Client Portal                  

 Overview

The Actionstep Client portal is a secure way for firms using Actionstep to share documents and messages with external parties.

Sharing documents via the client portal offers a few key advantages over email exchanges. First and possibly most importantly, the client portal is more secure than email. The portal acts as a Secure Document Exchange (SDX), creating a direct and encrypted connection between the external party and your Actionstep system. External parties granted access to the client portal are met with the same email verification and login credential setup process as a normal Actionstep user. Once inside your Actionstep system, all activity by the user is logged in the audit trail. In addition to offering a more secure way to exchange documents the portal also offers a less labor-intensive alternative to emailing important documents. Since the portal integrates seamlessly with your Actionstep folder structure, your customers can upload documents directly to your firm's document management system. 

Using the Portal

The permissions you setup in Admin (need to update this page) are general permissions, however, you still control who can see what on a Matter-by-Matter basis. Open up a Matter and click on the portal icon. Here you will see a list of the matter participants. Click on each participant to grant access to the portal for that specific matter. When you grant them access they will inherit the permissions you set up in Admin.

Once you have granted access, the user will receive an email inviting them to the Portal. If the user has never accessed Actionstep before, they will first be invited to create an Actionstep login. After creating a login, they will be added to the portal. If they already have an Actionstep login then they will simply get an invite to this portal. The email will look something like the following:

Adding Documents to the Portal

To add documents to the portal simply add them to any folder that has been set up as a portal folder in Admin. Portal folders show with a special icon in the Documents area for each matter. See below.

Sub-Folders

If you created a sub-folder in your Matter, you may have run into the issue of a client not being able to view documents or important files you've uploaded. In order to be able to view documents in the sub-folders, you can either simply move all of the documents into the main Client Documents folder or you can create and enable each of the sub-folders in the workflow admin section. Please note, if you have folders and/or sub-folders in multiple Matter Types, you will have to repeat this process for each specific Matter Type. 

First, you'll want to go to Admin > Matter Types > Select the Matter Type with the sub-folders > Folders > Add the sub-folder on this page > Once added, click on the sub-folder and select "Push to all Actions".

After you've added your sub-folders and selected "Push to all Actions" for each sub-folder, you'll need to enable the portal for the new folders. Go back to the Matter Type Settings for this matter type > Scroll down until you see the Client Portal Section > You'll then add the new folders, select the correct permissions, and hit save.

Exchanging Chat Messages

You can send and receive chat messages with portal participants. These will appear under the messages tab when accessed by an external invitee.

Client Portal Permissions

Client Portal Permissions allow you to share folders to contacts assigned to that participant type in each matter. After configuring, you will still need to enable access for each client on a per matter basis (see the section above, "Using the Portal") 

To adjust the Client Portal Permissions, go to Admin > Matter Types > Select the Matter Type > Matter Type Settings > Scroll down to the very bottom until you see the "Client Portal" chart. 

Client Portal Permissions Explained:

1.) Full - Toggle all portal permissions on/off. 

2.) List - Allow the user to list documents in this folder. Without this, the folder will always appear empty even if they upload a document.

3.) Read - Allow the user to read/download documents from this folder.

4.) Create - Allow the user to create/upload new documents to this folder.

5.) Update - Allow the user to update/upload replacing an existing document.

6.) Delete - Allow the user to delete documents in this folder.

Please note, Client Portal Permissions have to be adjusted per Matter Type. For example, if you are adjusting the permissions for a General Matter Type, this will not update your Estate Planning Matter Types.