A MyCase Business:
Michael Joseph, California Private Investigator

For Michael Joseph, working as a private investigator is a natural fit. His background in the military and then in law enforcement provided him with the skills and expertise needed to provide top of the line investigative services. His agency, Blue Systems International, serves clients from a number of industries, including lawyers, and provides a vast array of services ranging from surveillance to crime scene investigations. Matters investigated involve cases such as stalking, financial fraud, matrimonial, or child custody issues.

A PI firm that makes a difference–and is different from the rest

For Michael, his job is perfect for him. He’s able to utilize his investigative skills while ultimately, making the world a better place: “It’s an interesting business to be in. I’ve been doing it for over 20 years and wouldn’t change a thing. I like what I do because I get to help people and earn a living at the same time.”

According to Michael, one thing that sets his firm apart is that in addition to providing investigative services, his agency also provides litigation support: “Unlike other PI agencies, we offer combined services in one agency: both investigative services and litigation support. This means that investigators will get the evidence and instead of just handing it over, many have the training and the background to also prepare the evidence for litigation.”

In search of a secure case management system

Prior to choosing MyCase, Michael carefully researched his options. He was seeking a case management system that was secure and intuitive with a full feature set to help his agency stay on top of their busy caseload.

Because of his background, a web-based solution was on the top of his list for security reasons: “I obtained a computer science degree in 1985 and am familiar with computers and security issues. When we decided we needed to move to a new case management system, we researched a lot of software programs before we found MyCase. After learning more about it and testing out the program, I was sold. It was the perfect platform to manage our caseload in a secure online environment.”

The many benefits of MyCase

It wasn’t just the security of MyCase that Michael found to be appealing. The convenience of online access from anywhere was a big selling point for him. “MyCase is very convenient and flexible and helps us stay organized,” he explains. “It’s easy to access case files and documents online and the easy-to-use invoicing features save my agency time and money. MyCase helps with billing because I can track everything I’ve done, so all of my activity in the case is in one place and I never miss billable activities.”

The built-in communication features and client portal are some of Michael’s favorite features and are key to his ability to provide excellent service to his clients. “MyCase makes it easy to keep in touch with clients. It has simplified the communications process for every case that we’ve attached to MyCase. Some of our clients are very anxious and want immediate results,” he says. “But sometimes we get busy and I love the MyCase communications features for that very reason since lack of communication is one of the biggest complaints against investigators. And MyCase solves that problem. Instead of emailing back and forth, I can update clients through MyCase and they can obtain information about their cases at their convenience.”

Michael also uses MyCase’s Websites service and raves about the simplicity of designing his agency’s website and the customer service: “MyCase is a great system and when combined with my website designed by MyCase, it drives more traffic to my website because clients have to go back to my site and login. And customer service is great. If I need something changed or added to the site it’s usually done within 24-48 hours. Overall MyCase is a great, very affordable system and saves us thousands of dollars in terms of time saved.”

Parting advice

When I asked Michael if he had any advice for private investigators who were just starting out he replied, ” I would tell them to start with the background check industry. It’s one of the essential foundations of PI. And make sure to establish a system for their cases and use MyCase to organize all of their clients and cases. ”

–Nicole Black