RelativityOne's Short Message Viewer is a viewer experience created by Relativity to provide greater functionality when it comes to processing RSMF files. RSMF (Relativity Short Messaging Format) files encompass pretty much all instant message files including SMS, iMessage, Slack, and Whatsapp messages to name a few.
Prior to SMV:
Prior to the launch of the Short Message Viewer, reviewers would have to view such messages in large, cumbersome spreadsheets. These spreadsheets compile all messages by date regardless of which conversation the message belongs to but cannot be filtered by the dates of the messages as the metadata for the overall document will state the date of creation as the date of collection.
As the spreadsheets are so large there is also a very high likelihood of part of the sheet responding to a keyword search and being classified as relevant. In this case, the reviewer would then have to review the entire sheet and all accompanying tabs for relevance. This is not only time-consuming but also presents difficulties when it comes to production as the entire document will need to be produced if even one cell is deemed relevant.
Benefits of SMV:
In comparison, the Short Message Viewer(SMV) is incredibly intuitive to use and has many more capabilities than the traditional phone report format. One of the most useful features of the SMV is the ability to support emojis. This may seem like quite a minor capability, but given the recent growth in the use of emojis within personal and business communication, a platform that can support their use is crucial to ensure that reviewers can understand the context of messages in full. This is likely to become even more important as the lines between professionalism and informality continue to blur thanks to hybrid working and the adoption of instant messaging platforms as a form of business communication.
Another benefit you can leverage within the SMV is the ability to slice messages. Message slicing allows you to select particular snippets of conversation that appear relevant and designate them as a separate document that is attached as part of the family of the original document. You can also transfer any coding decisions made on the parent document to the sliced portion of the message without having to re-code. It is significantly easier to review and redact a small snippet of a conversation rather than the whole document and it is also much easier to produce.
When viewing messages in the viewer you're also able to view messages as they would appear in their native apps. Pictures in the correct place and correct chains of messages etc. This allows reviewers to get a much better overview of the conversation and any potential sub-context that might be missed when these messages are displayed in the traditional format.
In Summary:
All in all the Short Message Viewer is a significant improvement on the traditional alternative for interacting with RSMF files and making use of this feature can have a significant impact on the cost, efficiency, and time scale of your relativity document review platform... all things you have to consider when trying to maintain proportionality and produce an effective review.
