Introduction to the Pika Case Management System Aaron Worley Tuesday February 3, 2003

What is Pika CMS? ● Pika is a case management system (CMS) for legal services programs ● Pika is a website-based system ● It's not a Windows application ● It's a website that provides case management functionality

Background ● Former Statewide Technology Manager at the Michigan Poverty Law Program ● Installed and supported software across the state ● Saw the need for a cheap, centralized, easy-to-use CMS ● A web site meets all these criteria

Advantages of Website-Based Software ● Your entire organization can share a single, centralized system ● Available anytime, anywhere ● At the office ● At home ● On the road ● No special software required

Advantages of Website-Based Software (2) ● It's a well-established technology that's here to stay ● Runs over your existing Internet connections ● No additional, expensive equipment required ● No VPN, WAN, Citrix or database replication necessary

Advantages of Pika CMS ● Easy to use ● Intentionally kept as simple as possible ● Interface refined through testing with actual legal services staff ● If you can surf the web, you can use Pika ● Optimized to run well on old computers and slow Internet connections

Advantages of Pika CMS (2) ● Compatible with “Open Source” software ● Avoid “hidden” costs of licensing expensive, proprietary database and operating system software

Features ● Case intake and eligibility screening ● Integrated calendar, time, tickler and case notes system ● Automatic conflict of interest checks ● Scalable screen text size ● Configurable security levels ● Report generation, including LSC reporting requirements

Features (2) ● Document generation (form letters, court documents) ● Word, WordPerfect, Open Office and Adobe Acrobat Forms/XFDF ● Document Management ● Search the text of stored Word, WordPerfect, PDF documents ● Access stored documents via Pika or via shared network drive

Features (3) ● Modular Design ● Warning flags ● Normalized database structure ● Compatible with third party reporting software (Microsoft Access, Crystal Reports, etc.)

Security Features ● Password protection ● Encryption ● All data is encrypted ● Uses same technology that Amazon, Ebay and others use to secure credit card transactions ● Not vulnerable to Nimda, Code Red, etc.

Who is Using Pika Now? ● 6 programs, comprising 43 offices ● 4 additional programs, comprising approx. 15 offices, are in the process of switching

Implementation Options ● Hosting ● In house ● Commerical hosting service ● Server ● Red Hat Linux ● Windows 2000 ● Should run well on any UNIX or Windows server

Implementation Options (2) ● Network Access ● Can run over the Internet ● Can also run over a private Intranet, if available

Customization Options ● Contract work ● In house ● Screens can be modified with any web page editor ● Easy, 3-step process for adding new fields ● Full source code is provided ● Third party

Data Conversion Options ● Contract work ● In house ● Third party

Subscription Benefits ● Pika is subscription-ware ● Subscription provides... ● Licensing ● Tech support ● Free upgrades ● Documentation in electronic format ● Hosting Service is available ● Priority Tech Support is available

What is a Pika anyway? ● from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913): Pika Pi"ka, n. (Zo"ol.) Any one of several species of rodents of the genus Lagomys, resembling small tailless rabbits. They inhabit the high mountains of Asia and America. Called also calling hare, and crying hare. See Chief hare.

Pika Photo