HoudiniESQ

Far better than the other management software out there!

Commentaires : The ease of having everything in one place that does everything a firm needs. I haven't found anything that our firm needs that Houdini does not already do!

Avantages :

I love the functionality of Houdini. While some of the features are not the EASIEST to use, the customer support to walk you through it is amazing, and done on the spot. Every issue I've ever had with Houdini has been lack of knowing exactly how it was done. But the program itself is amazing, works exceptionally, and their support is the best I've ever seen!

Inconvénients :

Some of the features can be a little confusing at first, but the support staff will immediately demonstrate how to use it. I have not done the free training program, which I'm certain is exceptional -- based on my experience with their staff -- so, a lot of my lack of know-how for certain features is my fault. But, even without the training the software is very easy to use and has amazing features.

HoudiniESQ has an extensive feature set, but the documentation is poor

Commentaires : I have used HoudiniESQ for over seven years. The product absolutely works, contrary to what another reviewer said. The challenge is that HoudiniESQ is designed with the very large office in mind, for example, 5,000+ seats. It assumes that the user will have high-end tech support in-house. I guess I am able to use HoudiniESQ successfully largely because decades ago I coded my own law practice management software, and have at least minimal understanding of what must be "under the hood." For that reason, I would only recommend HoudiniESQ to a very large organization that can truly take advantage of the extensive, advanced features or a solo with a coding background.

Avantages :

HoudiniESQ is free to solo practitioners, so the price is fantastic. The price for even a few seats, however, is also less than other products I have investigated, so HoudiniESQ offers great value for the extensive feature set. Secondly, it always works. Third, when I have a problem, I often get immediate attention from support, and it never takes long for a response by someone who truly knows what he is talking about. Advanced features include: calendaring triggers with conditional branching, user-programmable multi-practice group set-ups, fast searching, contract management support, mass emailing, support for atypical billing arrangements, client portal support, and embedded links with many types of other software.

Inconvénients :

The areas needed for improvement are too broad to discuss here. The product lost some functionality that I was relying on when it moved from version 1.99x to 2.0x and later. I continue to be surprised by what I consider to be poor programing/feature choices made in the transition to a different coding platform. I feel I kinda limp along with version 2.0x after using 1.99x (even though at least 2 excellent improvements were included in 2.0x – better searching and user coding control over invoices). I found the business tracking portal in 2.0x unusable, while the information provided in 1.99x was rudimentary but useful. Cons for all versions: no useful report for trust accounting, very limited functionality for integrating trust transactions in invoicing, paltry scripting language for creating documents from templates, and inadequate documentation that is typically out of date with the current version.

Mediocre Software that the Developers Like to Break and Blame on the User

Commentaires : Generally speaking, the software offers everything you want in a practice management software. It does trust accounting, billing, general practice management, calendaring, e-mailing, and task management. However, every single one of these features is clunky and slow. The database constantly breaks and you lose information by clearing your cache and refreshing your page. The database will, occasionally delete or lose entries on its own but when you call tech support they blame you for it. Randomly, during updates, the developers decide that you should have been doing something (billing, trust accounting, etc.) their way and change the software to force you to do it that way in the future. Often, this breaks all of the entries that you put into the system in the past. For example, if a client had a carry over credit balance from a small overpayment; houdiniesq now doesn't use that in calculating the client's current balance. Many of the search features simply don't work correctly, particularly when trying to search for an invoice. You used to be able to print invoices when you generated them. Now, you have to go search for the invoices, after it is generated and on a search platform that doesn't operate properly, and then print them adding an entirely wasteful extra step to billing. Really, this software is a complete headache. The developers don't own up to these problems or offer solutions. They often don't answer the support phone line and seem to work limited hours. The price is on the lower end, although better companies are now competitive price-wise. The only reason I still have this software is because I don't have the time to move all of my data over to new software.

Houdini 2.0 is a vast improvement over prior versions

Commentaires : We unexpectedly updated to Houdini 2.0 so the difference was quite a shock, but we have found it to be much more user friendly than previous versions. The response time is also much faster when adding notes, contacts, events, and matters. We are only on day 3 here with version 2.0 but the ease of use is biggest improvement we could have asked Houdini for. Also, the customer service has been absolutely amazing. Since we had no warning of the upgrade from our system administrator, we were caught on our heels on a busy Monday morning; however, every time we called for help, which we did multiple times over the course of the day, we were given outstanding service and attention. I wish I could rate the customer support higher than 5 stars.

Avantages :

I'm not sure yet. So far, the speed is by far the best improvement. Version 1.9 would stall or take a long time to access contacts, events, and matters. So far, we have not experienced these delays with version 2.0.

Inconvénients :

It's difficult to multitask. If I am trying to schedule an event on the calendar and another phone call comes in, I cannot open anything else in Houdini without first finishing the event I was working on. In previous versions, we could leave the window open, take care of the incoming phone call, and then finish the event on the calendar. We also miss being able to access the contact record on the event to find the client's phone number from the calendar. This was especially important for confirming the appointments for the next day.

It's my understanding this product built by architect of much larger yet more stagnate competitor.

Commentaires : Peace of Mind. My information is secure and isn't going anywhere. It is always available to me. I have a very good rapport with my Houdini IT Department.

Avantages :

Versatility- This product intended for lean and mean firms. You don't need to have a Masters Degree in Computer Science, but it helps if you are somewhat computer savvy. There are features on this program that have been integrated in that even I haven't found time to master... yet (e.g., Quickbooks and Excel). Comprehensive- Lower your IT overhead costs. These people know what they're doing. Your investment here means less investment in some IT guy sitting in a corner twiddling his or her thumbs. When they say 99.9% up-time, they mean it. This is an incredibly powerful time-keeping program, that has a very good overlap with document integration. Customer Service- Usually only the occasional call, but they are ALWAYS there, and can walk you through any issues.

Inconvénients :

As with any newer product, there is going to be the inevitable growing pains. My favorite application integration was with the Outlook Add-in for e-mail. This is giving me hiccups at the moment. You are actually partnered with this vendor, so when rep can't figure this out, you have to evolve with the product limitations by creating a work-around (e.g., saving the e-mails manually to the file). I'm also a creature of habit, so I struggle with major platform updates. They are kind enough to leave the old platform running, and aren't demanding their clients evolve overnight. So now I am learning two different platforms.