If you’re a certain age you might remember the telephone. It was a hard-plastic piece of equipment about the size of a small cat. You leased the phone, monthly, from what was known as “The phone company.” There was only one. Eventually, we got multiple phone companies. Then mobile phones. Which came to be known as cell phones. Then we got what we called “smart phones” – which was a cell phone that did other stuff, like connect to the internet.

Today, we’re back to calling it simply “the phone.” And there is practically nothing in our daily lives that our phone isn’t connected to. Shopping. Entertainment. News. Navigation. And instantly answering practically any question we ask it. Now we’re starting to see advanced, specialized uses of our phones, in ways you might not have imagined. For example, one of the common complaints you hear from police officers, and other law enforcement agents, is that the paperwork required for getting an arrest warrant – which requires a judge’s signature – can take hours.

Meet Cloud Gavel.

Cloud Gavel is a web-based electronic warrant app that works on a phone to create an electronic, instant, legal, arrest warrant. The creator of this technology and Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Cloud Gavel is Casey Roussel.

If you get pulled over while you’re driving, the first thing you need to do is show a police officer your driver’s license. Even if you’ve never been pulled over, you’re familiar with the procedure because you’ve had to show your license to get into a bar, to buy alcohol or tobacco in a store, to cash a check, or to vote. Your driver’s license is a photo ID. You never know when you’re going to need, it so you carry it around in your wallet all the time.

If you have a Louisiana driver’s license, you no longer need to carry your wallet around all the time. You can store your driver’s license on your phone. In an app called LA Wallet. It’s totally legal. It’s recognized by law enforcement. It’s valid pretty much everywhere you need a license. And Louisiana is the first state in the nation to adopt this technology.

LA Wallet was created by local software company, Envoc. The software architect and founder of Envoc is Calvin Fabre.

Photos over lunch at Commander’s Palace by Jill Lafleur.