Action Chaining: Overview

Modified on Tue, 15 Aug, 2023 at 1:48 PM

Action Chaining

What is it?

Action Chaining allows users to combine multiple Faster Suite entry windows into a single process chain. When one entry is completed, the information from that entry can be directly transferred to the next entry. This reduces the amount of manual input required when creating multiple items for the same matter.

How to Chain Actions

Many Faster Suite windows have a button in the lower right corner labeled "Save + Time".

Clicking the arrow on this button will display all available options for action chaining. Clicking on "Save + Time" or selecting another option with the arrow will save the current entry and open up a new entry. Any information entered into the original entry will be transferred to the new entry if a field for that information exists.

Information that is transferred includes:

Description
Related Matter
Subject
User

You may notice that the "Save + Time" button also appears on the second entry window. This is because action chains are open-ended and you may chain an unlimited number of actions together.

Available Actions

Save + Time

This Action Chaining option will save the current activity to Clio and open a New Time Entry window.

Save + Expense

This Action Chaining option will save the current activity to Clio and open a New Expense Entry window.

You must enter a rate for the expense in this window.

Save + Task

This Action Chaining option will save the current activity to Clio and open a New Task window.

Save + Note

This Action Chaining option will save the current activity to Clio and open a New Note window.

Save + Communication

This Action Chaining option will save the current activity to Clio and open a New Note window.

Example of an Action Chain

In this example, a user has received an email from a client. The user wants to preserve the email to Clio, bill the client for 0.1 hours, and assign a task to a coworker based on the content of the email.

The steps involved are:

1. The user preserves the email using Faster Mail and clicks "Save + Time" instead of clicking "Save". This saves the email to Clio and opens a new time entry window.

2. The time entry window already has most of the information filled out. The user only needs to select the duration for the time entry. Once this is done, the user clicks the arrow on the "Save + Time" button and selects "Save + Task" to open a new task window.

3. Once again, most of the information is populated in the new task window. The user will enter a subject for the task and assign it to another user if necessary. Since this is the last step in this action chain, the user will hit "Save" instead of using any other action chaining options.