Do you sync an application like Amicus Attorney with Google? Gavel & Gown published the following information today regarding the link. This impacts anyone who syncs Amicus Attorney calendars and contacts with Google. it may also impact those who sync other applications with Google. Thank you to Gavel & Gown for the pro-active information. If this impacts you, please work with your consultant or your software vendor to determine how to proceed.
THIS MESSAGE IS IMPORTANT TO ALL THOSE WHO SYNCHRONIZE THEIR GOOGLE CALENDAR WITH AMICUS ATTORNEY PREMIUM.
The Google Calendar synchronization with Amicus Attorney Premium has been interrupted by Google cutting off the “API” that it uses. The synchronization of Calendar items between Amicus and Google stopped functioning on November 17, 2014.
What’s an API? An “API” is a programming term meaning a set of routines, protocols and tools used in software to control operations, connections, etc. Software companies release their API publicly so other software developers can design their own products to use those APIs in connecting to their software. Most APIs are maintained for many years for purposes of backward compatibility, but Google has initiated a “deprecation policy” whereby its APIs are completely replaced, apparently annually on a go-forward basis.
What does this mean to you if you currently use the Google Calendar sync feature in Amicus? You should not rely on your Google and Amicus Calendars being automatically synchronized for any items entered on or after November 17th, 2014. Appointments entered or changed in Amicus will not be reflected in Google, and vice versa. This also means that any appointments entered into Google through a smartphone or tablet after the 17th will not be reflected in Amicus.
What are my alternatives for Calendar synchronization? Amicus Attorney Premium features a Contacts and Calendar link with Microsoft Outlook on your desktop. You may be able to connect your Outlook to Google, and Amicus to Outlook (see below), and then maintain a connection, as Amicus would then be connecting to Google through Outlook. Alternatively, you may consider switching from Google to Microsoft Exchange, which in our opinion provides a superior experience in virtually all respects. Amicus Attorney Premium 2014 has a superb and reliable link with Exchange.
(If you use Google Apps for Work, Education or Government you may be able to synchronize your Google Contacts and Calendar items with Microsoft Outlook using Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook. For more information see https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync. Note Google has not indicated how long it will support the Google Apps Sync for those customers and this sync is no longer supported for other customers.)
If you do not wish to use Outlook or Exchange synchronization, then in the short term calendar items must be entered separately and manually in Google and Amicus.
Is the synchronization of Google Contacts affected right now as well? No. But Google’s deprecation policy will affect the synchronization routines of your Google Contacts after April 2015.
Is Amicus the only product having this issue? No – almost everyone is. Practice management software companies and others synching with Google Calendar are alerting their customers and scrambling to make changes to adapt to what has happened.
When will Amicus Attorney Premium be able to connect directly to Google again? The changes Google has imposed are significant and will require major development effort. Amicus Attorney Premium 2015 will support the new Google APIs for both Calendar and Contacts. This will be available in a matter of weeks – early January 2015.
Google’s decision to adopt a one-year policy for the life-span of some of its APIs leaves us as a software developer in a difficult position. We will maintain support for synchronizing Google Contacts and Calendar with each new release of Amicus Attorney Premium. If you rely on Google Calendar or Contacts and want them synchronized with Amicus, your best option going forward will be a maintenance subscription, so that you can always have the latest version of Amicus using the newest Google APIs.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. We would be happy to discuss with you more details of what Google has done – just call Amicus Support at 1-800-472-2289.