Samuel Edwards

May 5, 2023

Top 5 Recommended Answering Services for Legal Professionals

Answering services are essential for legal professionals, as they help them handle their incoming calls in an efficient manner.This can be especially beneficial during times when lawyers and staff members cannot answer phones due to a large caseload or other obligations that take priority over taking customer service calls.An answering service will also free up time by handling after-hours phone queues so that attorneys do not miss out on potential new lead sources while still getting high-quality care through virtual receptionists who have specialized knowledge of the legal field.With this in mind, it’s important to get top-notch customer support from reliable answering companies with experienced operators able to provide professional call screening and routing services based on client needs.

Criteria for Selecting Answering Services

When selecting an answering service for legal professionals, there are several important criteria to consider. These include:

  1. Stability of the company
  2. Its reputation and trustworthiness level in terms of contracting/payment practices
  3. Cost versus value
  4. Customer support provided (pre-sales consultation and after-sales training)
  5. Quality assurance protocols employed by the provider both on their end
  6. Management with regards your clients’ experience when they reach out via phone call or email contact

Top 5 Recommended Answering Services

1. Answering Legal

Answering legal rated as excellent

Features and benefits

Answering Legal is an answering service for legal professionals that offers several features to help lawyers handle calls more efficiently. It includes:

  • Bilingual receptionist
  • 24/7 support
  • The ability to integrate with existing practice management software and CRM systems
  • Real-time web dashboard for tracking incoming calls statistics
  • Call routing settings based on lawyer availability or specific timeframes desired by each client's attorney team members

In addition Answering Legal also provides access to professionally trained US-based virtual assistants who can take care of tasks like appointment booking and scheduling as well as custom scripting tailored specifically towards law firms’ needs.

Pricing plans and cost analysis

Answering Legal offers a range of customized plans to meet the needs of different lawyers.All their plans include 24/7 call forwarding and availability voicemail transcription with text notifications sent directly to the lawyer’s email address or mobile device, as well as customer support via phone calls and emails.Pricing is based on demand for services – the monthly plan rate depends on the basic monthly package price combined with an additional fee per minute spent handling each call through a real-time client response system.This can make cost analysis more complicated but also allows clients to better customize rates that fit within their budget parameters.

Comparison to other services based on criteria

Answering Legal is an ideal answering service for lawyers, as the services are tailored specifically to legal professionals.The company offers a host of features including personal greeting messages, screening and routing calls based on competency area or practice type, appointment scheduling integrations, and voicemail transcription capabilities with AI-driven quality control checks that can be emailed directly to clients in real-time.Furthermore, they also offer customized options depending upon a firm’s individual needs such as SMS support or multilingual staff members when needed.

2. Smith.ai

Smith.ai answering services description and features

Features and benefits

  • 24/7 professional receptionists to answer calls
  • Take messages and forward them in real time via email or text message
  • Offer AI-driven chat solutions that can automatically route website chats based on frequently asked questions without requiring manual input from the human operator.

Pricing plans and cost analysis

Smith.ai offers a range of pricing plans that are suitable for law firms and legal professionals, with prices starting at $40 per month for the Basics plan which includes 100 minutes of receptionist time.The Pro Plan is their most popular option at $200/month and provides 300 minutes, whereas their Unlimited plan can be tailored to fit your specific business needs without additional charges after reaching 3,000-minute usage cap each month.Plans come with automated scheduling features as well as integration options such as Zapier or Slack- making Smith .ai an affordable solution in comparison to many other services on the market today.

Comparison to other services based on criteria

Smith.ai offers 24/7 phone support, live chat services and call routing options based on both incoming caller as well as timezone preferences.They also provide voicemail transcripts and unlimited message forwarding via text or email, making them one of the most advanced answering services available for legal professionals when compared to other basic providers that do not feature these additional features included in their plans.

3. Abby Connect

Abby connect answering service

Features and Benefits

Abby Connect is a virtual receptionist service designed with legal practices in mind. It offers operators who have specific training on best serving those within the industry and providing answers to frequently asked questions or directing callers accordingly.Further, it provides 24/7 coverage at competitive prices that include additional features like reports & analytics customers can use to track performance metrics and conversations logs of every interaction made by their team members as well as scripts tailored for your business's needs.

Pricing plans and cost analysis

Abby Connect offers three pricing plans, starting with their basic plan at $149/month. The next step up is the plus package which costs between $275 - 349 depending on usage and comes included with additional features such as call recording and custom voicemail greetings.For those looking for more advanced solutions including a virtual assistant team, they offer an even higher tier called Pro+ ranging from 499-679 per month also based on estimated total monthly minutes of each client's workloads.All packages come standard with no setup or cancellation fees so legal professionals can adjust to whatever level suits them best without breaking the budget in any way.

Comparison to other services based on criteria

Abby Connect stands out from similar services because it offers the largest number of live receptionist plans and includes a variety of unique features such as one-off call transcribing, legal client intake forms for new customers, and customized escalation processes.Additionally, its pricing is tailored to businesses seeking both basic answering protocols (e.g., hold music or caller routing) as well as more complex solutions including billing/invoice tracking systems by staff member assignment at an affordable rate compared to other providers in this space.

4. Ruby Receptionists

Ruby receptionist in mobile

Features and benefits

  • Ruby Receptionists offers an intelligent, welcoming reception service that caters to legal professionals.
  • Customers have access to customer support around the clock and can personalize their call flows in order to best serve clients’ needs.
  • Ruby also boasts features like:
  • Voicemail transcription service as well as text message forwarding for Business SMS Texting purposes for those who need it most —
  • Agents can even handle non-emergency calls from payers or other vendors if desired, allowing lawyers more free time away from work-related tasks so they may focus on keeping client relationships strong.

Pricing plans and cost analysis

Ruby Receptionists offers three different pricing plans to fit a variety of budget needs. The first plan is Pay As You Go, which charges 5 cents per incoming call and 1 cent per minute for outbound calls or messages that require transcription.Another option is Per Person Minutes, which costs $99/month with 20 minutes included (each additional minute costing 50 cents).Lastly, the All-You-Can Use Plan provides unlimited in & outbound messaging plus receptionist services for only $329 each month (two agents max.).Each plan includes access to reporting tools and metrics so users can easily track usage trends such as response times versus average wait duration on hold.

Comparison to other services based on criteria

Ruby Receptionists provides virtual reception services, inbound call-recording and forwarding to another line available at the customer’s request.They offer a flexible pricing plan with selectable time blocks ranging from 10 minutes up to 3 hours wherein each individual contact is charged 1 minute rate which can be booked on an hourly basis or as needed.This flexibility makes Ruby competitive among their peers when it comes down to short periods of service usage while still providing quality customer response times.

5. VoiceNation

Voice Nation answering services in every device

Features and benefits

VoiceNation is a live voice-over IP (VoIP) answering service designed specifically for legal professionals. Their features include after-hours call routing

  • 24/7 coverage with bilingual support in over 20 languages
  • Real-time reporting and analytics to track the effectiveness of calls
  • Custom greetings tailored to your law firm’s branding needs
  • Secure recordings stored on their server that are HIPAA compliant.

They also offer free setup assistance so require no long term commitment or contracts including discounted rates for clients who prepay yearly fees. With Voice Nation, you can ensure personalized professional service 365 days a year providing customers comfort knowing they have been heard when needed most!

Pricing plans and cost analysis

VoiceNation is an answering service specifically designed for lawyers and other legal professionals.They offer a variety of pricing options to suit the varying needs of their clients, from basic live-answering services starting at $49/month up to virtual receptionists with more features or add-on packages such as call forwarding that start around $99/month.VoiceNation also offers special deals on long-term contracts that can reduce monthly costs significantly or allow businesses access to additional features without raising base prices - customers who subscribe for 6+ months may be eligible for bonus minutes and extra message buffering capabilities absolutely free!With reasonable rates along with tailored plan options, Voicenation provides quality solutions sure to meet any budget requirements.

Comparison to other services based on criteria

VoiceNation is an experienced answering service for legal professionals that offer customizable packages tailored to each firm's needs.They provide 24/7 live virtual receptionist services, call screening and forwarding capabilities, secure message queries from clients or vendors in a designated inbox as well as automated voicemail-to-text transcription services.Depending on the level of demand at any given time; VoiceNation can scale their resources accordingly by adding additional staff quickly if needed ensuring nothing drops through the cracks.Compared to other services like Answering Legal; Voice Nation offers competitive rates with no set up fees or contracts required making it ideal for smaller firms who are looking for price flexibility during challenging times when finances may be tight.

Conclusion

Overall, answering services are an important tool for keeping legal practices running smoothly and efficiently.The top 5 recommended answering services for legal professionals include Answering Legal, Smith.ai, Abby Connect , Ruby Receptionists & VoiceNation .The selection of the best service should be based on a thorough evaluation process that accounts for features such as informational accuracy cost-efficiency , client support reliability and ease in setting up new users.With careful consideration when choosing the right service provider to optimize your business it can make all the difference towards success.

Author

Samuel Edwards

Chief Marketing Officer

Samuel Edwards is CMO of Law.co and its associated agency. Since 2012, Sam has worked with some of the largest law firms around the globe. Today, Sam works directly with high-end law clients across all verticals to maximize operational efficiency and ROI through artificial intelligence. Connect with Sam on Linkedin.

Stay In The
Know.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.