8 Best Call Answering Services for Lawyers
Shamil Shamilov
Husband, Father & Founder at dNOVO Group | Passionate About Growing Legal, Medical & Home Services Businesses
As a lawyer, every call matters – it could be your next big lead. Missing even a single phone call can translate to lost opportunities. If a potential client calls your law firm and no one answers or the call goes to an answering machine, they will likely call your competitor. An answering service acts like a 24/7 receptionist. It is an excellent way of increasing productivity, conversion rates, and efficiency at a fraction of the cost of hiring an in-house receptionist.
Read on to understand what a call answering service is and why every lawyer needs it. We have also reviewed the 8 best call answering services available In the market.?
Understanding a Law Firm Answering Service
A legal answering service is a virtual receptionist or outsourced customer service option. It handles all your incoming calls and sometimes outbound when you cannot answer them.
Your callers speak to a real person instead of listening to an automated response. An answering service can handle appointments, qualify leads, and perform different client-intake processes.
A call service is crucial to your practice management. It enhances client conversion and retention. It is also more affordable than hiring an in-house receptionist.??
The 4 Benefits of Law Firm Answering Services
Lawyers are always looking for ways to enhance the efficiency of their law firms. Here are the leading benefits of a legal call answering service:?
24/7 Availability
You can have a competitive advantage by offering 24/7 customer support. Clients, existing and potential, want the assurance that they can reach you whenever they need to. Studies indicate that 42% of potential clients want a lawyer they can talk to, even during after-work hours.
Improved Customer Service
With a legal answering service, you can offer exceptional customer service. Your clients never have to listen to pre-recorded messages or speak to an insensitive robot.?
There is a notable improvement in the AI customer service tools. However, a whopping 86% of clients still prefer talking to a human. You don’t have to hire and train an in-house receptionist to give your callers this treat. With an answering service, your clients will speak to a human whenever they call.
An Answering Service is Cost-Effective
You can save a lot of money with a legal answering service. You don’t have to hire and train an in-house receptionist. Most answering services have flexible pricing to suit your law firm’s needs and budget. You will only pay for what you use.
A legal answering service also generates income for your law firm. By getting it right the first time, you will not be among the 45% of legal firms that spend money on re-marketing due to failed lead conversions.
You can convert more leads into clients during the initial interaction with a virtual receptionist. A call answering service improves your client retention .
Increases Productivity and Profitability
You can save time and boost your staff productivity with a legal answering service. You and your in-house staff can focus on billable work as the virtual receptionist handles call answering, appointment scheduling, message taking, client intake, and call transferring.
With services like Smith.ai , you can automate client sales outreach and respond to inquiries promptly, enhancing your conversion rates by 53% .?
Choosing the Right Call Answering Service for Law Firms
With so many legal answering services available in the market, choosing the right one can be daunting. Here are the four crucial factors to consider when choosing an answering service for your law firm:
The Pricing Model
Some answering services offer per-call pricing, while others offer per-minute pricing. The per-call option will only charge you for the relevant calls. Per-minute pricing charges you depending on the length or the complexity of the call.
Features and Services Provided
Different services have different features, including 24/7 availability, appointment scheduling, bilingual receptionists, client portal integration, intake forms, and call recording.
Number of Minutes or Calls the Plan Offers
Different plans offer different amounts of minutes and calls per month. Choose a plan that will serve your law firm’s needs. Does the service offer a discount for unused calls or minutes?
Quality and Expertise of the Virtual Receptionists
Seek testimonials, reviews, and referrals to understand more about the expertise of the virtual receptionists.
Before you venture out to hire a call answering service, you should assess your needs.? Determine your clients’ needs and identify gaps in your law firm when it comes to meeting these needs. What types of calls do you receive? What are your peak call hours? What level of customization do you need?
You should also go through reviews and testimonials of other law firms to gauge a law firm’s reputation and performance. You can get reviews from multiple platforms like Reddit, Trustpilot, and other legal-related forums. It is crucial to look for reviews from lawyers in your practice area.?
Features That a Law Firm Answering Service Should Have
It can be challenging to choose the right answering service for your law firm. Here are the features that you should look for.?
Customizable Call Handling
With customizable call handling, you can choose how the answering service handles your calls. You will have an opportunity to provide defined processes, including custom call scripts, call routing and call forwarding, and call screening. If you have a small law firm, you might only need a legal answering service at certain hours.
Onboarding and Integration Features
When choosing an answering service, you want to ensure that it offers seamless software integration and an easy onboarding process. If you fail to consider the integration capabilities, you might end up with an answering service that creates more work instead of saving you time.
Bilingual or Multilingual Support
If you serve bilingual or multilingual clients, you should ensure that your answering service serves all your clients. If a client calls your law firm and the receptionist cannot speak their language, they will likely be disappointed. Some of the best multilingual answering services in the market include:?
Lead Qualification
With the right answering service, you can focus on your valuable clients instead of focusing on lead qualification. Go for an answering service that specializes in your legal field and understands your legal terminology. There is more to lead qualification than saving you time. It is about upholding your law firm’s reputation.
Data Security and Confidentiality
You want to ensure that the answering service handles your clients’ details with utmost confidentiality. A reliable answering service should have restricted access protocols, secure data storage, and encrypted data transmission.
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24/7 Availability
This feature is particularly crucial if you handle cases in different time zones. With 24/7 availability, you never have to miss an opportunity.?
8 Best Legal Answering Services
Here are the best call answering services for lawyers:?
1. Smith.ai
Smith.ai answering service can serve many industries. Some of the leading features include:?
Smith.ai depends on whether you choose basic or advanced models. Tentative pricing is as follows:
2. Nexa
Nexa ? has outstanding features, including:?
There is no pricing information on Nexa website.
3. Lex Reception
Lex Reception is designed specifically for lawyers and law firms. Its main features include:?
Pricing starts at $325 monthly for 150 minutes .?
4. AnswerConnect
Forbes voted AnswerConnect as the best answering service for 2023.
AnswerConnect offers the following features:?
Pricing starts at $325 month ly for 200 minutes. You have to pay a $49.99 set-up fee.
5. RubyReceptionists
Ruby is suitable for businesses of all sizes and industries.?
It offers the following services:?
Pricing is as follows:
6. Back Office Betties
Back Office Betties offers these exceptional features:?
Costs start from? $349 monthly for 100 minutes and a setup fee of $89 .
7. Answering Legal
Answering Legal is specifically designed for the legal industry and offers these features:
It has an excellent reputation with a 4.8/5 rating on Trustpilot .
8. Voice Link
Voice Link has these features:?
Make a Great First Impression with a Law Firm Answering Service
The first impression matters because it can build or break your firm’s reputation. You want an answering service that will paint the best image of your law firm to your clients. The dNOVO experts can help you optimize your marketing efforts and choose the right answering service for your law firm.??