinner we were entertained by a hypnotist. He was terrific. A great time was had by all, with a special thanks going out to the brave volunteers!

Friday:
Friday was another day full of rich content. The meeting wrapped up on Friday afternoon. All of the Q-Soft staff, along with some users, stayed to be tourists.

Saturday:
They visited the Statue of Liberty National Monument on Saturday, followed by a picnic on Staten Island. Unfortunately it rained, but that didn’t hamper their enthusiasm.

Sunday:
By Sunday evening everyone had made their way home, full of good food and good memories, but mostly full of great information about their software and systems to bring back to their coworkers. All in all, it was a great week, highlighted by the first vConference. Thank you to all who attended.

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08/22/14
Encryption Notes for Collection-Master
Filed under: Collection-Master
Posted by: George @ 8:39 am

Collection-Master does not support encryption, nor will it in the foreseeable future. Collection-Master is an “application software”, similar to Word or WordPerfect. Those applications store documents, and Collection-Master stores data.

The application software level is not the best place in the data chain to encrypt data. Encryption should occur at the Server or Operating System (OS) level. Encrypting at the software level only encrypts that single application’s data. Encrypting at the Server or OS level encrypts all the data.

As a Collection-Master user, only encrypt data by using additional encryption hardware and/or software that works at the Server or OS level. Different solutions offer various “types” of encryption. CLS strongly recommends that you consult your local system support company or IT professional to pursue encryption to meet your client’s particular needs.
Software-only encryption solutions will definitely have a negative impact on overall system performance. A server running such software takes time to encrypt/restore all the data. As such, you will likely notice a response time degradation, depending on the software or server. A hardware-based solution such as an encrypted disk, minimizes the performance impact. Consider hardware solutions even though they may cost more.

Because it is impossible for CLS to test every possible encryption solution out there, exercise caution, and ensure that you are fully and redundantly backed up before instituting encryption. You should permanently retire more than one pre-encryption backup. Increase your backup frequency, as well as the number of backups in your rotation soon after you institute encryption.

For your backup solutions, consider a different encryption strategy from that of the server to meet clients “data at rest” requirements.

Finally, Collection-Master uses the local disk in each workstation for storage of temporary data. As such, you may have to encrypt certain files stored on the local hard drive. Another encryption strategy in addition to the Server and the backup strategy may be necessary for the data on your workstations.

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08/07/14
2014 is a “Getting Together” Year
Filed under: From the President
Posted by: George @ 2:57 pm

July has made its inexorable transition into August. For many of us that means taking advantage of the diminishing number of barbecue opportunities to get together with friends and family. Here at Vertican Technologies we certainly love barbecues. But “getting together” has added meaning for us this year. In fact, it has two added meanings.

As you know, Vertican Technologies is now made up of four formerly independent companies: Q-Soft, CLS, YGC and Fillimerica. For Vertican Technologies, 2014 is a “getting together” year, as we combine our excellent staffs into one cohesive technology and service company. Getting together has ongoing challenges, but we can already see new opportunities for us and our great customers, beginning with newly coordinated development by teams that previously worked independently with overlapping, duplicate efforts. Customers will benefit from our new co-development work in the immediately foreseeable future with access to new and powerful software products to help address today’s business challenges.

In addition, “getting together” also now refers to our upcoming vConference next month, on September 11 & 12. This will be our first meeting of the combined companies. We are really excited. The meeting will feature individual breakout sessions that are focused on the software in use in your offices. For the first time, the meeting will increase the fabulous synergy we’ve always had by hosting the first-ever open, cross-pollination of Q-law and Collection-Master users. This year’s meeting will be the industry’s largest and most robust and focused gathering of the best and sharpest collection offices in the country. The opportunity to increase your networking among like-minded professionals will be awesome.

We’re hard at work preparing feature-rich presentations on ALL of our software products. We’re very excited about the synergy this meeting promises to offer. So, please make plans now to get together with Vertican Technologies and other collection professionals at the most unique and exciting meeting we’ve ever had. In 2014, the year of “getting together”, this is one meeting you won’t want to miss.

I look forward to seeing you in September.

Stevan H. Goldman

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08/05/14
Thoughts About a Lawsuit
Filed under: From the President
Posted by: George @ 1:14 pm

In our industry it is impossible to ignore the lawsuit filed by the CFPB against the Law Offices of Frederick J. Hanna and Associates, PC. I’d like to offer my opinion of this industry-shaking action by our government.

I am not a lawyer. So, I am unqualified to offer any opinions about the legal efficacy of the lawsuit itself. But, I have spent my entire professional career designing and writing software in pursuit of greater accuracy as well as efficiency in collection-specialist law offices. So, I do feel qualified to comment on “automation.” And I have read the complaint.

In the complaint, two paragraphs absolutely jumped off the page at me. Paragraph 16b says “The Firm directed its attorneys to rely on an automated system and support staff research to determine whether consumers had sought relief in bankruptcy or whether their debts were barred by limitations;” and 16c says “The Firm directed its attorneys to rely on an automated system and support staff research to determine legally significant facts such as each consumer’s date of initial contract and the date the consumer last made a payment.”

Wow. I mean, WOW! Attorneys have support staff doing research? Goodness, me. How long has this kind of abuse been going on? And, they rely on automation to determine if consumers have filed for bankruptcy protection? Oh, my. Where will the abuse end?

In all seriousness, do the government lawyers who signed and filed this complaint actually believe that bankruptcy records are kept on paper in some hall of records somewhere? And, do they seriously believe that the research is only legitimate if a licensed attorney personally goes to this nonexistent hall of records to personally search through paper records to determine who has filed for bankruptcy protection? Do these same legal geniuses actually not know that records such as dates and amounts of contracts and payments are now kept electronically, beginning with the original credit grantor? Do these Clarence Darrow wannabes think that banking and credit card transaction records are in a paper file somewhere, with teams of bookkeepers updating payments to a paper ledger card every day? Or, do they just not care about facts and reality?

Not only are these types of records now stored electronically, but “using automation” brings a level of accuracy that would be impossible if these records were kept only on paper, and had to be researched manually. Yet, somehow, our government apparently feels that automation means consumer abuse, when the exact opposite is true when it comes to searching and scrubbing bankruptcies.

From my perspective the absurdity of the allegations regarding the use of automation and staff research in this lawsuit cannot be overstated. Without citing a single actual abuse (in my layman’s eyes), this suit implies that because an office is efficient they must be abusing consumers! The CFPB apparently spent many hours in the Hanna office, observing the extent to which they go to try and ensure that they are reaching out to the correct consumers with correct information, and attempting to engage consumers with efforts ranging from letters to phone calls, and finally to filing suits. And, remarkably, after observing the care and effort and significant expense undertaken by the firm to ensure proper, legal and ethical behavior, the government’s conclusion is that consumers are being abused because the firm uses automation and staff research!! How does that even make sense to anyone? Either there is abuse and misconduct or there is not. How can efficiency alone constitute improper behavior?

I am not an anti-government zealot. Far from it. But to me this is government run amok. Frankly, the lawyers who signed this complaint should be embarrassed. The “research” reflected in this complaint is so shoddy and simply wrong as to be laughable. It makes me wonder; did the government lawyers who signed this complaint do all the research themselves, or were they aided by “support staff” to do the preparation? If Mr. Hanna’s office conducted themselves with the same disregard for facts and reality as the government has done in this case, they would deserve to be investigated and punished. But, Hanna does NOT behave this way. Like all other responsible collectors they do just the opposite; they expend lots of time, money and energy in a never ending effort to be accurate and ethical. The result? They get blindsided by government lawyers who make absolutely no effort to be accurate and apparently could care less. I need a new Irony Meter.

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07/25/14
YGC Joins Vertican Technologies
Filed under: Vertican Technologies, YGC
Posted by: George @ 9:14 am

Vertican Technologies, Inc. of Montville, NJ (VTI) and Automated Collection Control, Inc. d/b/a YGC Solutions of Pine Brook, NJ (YGC) are both pleased to announce that their Boards of Directors have approved a definitive agreement for YGC to merge with Vertican, effective June 1, 2014. The agreement, endorsed by unanimous shareholder consent on both sides, is a friendly, stock-for-stock transaction in which Vertican has acquired 100 percent of YGC shares in exchange for shares of Vertican. The transaction will provide the collection industry with best-in-class technology that will help make their operations more efficient, compliant, and profitable.

“In addition to creating a world-class company, this is a compelling strategic transaction that will leverage our commitment to excellence and continuous improvement for the collection industry through insight-driven innovation,” said Stevan H. Goldman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vertican Technologies, Inc. “The addition of YGC and its innovative YouveGotClaims technology to Vertican creates an exciting opportunity for our customers, our company and for our talented and dedicated team members.”

Jeffrey Zuck, publisher of The National List of Attorneys and co-founder of YGC added “Vertican’s commitment to excellence in customer service is perfectly aligned with our philosophy at YGC. Not only did this add impetus to the merger, it also ensures uninterrupted dedication to our customer’s success. For all concerned, this is a great next step for YGC.”

According to Isaac Goldman, Chief Operating Officer at Vertican Technologies, “This combination creates a company that will synergize the YouveGotClaims technology with the case management software from CLS and Q-Soft. The opportunity to bring all of these exceptional teams together will result in tighter cross-platform integration for all of our customers, while improving reliability and transparency throughout the entire collection industry.” Isaac has previously served as Chief Operating Officer at both CLS and YGC.

“We expect an accelerated deployment of existing and new innovative products and services for our customers, said Kurt Sund, founder of Q-Soft and now the Chief Technology Officer of Vertican, adding “This merger delivers enormous opportunities for our current and future customers. The closer working relationship with YGC’s customers positions Vertican closer to the entire collection cycle, from issuers, to buyers, to servicers. The resulting development benefits will be immediate and significant.”

Vertican will begin releasing new products immediately, beginning with Vertiply, its new comprehensive compliance tracking and reporting software. Full support and ongoing software enhancements will continue, uninterrupted, on all existing products from all four Vertican-owned companies, Q-Soft, CLS, YGC and Fillimerica.

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07/24/14
Don’t Be Duped
Filed under: From the President, Vertican Technologies
Posted by: George @ 11:48 am

Like many in our industry, I subscribe to InsideARM. I think they publish worthwhile pieces of interest to the debt recovery business.

Last week InsideARM sent an email with the subject: “Do You Know When You’re Being Duped By a Third-Party Vendor? Probably Not…” The email was to introduce and promote a webinar regarding third-party vendors, and related compliance issues. The tag line in the email was “Right now, you’re probably at risk and you don’t even know it”, and other language in the email said “There are vendors out there making claims that, under closer scrutiny, don’t pass muster.

Here at Vertican Technologies, we have firsthand experience that the statements in this InsideARM email are true!

Vertican Technologies users are regularly approached by third parties, usually “consultants” and third-party vendors, who make representations specifically regarding our software products, Q-Law®, Collection-Master®, YGC and Image-Master. Yet, most of these individuals and vendors have NEVER been formally trained on any of our software. Remarkably, they represent that they can help with configuring and using software on which they’ve never been formally trained! Even “consultants” with prior experience using our software (as former employees of firms who do use our software products) lose touch with our software once they leave their prior employment. So, even those who have seen earlier versions of our software do not have adequate experience with the current version, to say nothing of the new software we’re actively developing.

If you’ve been in touch with a consultant who has never been trained on any of the Vertican Technologies software products, and would have no legal access to official Vertican Technologies software documentation, but represents that he or she can help you with our software, BEWARE!! Think about it. Do you really want to be in a position of explaining to an auditor that your system configuration was done by an individual with no formal training on the software you use? Even worse, if your data is manipulated in any way by an unqualified person, if the integrity of your data is compromised, what are you going to do or say then? Ask yourself if these are risks worth taking, BEFORE you expose yourself to such a big risk.

To be sure, there are very worthwhile consultants, with expertise that can add value to your practice. Qualified experts can offer great guidance regarding your business processes, policies, procedures, staffing and more. But, when it comes to Vertican Technologies software, or any other specialty software, do the SMART thing. Call the author!! No one knows their software better than the company that wrote it and supports it. At Vertican Technologies we offer data manipulation services, performed by the ONLY experts who are available and properly trained to do this detailed work. We offer high-level consulting, designed to help you maximize your use of our software. We will gladly furnish references for the services we offer. AND, if we think an outside consultant can help you, we’ll tell you that too. Vertican Technologies wants you to succeed.

This is certainly not the time to increase your risk profile. Be very suspicious of third-party vendors whose claims don’t pass muster. Don’t be duped. If your question is about Q-Law®, Collection-Master®, YGC or Image-Master, start with Vertican Technologies. If you use other collection software, start with your vendor. You trusted your software vendor when you licensed the software. You can continue to trust your vendor to give you the best service, and advice.

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07/22/14
Welcome to Vertican Technologies
Filed under: From the President, Vertican Technologies
Posted by: George @ 11:06 am

Good day everyone. For those I have not yet met, I’m Stevan Goldman, now President of Vertican Technologies.

I’m super excited this morning, because I’m writing to formally welcome all of you, all of us, to Vertican Technologies!

As individual companies we have all been successful and have well deserved reputations for our skills, our passion, and our integrity. Combined, we have delivered more great software, more great support, more great efficiencies and more great solutions than any other company, or companies, in the entire collections industry. When you look at what we’ve already accomplished, it’s easy to see why I’m so excited about our future together. Together, we’re better!

Shortly, Isaac will conduct our first ever company-wide meeting. He will present our vision for our company going forward; what we want to accomplish and how we intend to get there. We’re also planning our first ever combined user meeting, which is going to be great. In addition to what will be our largest gathering of customers, we’re hoping to get as many of us as possible to meet one another in person. Even I haven’t yet met some of the Q-Soft folks, so I’m very much looking forward to that. Things are going to start happening pretty fast, and it’s all good.

We intend to be what we’ve always been; smart and nimble, delivering great solutions to our customers. We’re going to be great together. I can feel it. Beginning today, with Isaac’s presentation, I’m sure you all will too!

Thank you all for being part of the Vertican team. I look forward to exciting times together.

Very truly yours,

Stevan H. Goldman, President and CEO
Vertican Technologies, Inc.

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10/31/13
CLS and Q-Soft – Together We’re Better
Filed under: CLS, Vertican Technologies, Q-Soft
Posted by: George @ 2:25 pm

CLS and Q-Soft are pleased to announce the signing of a Strategic Agreement to co-develop the next generation of legal case management software. Company Presidents Kurt Sund of Q-Soft and Stevan Goldman of CLS made the formal announcement at the recently concluded NARCA trade show in Washington, DC.

Each company enjoys well-earned reputations as successful solutions providers in the collections industry and the next generation will reflect the “best of breed” from each company’s flagship software systems. While co-development is underway, it will be business as usual for all existing Q-Soft and CLS customers, with no interruption in service, support or ongoing software enhancements.

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07/10/13
CLS / YGC Summer Picnic
Filed under: CLS, YGC
Posted by: George @ 2:12 pm

CLS and YGC hosted their 2013 Summer Picnic on July 9th at Yogi Berra Stadium, which is on the campus of Montclair State University in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. Yogi Berra stadium is home to the New Jersey Jackals, a minor league baseball team in the Can-Am (Canadian - American) league.

Not only was the joint-company picnic a huge success, the Jackals won Tuesday night’s game. Leading by one in the bottom half of the seventh, the New Jersey Jackals piled on four runs to pull away in an eventual 9-2 win against first-place Quebec.

YCG and CLS friends and family enjoyed the camaraderie at one of two private picnic grounds at the stadium. Chicken, fries, hotdogs, burgers, wine, beer and soft drinks along with an entertaining baseball game made for a great time; especially since those “30% chance of thunderstorm” predictions never even threatened to appear. Several of the kids retrieved foul balls and some of them even got autographs too.

Because this evening was so enjoyable, both companies plan on repeating the event in 2014; however, next year’s CLS / YGC picnic will be held on a Saturday to coincide with the fireworks that the New Jersey Jackals put on after every Saturday night home game.

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05/17/13
National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys
Filed under: General, CLS, Collection-Master, Image-Master
Posted by: Diana @ 9:59 am

The CLS marketing team traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada for the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA) conference in mid-May. NARCA is a trade association dedicated to serving law firms representing clients in matters relating to legal debt collection. The 2013 Spring Collection Conference featured three days of professional education. Sessions were geared for attorneys whose practice includes the legal collection of consumer debt. The NARCA Collection Conferences provides the forum to meet with qualified prospects in the legal collection field, attend exceptional educational programs and the opportunity to network.

In addition to local, state, and federal laws and State Bar Association licensing and certification, NARCA law firms are required to adhere to the NARCA Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. NARCA’s mission is to preserve and enhance the integrity and viability of legal collections. NARCA’s values are Professionalism, Ethics and Responsibility.

Congratulations to CLS’s clients who received awards at the NARCA conference, including :

Frederick J. Hanna & Associates, PC
Hull & Associates
Olcese Weber & Olcese, P.L.C.
Gurstel Chargo P.A.
Finkelstein, Kern, Steinberg & Cunningham
Roosen, Varchetti & Olivier, PLLC
Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP


From Machol & Johannes, LLC with CLS’s Luis Gomez are Randy Johannes and Jacques Machol Sr. This is the award they received from Cavalry.

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05/02/13
Business Rules! Conference
Filed under: General, CLS, Collection-Master, Programming
Posted by: Diana @ 10:21 am

Starting May off on the right foot, three members of our CLS staff - John Currey, Vice President of Application Development, Luis I. Gomez, Vice President of R & D, and development engineer John Bowman – have attended the 2013 Business Rules! Group Conference in Boston, Massachusetts. The Business Rules! Group, Inc., commonly referred to as the BRGroup, is an organization which helps developers of the Business Rules! language accomplish their goals. Business Rules! is the de facto programming language used by traditional programmers in the modern world, encouraging a comprehensive integration between old and new technologies. The BR! Programming Language, like many others, is comprised of Statements, Functions, Commands, Variables, Logic, and Data and is the foundation that Collection-Master is built upon.

CLS recognizes the importance of continuing education, which can better prepare our developers for growing in the future. By expanding the knowledge of our development team, we are then able to fine tune our programming skills and encourage a smoother, more rounded form of productivity. With the new tools absorbed from this conference, CLS will be able to create an even more sophisticated, bug-free program that will transition automatically to your collection needs.

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04/23/13
Security, Security, Security
Filed under: Collection-Master
Posted by: Diana @ 4:45 pm

In the new world of security concerns and compliance, our industry is tightening procedures for everyone’s protection, including your office, your employees and consumers alike. For this reason, CLS has tightened our support services.

In the event that your Software is in need of support, we are more than happy to help! However, we must follow the terms of your original Support Agreement. We ask each of our customers to designate Support Coordinators for your safety, as well as the privacy of your clients.

We cannot provide assistance to anyone not listed on your current Support Agreement. If your Coordinator wishes to temporarily authorize us to speak with another employee, we require written authorization from one of the original designated Coordinators.

Remember, the more information that you present to us, the quicker our problem-solving process can assist you. Our objective is that, through customer support, we can assist your needs simply and quickly. We hope that if your designated Support Coordinator(s) needs to contact us, that they receive adequate help as well as customer satisfaction.

Any further questions, please contact our receptionist and we can assist you.
Phone: 800-435-7257 ext. 0 or 973-575-5646
Fax: 781-207-0219 (received through eFax service)
Email: Support@collectionsoftware.com

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03/26/13
Stevan H. Goldman to Speak at the NJ State Bar Association
Filed under: General, CLS, Collection-Master
Posted by: George @ 9:16 am

From May 15 - 17, the state’s legal community will come together at the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting and Convention at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City.

A wide range of prominent legal experts and industry professionals will speak at this event; among them will be Stevan Goldman, President of CLS, who will present the topic of Law Office Automation on May 16. He will explain how law office automation provides more than just speed and efficiency to a collection office; automation software also monitors processes in an effort to keep everyone in compliance with changing laws and regulations as well as client requirements.

This will be the largest meeting in the history of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Roughly, 1,900 judges, lawyers, law clerks and law students are expected to attend.

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02/20/13
Image-Master by CLS
Filed under: General, CLS, Image-Master
Posted by: George @ 10:23 am

As of February 15, 2013, our newest CLS product offering is ImageMaster™! This powerful software program, formally available from Fillimerica Inc., converts paper documents into electronic images, maintains an index file of the documents, and once requested, quickly retrieves the document for viewing, printing and/or e-mailing. The ImageMaster™ program is capable of scanning and storing vast numbers of documents quickly and efficiently, thus increasing office productivity, reducing the need for physical storage, and saving both time and money.

 

More great news is that Thomas (Tom) Filliman, the original creator and developer of ImageMaster™ has joined our CLS development team. With Tom’s expertise and the full resources of our customer support, testing and development departments, ImageMaster™ will continue to be the premier document management solution.

 

Stay tuned for more information next week.

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08/07/12
CLS — Here for the Long Term
Filed under: General, CLS, Collection-Master
Posted by: George @ 3:28 pm

 

CLS  Here for the Long Term

Over 35 Years of Evolution

CLS has been partnering with collection professionals for over 35 years. We work tirelessly to offer the best solutions to your problems. The evolution of Collection-Master is astounding. In its first iteration, Stevan Goldman programmed an IBM 5110 mini computer to store all clerk information and then cut cost checks using a dot matrix printer.

Stevan was working in his father’s collection law firm at the time. One of his many responsibilities was to write out the cost checks by hand. In 1977, his father’s checks had five layers. He had to press really hard with a ball point pen to ensure that all five layers were imprinted with the check’s information. At several hundred checks a month, Stevan’s hands began to hurt. He was able to foresee that an investment in technology would greatly decrease human error, free up time, bring higher levels of efficiency to his father’s practice, and most of all, ease his hand cramps. By his own admission, Stevan was trying to make his own job easier. 

It was not long after he implemented a new cost check cutting procedure into the office that his full time job became to continuously enhance the efficiency of legal collections and ethical recoveries. It was a revolutionary change. Stevan and his father worked together to create a custom computer system to increase productivity in the office. Once other collection attorneys caught wind of what Stevan was doing for his father’s practice, CLS was born.

Proven Record of Industry Leadership

Since that day, Stevan and the dedicated folks at CLS have constantly been enhancing Collection-Master to meet the ever changing needs of our industry. Collection-Master was the first collection software to fully integrate with WordPerfect, first collection software to be fully functional on Novell Netware, first to provide EDI capabilities, first to support multiple trust and cost accounts, first to be YGC compatible, first to offer fully integrated credit bureau interfaces, first with a point-and-shoot report generator, first with fully integrated document imaging, and continues to stay at the cutting edge of our industry. From check printing to AutoPost, from green bar paper to the Paperless File, Collection-Master is an ever changing product dedicated to solving the problems of the legal collections industry. 

Our new Collection-Master 8.1 release is our most exciting yet. As we have done so many times in the past 35 years, we are revolutionizing the collections industry again. We are releasing a suite of features that will have as much of an impact on your office today as the dot matrix printer had in 1977. From EDI Automation to Outlook Integration, we are increasing efficiency, reducing human error, and improving work flow. 

Come to the 2012 CLS User Meeting on August 13th and 14th to learn about our new release, hone your Collection-Master skills, collaborate with colleges in the industry, and to celebrate with the CLS staff.  Please call our receptionist to confirm your registration!

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07/13/12
A Trendy Industry
Filed under: General, CLS, Collection-Master
Posted by: George @ 7:39 am

 

A Trendy Industry

In recent years, the best practices policies tell us that all debtor interactions must be monitored. This can be a powerful management tool if used correctly. Best practices policies say that we monitor all interactions between the debtors and us in an effort to appraise our employees with regards to their effectiveness, to allow the clients to appraise us in the same light, and to maintain relevant records and evidence in order to protect ourselves. Because the regulators regulate our innovative methods, the attitude towards collections has become increasingly hostile. 

It is no secret that the climate of our industry is centered around ever increasing client requirements. Yesterday’s best practices may very well get you and your clients sued tomorrow. The obvious trend is that industry regulation follows innovation. Every time one of us discovers a new, lawful and ethical method for collecting some sort of a delinquent account, the regulators catch wind of it and do what they do best: regulate. 

Companies like TriVium Systems, Inc. have created call recording solutions to aid in the monitoring, recording, and archiving of all debtor interactions. They know that information is power and we agree. This is why we have chosen to partner with TriVium to offer an integrative solution between Collection-Master and TriVium.

Let’s face it: without integrating your case management software and your call recording and reporting technology, all you have are thousands of hours of audio recording. For random audits this would suffice, but to really protect yourself, to cohesively monitor all debtor interactions, integration is key!

Integration allows you to find every call on a specific claim. It allows you to find every call for a specific collector, paralegal, client, etc. We know that you need to be able to compile accurate information on any given claim, collector, client, etc. on demand. This information includes every document, every note, every accounting entry, and every record of debtor contact. With call recording and reporting integration, Collection-Master makes this all possible.

We know that Collection-Master, with its ability to retrieve reliable information, must be the centerpiece of your business. Our commitment to you is to always be on the forefront of the tango between innovation and regulation to ensure that you have the best tools available.

Don’t get too excited by the title. Our industry is not trendy because it became “cool” to collect debt, but rather because the cyclical nature of the tango between innovation and requirements, best practices and the law, tends to be repetitive.

Please inquire today about call recording integration. 

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06/26/12
Best Practices
Filed under: General, CLS, Collection-Master
Posted by: George @ 2:45 pm

In recent years, the best practices policies tell us that all debtor interactions must be monitored. This can be a powerful management tool if used correctly. Best practices policies say that we monitor all interactions between the debtors and us in an effort to appraise our employees with regards to their effectiveness, to allow the clients to appraise us in the same light, and to maintain relevant records and evidence in order to protect ourselves. Because the regulators regulate our innovative methods, the attitude towards collections has become increasingly hostile.

It is no secret that the climate of our industry is centered around ever increasing client requirements. Yesterday’s best practices may very well get you and your clients sued tomorrow. The obvious trend is that industry regulation follows innovation. Every time one of us discovers a new, lawful and ethical method for collecting some sort of a delinquent account, the regulators catch wind of it and do what they do best: regulate. 

Companies like TriVium Systems, Inc. have created call recording solutions to aid in the monitoring, recording, and archiving of all debtor interactions. They know that information is power and we agree. This is why we have chosen to partner with TriVium to offer an integrative solution between Collection-Master and TriVium.

Let’s face it: without integrating your case management software and your call recording and reporting technology, all you have are thousands of hours of audio recording. For random audits this would suffice, but to really protect yourself, to cohesively monitor all debtor interactions, integration is key!

Integration allows you to find every call on a specific claim. It allows you to find every call for a specific collector, paralegal, client, etc. We know that you need to be able to compile accurate information on any given claim, collector, client, etc. on demand. This information includes every document, every note, every accounting entry, and every record of debtor contact. With call recording and reporting integration, Collection-Master makes this all possible.

 We know that Collection-Master, with its ability to retrieve reliable information, must be the centerpiece of your business. Our commitment to you is to always be on the forefront of the tango between innovation and regulation to ensure that you have the best tools available.

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CLS Listens @ NARCA
Filed under: General, CLS
Posted by: George @ 2:40 pm

CLS’s largest ever NARCA task force touched down in San Diego Tuesday morning. Before we even left the ground in Newark, we ran into customers and prospects; it was a CLS party. Even before the fasten seat belt sign illuminated, we all knew it was going to be a busy week and we could not wait. As we roared down the runway, the CLS Listens team made eye contact across the aisle and rows of the plane, exchanging winks and head nods over our excitement. We’d been anxiously anticipating this moment and it was finally here… CLS Listens had officially begun.

For over 30 years, CLS’s Collection-Master has been the industry standard in legal collections software. We have always prided ourselves on our customer relations, innovative solutions, and our ability to meet your needs with as much speed and efficiency as possible. We attribute much of our success to our communication skills; we think we have done an excellent job representing CLS to the industry and the industry to CLS. As times change, and requirements increase, we are continuing to grow and meet needs as they arise. We came to NARCA with five of our team members to formalize and solidify our commitment to you and the industry; and to listen!

CLS Listens is aimed at increasing our understanding of your business needs so that we can continue to develop software you will find useful and productive. Our new product management team, Isaac Goldman, Chad Hess, and Fred Welles, is tasked with leading this listening initiative. 

At NARCA we spoke with 70 of you, learned about where you see the industry heading, identified some of your pain points both within our software and within the industry in general, and attended 12 client meetings. We are now compiling our findings to help us deploy our resources in the most advantageous fashion possible. From attending client meetings, we learned what is expected of you from your clients. We are using this information to offer viable solutions so to continually enhance efficiency across the board. 

We were excited to report that over fifty percent of all awards given at NARCA this spring were presented to Commercial Legal Software firms! We are proud of our partners who won this year and expect to increase our winning percentage with our continued support and enhancements. 

We are excited and energized. Our industry is changing, but so are we. Our mission is still to continuously enhance the efficiency of legal collections and ethical recoveries, as we have done for over 30 years.

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02/23/12
Tara’s Excel Tip of the Day
Filed under: Support, Collection-Master, Programming
Posted by: George @ 9:10 am

Tara says:

To CHANGE COLUMN HEADERS FROM ALPHA TO NUMERIC in Excel 2007 follow this path.
BIG Excel Button > Excel Options > Formulas > clear the R1C1 reference style.

Got an older version? Try this. Tools > Options > General > uncheck “R1C! reference style.”

 

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