Key Terms
Key Terms
Required to know for this article specifically:
Business = Business/Law Firm who invested in Hona
Hona (Business) Org = Hona Account owned by the Business
Business User = An individual account within a Hona Business Org
Just like there are many employees at 1 Business, there are many Users in 1 Hona Org. Which Hona features and settings are accessible to each User is determined by their User Role.
Client = Client of the Businessa
End-user of Hona Client and its features
Lead = potential Client of the Business
Hona Client = Hona Client Portal interface where Clients can interact with Hona features
Business Users build Hona Client features in their Hona Business Org
Important to know in general:
"Project" is used interchangeably with "case" and "matter"
CMS = Case Management Software (often used interchangeably with CRM)
Messages = 2-way messages sent through Hona's 2-Way Messaging feature (typically sent via text)
Notifications = messages sent to the Client to notify them of Hona features you have configured (Project Type case updates, Forms, E-Signature requests, Review requests, etc). These are sent based on the Client's Notification Preferences.
Overview
Welcome to your Hona Business Org! Just like any new software program, knowing what to do first can be a little daunting. You can use this support article as a brief overview of how "setting up" your Hona Org works, using the steps below to understand the most efficient workflow to follow.
Steps to follow when setting up your Hona Org:
1. Prepare Internally for Implementation
Before you begin your Hona Onboarding journey, please prepare internally for how you plan to utilize Hona, and what needs you are hoping to address.
Understand Your Subscription
What Hona product did you buy? What features stood out to you most during the sales experience?
What are your top needs you're hoping to address by investing in Hona?
Were there any agreements specific to your Business that were made during your sales process?
Are you going to be integrating your Hona Org with your CMS/CRM or will you be using a Stand-Alone Hona Org?
Are you planning on utilizing the toll-free number automatically assigned to your Hona Org when you signed up, purchasing an area-code specific number, or trying to host your Business number?
Are you using Hona for communicating with Clients and/or Leads?
What Clients are you going to use Hona for? Are there any you are not planning on using Hona for?
What Leads are you going to use Hona for? Are there any you are not planning on using for?
Implementation Management
Who will be internally managing your Hona implementation? Will this person just be managing workload and assigning tasks, or will they be actually building features in your Hona Org?
Which staff members do you plan on assisting with building/customizing features in Hona?
Which staff members do you plan on using Hona in their day-to-day once implemented?
2. Add Users
Once you have identified who will be assisting you with onboarding/building features in Hona, make sure to add them as an Admin User to your Hona Business Org. To learn how to do this, please visit How to Add/Edit Users in Your Hona Org.
3. Build/Customize Features
You will work together with your team to build out/customize the Hona features you plan to implement at your Business. Your Onboarding Manager is meant as your primary consultant; they will be your best resource for understanding how to set up your Hona features to meet your Business needs and goals.
If you would like instructions on how to build or customize a specific feature in your Hona Org, search this support site or chat with our support team.
4. Configure Company Info
As you prepare to go live with Hona, you will want to make sure your Company Info is configured with the correct details about your Business. Many of these details will display directly to your Clients in their Portal, so you won't want to miss out on utilizing them. To learn what you need to do, please visit How to Configure Company Info.
5. Go Live: Add Clients/Leads + Projects
The final step to setting up your Hona Org is to go live! You do this by creating your Clients/Leads + Projects in Hona, either through your integration or by manual upload. Creation of a Project in Hona will automatically trigger the first notification to the Client (assuming you have your Project Types configured), so you can also think of "going live" as when your first notification is sent out.
If your Hona Org is integrated with your CMS/CRM: your Clients + Projects are automatically created during the first nightly sync after your integration has been set to Active. To learn more about this, please read Going Live with Hona: Inactive vs Active integration.
If your Hona Org is not integrated: please read How to Bulk Upload Your Case Information.
FAQs
What is the difference between using Hona Engage for Clients vs Leads?
What is the difference between using Hona Engage for Clients vs Leads?
This is a GREAT question, fully answered in the support article here: Getting Started: Leads. To give you a real-life example: let's say a Business is using Hona Engage for both Leads and Clients. In their Hona Org, they already have a contact for John Doe. John Doe is already a Client with an active case, so therefore he already has a Client Project in the Business's Hona Org. John Doe was recently in a car accident and needs to open another case with the Business, but is currently still a Lead in that process. For Hona subscription purposes, would John Doe have 1 or 2 Active Cases in your subscription? He would have 2. Even though both his Lead and Client Project are associated with the same contact, John Doe, they are still 2 distinct matters, and so they are both counted towards your total Active Case count in your Hona Engage subscription.
How long does it take to go live with my Hona Org?
How long does it take to go live with my Hona Org?
That depends entirely on how many features you are hoping to implement, how much you hope to customize those features, and how many staff members you involve to get the job done. If you are planning on integrating your Hona Org, there may need to be some time you spend "cleaning up" the data so that your Clients receive the correct notifications when you go live. Typically, we aim to have you up & running with at least one feature within 30 days, and Your Onboarding Manager will help you make a plan that gets your Business value as quickly as possible. That being said, your Onboarding Manager will not build your features for you, so how long it takes to go live/get value will also be dependent on your willingness to invest time and effort building/customizing your features.
Can I set up Hona all by myself?
Can I set up Hona all by myself?
There are many Hona Businesses who have assigned 1 staff member to set up/build out everything in their Hona Org before going live. This is usually an Attorney, Head Paralegal, Office Manager, Director of Operations, or someone else at the firm who is very familiar with the legal AND client-side of things. The reason being: this person is responsible for making all decisions about how your Hona features are configured to fulfill your Business needs/goals, and then spending time actually building, customizing, and testing those features before they are Client-facing. The more time and effort you invest during onboarding, the better your Business and Client experience will be in Hona, so oftentimes, it can be difficult for one person to manage all of this in addition to their regular responsibilities. It absolutely can be done if needed.
We encourage you to have a strong internal plan for implementation to avoid overwhelming your staff, and to ensure you are able to go live with Hona on your timeline. Your Onboarding Manager will provide you with all of the guidance and resources you need to be successful, but lack of internal project management will make it difficult to utilize this guidance and resource effectively.
Conclusion
We are looking forward to working with you through your Hona experience! For any questions or concerns, please chat with out support team or reach out to us directly at [email protected].