EzyBiz LEX vs OfficeHQ
OfficeHQ is an Australian phone answering service used by more than 25,000 businesses, with receptionists who answer in your firm's name and send you the message. EzyBiz LEX is a business phone with an automated answering service built in, which rings you directly when you are free and files every call to the matter. This page compares the two for a law firm, from OfficeHQ's own website, pricing and terms as at 30 September 2026.
The one difference that drives the rest
OfficeHQ sits in front of your phone. You forward your number to a number it gives you, a receptionist answers, and the call ends as a message in your email or SMS, or as a transfer to your mobile if your plan includes transfers and your status says you are available. It is a well-run version of the service most firms picture when they hear the words answering service, and its receptionists are people.
EzyBiz LEX is the phone itself. Each lawyer's business number lives in the app, so when you are free the call is simply yours, with the matter on screen, and when you are not the answering service takes it in the firm's name. Either way the record is written and filed to the matter, which is the step a message in an inbox leaves for someone at the firm to do.
| Area | OfficeHQ | EzyBiz LEX |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A phone answering service staffed by receptionists, with message taking, call transfer, diary and virtual assistant plans, and a separate AI receptionist product. | A business phone for each lawyer, with an automated answering service and matter filing built in. |
| Who answers | A receptionist. Most calls are answered in Australia, with overflow support from its offices in New Zealand, the UK and the US. | An automated answering service in the firm's name, which says it is automated, in one of three modes each lawyer sets: Available, Screen or Unavailable. |
| A phone for the lawyer | None listed. You forward your existing number to a dedicated number OfficeHQ allocates. Its mobile app manages greeting, divert and messaging settings. | Yes. Each lawyer has an Australian business number in the EzyBiz LEX app on the phone they already carry. Calls come in on it, calls out show the business number, and SMS is sent and received on it. |
| When you are free | The receptionist answers first. On the MyReceptionist, MyAssistant and MyDiary plans, a staff member whose status is available has the caller announced and then transferred. To have your own phone ring first, you divert only unanswered or busy calls to OfficeHQ. | In Available mode the call rings straight to the lawyer, with the caller's name, their matter and the last note on screen before they answer. Nobody answers first and nothing is transferred. |
| Changing availability | Each staff member sets an availability status in the client portal or mobile app, which decides whether the receptionist tries a transfer or takes a message. | One tap on the Home tab of the app, per lawyer, taking effect on the next call. Available, Screen or Unavailable, changed between a hearing and a meeting. |
| Hours | 8am to 6pm on weekdays unless after hours answering is switched on, which adds a surcharge per call or per minute. | Every hour of every day, at the same price. |
| After the call | A message by email, SMS or both, with the caller's name, number and reason for calling. | A push notification, then a written summary, the transcript and a finished file note, in the app and on the matter. |
| Filing to the matter | No Smokeball, LEAP or Actionstep integration is listed. Clio is shown among the systems it connects to, and a Zapier connection passes call and message events to other apps. | Automatic. In Smokeball each call becomes a completed task on the matter with the file note, plus a memo or a document. SharePoint gets a document per call under the contact. Clio filing is in development. |
| New enquiries | Lead qualification and appointment booking into your calendar or CRM on the MyAssistant and MyDiary plans, which are charged by the minute. | A new caller becomes a contact and a lead matter in Smokeball with the call on it, a call back becomes an open task that syncs both ways, and a booked consult lands in the Smokeball calendar. |
| Calling and texting back | From your own phone or phone system. The return call is outside the service. | Call and text back from the app on the business number. The return call and the texts sit on the same contact timeline and are filed to the same matter. |
| Telling the caller | Its receptionists are people. OfficeHQ also sells an AI receptionist, and its AI answering page says callers will not know it is AI unless you want them to. | It introduces itself as the firm's customer service system, tells the caller the call is transcribed, and says it is automated if asked. |
| Price | From $25 a month for message taking, $33 for MyReceptionist and $49 for MyAssistant or MyDiary, plus GST, with calls or minutes charged on top or bought in bundles. Transfers are $0.40 or $0.20 a call, and an unsuccessful transfer attempt is $0.20. | A$79.99 a month per lawyer, GST included, with the number, the answering service and the filing included. No per-call, per-minute, transfer or setup fee. |
Six moments in a lawyer's day, handled two ways
The table says what each product has. These are the moments where a lawyer feels the difference.
You are at your desk and a client rings
With OfficeHQ. Your number is forwarded to OfficeHQ, so a receptionist answers first, asks who is calling, rings you to announce the caller and transfers the call if you take it. Each transfer is charged, and so is an attempt you do not pick up. The alternative is to divert only unanswered calls so your own phone rings first, in which case the caller waits through your rings before the receptionist hears anything.
With EzyBiz LEX. Leave the line in Available and the call rings your phone directly, with the client's name, the matter and your last note on screen from the first ring. You answer as yourself, and when you hang up the summary, the transcript and the file note are written and filed without anyone typing them. If you miss the call, the answering service picks it up in the firm's name.
You walk into court at ten to ten
With OfficeHQ. Open the portal or the app and change your status so the receptionist takes messages, then change it back when you come out. If you divert on no answer instead, the change is made on your own phone service.
With EzyBiz LEX. Tap Unavailable on the Home tab as you walk in and the service takes every call from the next ring. Tap Screen on the way out and genuine callers are put through to you with a one-line summary, while cold callers stop at the front desk. There is no schedule to edit, no code to dial and nobody to notify.
A new enquiry rings at seven in the evening
With OfficeHQ. With after hours answering switched on, a receptionist takes the caller's name, number and reason and sends you the message, at the after hours surcharge. Qualifying the enquiry and booking the consult need one of the per-minute plans.
With EzyBiz LEX. The service answers in the firm's name at any hour, asks what the matter is about, the other party's name, any date that is close and how the caller found the firm, then books a consult or a call back time. The enquiry opens as a lead in Smokeball with the file note attached, and the booking is in the calendar.
You ring the client back
With OfficeHQ. You ring back from your own mobile or desk phone. OfficeHQ sells numbers and call diversion but lists no calling app for the lawyer, so the return call shows whichever number you rang from and is not part of the record.
With EzyBiz LEX. Tap the contact in the app and the call goes out on the business number, so the client sees the firm's number and your personal mobile stays private. The return call is transcribed, summarised and filed to the same matter as the message that prompted it, and a text reply is drafted for you to read and send.
The note for the file
With OfficeHQ. The message arrives by email or SMS with who rang and why. Putting it on the matter, and writing up the call back that follows, is done at the firm.
With EzyBiz LEX. The file note is written when the caller hangs up, with the summary, the outcome, any booking and the follow-ups, and the transcript beneath it. It is filed to the matter in Smokeball or to your SharePoint library, and when the service cannot tell which matter a call belongs to it asks you in the app.
A busy month
With OfficeHQ. Calls or minutes beyond the plan are charged, along with each transfer and each after hours call, so the month the phone rings most is the month that costs most.
With EzyBiz LEX. The subscription is the only figure. Thirty calls or three hundred, long intake calls or short ones, the month costs A$79.99 per lawyer.
Where OfficeHQ is the better fit
A firm that wants a person answering, and whose callers are often distressed or unwilling to speak to an automated service, will find OfficeHQ does that with Australian receptionists, announced transfers, month to month terms and a free trial that needs no credit card. It is also the cheaper option for a practice that takes a handful of calls a month and only needs the message.
Where EzyBiz LEX is the better fit
A firm that wants calls to reach the lawyer directly whenever the lawyer is free, wants to change that with one tap on the way into court, and wants every call on the Smokeball matter or in SharePoint without retyping a message, is what EzyBiz LEX is built for. The business number, the calls out and the texts are in the same app, so the whole conversation with a client sits in one place.
Sources
OfficeHQ's legal industry page, FAQs, pricing page, virtual receptionist, reception overflow, integrations and AI phone answering pages, its call answering service terms and its App Store listing. Prices are in Australian dollars and exclude GST. All retrieved 30 September 2026. OfficeHQ is a trademark of its owner and is not affiliated with Avocado Pty Ltd.
Questions about EzyBiz LEX and OfficeHQ
Yes, though most firms will not need both. EzyBiz LEX can sit behind any number that forwards on no answer, so a firm that keeps a receptionist service on its main line can still give each lawyer an EzyBiz LEX number for direct calls, texts and filing.
OfficeHQ's integrations pages do not list Smokeball as at 30 September 2026, and its messages arrive by email or SMS. EzyBiz LEX files each call to the Smokeball matter as a completed task with the file note, and is listed on the Smokeball marketplace.
OfficeHQ's receptionist answers first and transfers the call to staff whose status is available, on the MyReceptionist, MyAssistant and MyDiary plans, at a fee per transfer. For your own phone to ring first, its reception overflow page describes diverting only unanswered or busy calls. In EzyBiz LEX the line is yours, so Available mode rings you directly and the service only answers what you miss.
No. The answering service is automated and says so. In Screen mode it puts genuine callers through to the lawyer, and a caller who asks for a person is offered to be put through or to leave a message for the lawyer.
It was compiled from OfficeHQ's public website and terms on 30 September 2026. If something on the OfficeHQ side has changed, tell us and we will correct it.
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