A client portal exists to answer the question clients ask most: where is my thing up to. Answering it once, in a place they can look at any time, removes a surprising amount of recurring work from a professional services or trades business.
The second reason is document exchange. Emailing sensitive documents around is the default because it is easy, and it is the part of a firm's process most likely to embarrass it.
Web applications start at A$1,500 and typically run six to twelve weeks. Portals sit at the simpler end when they are read-mostly, and at the more involved end when clients transact or approve inside them.
Per-client data isolation, real authentication and an access log are not extras here - they are the reason the portal is better than email. Australian privacy obligations apply to the documents you hold either way.
Usually yes. The common pattern is a portal that reads job or matter status from the system your team already works in, so nobody maintains two sources of truth.
No. It runs in a browser on a phone or a desktop.
Data isolation is enforced server-side per account, not by hiding links. That is a design requirement from the start rather than a setting.
Tell us what you are trying to do. If something off the shelf already does it, or the job is smaller than you think, we will say so.
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