EzyBiz LEX vs Smith.ai
Smith.ai sells AI, hybrid and human answering, with live receptionists based in North America, all priced per call in US dollars. EzyBiz LEX is a business phone with an automated answering service built in, made for Australian law firms. This page compares them, from Smith.ai's website, help centre and pricing pages and Smokeball's support documentation as at 30 September 2026.
The one difference that drives the rest
Smith.ai answers calls on your behalf. You forward your number to a Smith.ai number, an AI agent or a live receptionist takes the call, and a summary arrives by email, text, Slack or Teams. It is an answering service that works beside the phone system you already have, and every plan is priced by the call.
EzyBiz LEX is the phone system and the answering service together. Each lawyer's Australian business number is in the app, calls ring straight to the lawyer in Available mode, the service answers in the firm's name when they cannot, and each call is filed to the matter in Smokeball for one flat monthly price.
| Area | Smith.ai | EzyBiz LEX |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Answering in three forms: an AI receptionist, virtual receptionists who are people, and a hybrid of the two. | A business phone for each lawyer, with an automated answering service and matter filing built in. |
| Where it operates | Its live agents work from home offices across North America. Smokeball's marketplace lists the Smith.ai integration for the USA, and its prices are in US dollars. | Made in Melbourne for Australian law firms. Australian numbers, with summaries, transcripts and messages stored in Australian data centres. |
| Who answers | The AI agent or a live receptionist, depending on the product, 24 hours a day. | 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 number to a Smith.ai number or port it in. It answers calls and does not list a calling app or a line for the lawyer. | 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 agent answers first and offers you the call as a warm transfer. Texting the keyword redirect to your Smith.ai number sends all calls directly to you, bypassing the receptionists. | 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 | Text a keyword such as away, voicemail, redirect or normal to your Smith.ai number. The feature is switched on by emailing support, and only authorised numbers can use it. Standing hours are set in the dashboard, and transfer requests can be accepted or declined by text or Slack. | 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. |
| After the call | A call summary by email, text, Slack or Teams, with who called, why, and what the agent did. Text, Slack and Teams notifications are per-call add-ons on the live plans. | A push notification, then a written summary, the transcript and a finished file note, in the app and on the matter. |
| Filing to Smokeball | Smokeball's support article says new leads are added as a general lead, and that calls appear as tasks with a phone message that is not automatically assigned to a matter. | 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. |
| 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. |
| Price | Virtual receptionists from US$300 a month for 30 calls, US$810 for 90 and US$2,100 for 300. The AI receptionist has a free tier of 25 calls, then plans from US$150 and US$500 a month, with extra calls charged per call. | 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 Smith.ai. Calls forwarded to Smith.ai are answered by the agent, who holds the caller and checks whether you will take the transfer. To have calls come straight to your own phone you text redirect to your Smith.ai number, and text normal to hand them back.
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 Smith.ai. Text away to your Smith.ai number, with a duration if you want one, and transfers stop until it expires or you text normal. The feature has to be enabled by support first.
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 Smith.ai. The AI agent or a receptionist qualifies the caller and can book an appointment, which is a per-call add-on on the live plans. On those plans each call counts against the monthly allowance and costs US$8.50 to US$11.50 beyond it.
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 Smith.ai. You ring back on your own phone system. Smith.ai does not list a line or an app for the lawyer to call from, so the return call is outside 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 Smith.ai. The summary arrives in your inbox, by text or in Slack. In Smokeball the call appears as a task with a phone message, which Smokeball's own article says is not automatically assigned to a matter.
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 Smith.ai. Pricing is per call on every plan. A month with a hundred calls on the live service is the US$810 plan plus ten calls at US$10.50, which comes to US$915.
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 Smith.ai is the better fit
A firm that wants a person available at any hour for intake, and is comfortable with North American receptionists and US dollar pricing, gets a mature service with Smokeball and Clio integrations, a free AI tier to try and month to month terms.
Where EzyBiz LEX is the better fit
An Australian firm that wants an Australian number for each lawyer, calls that ring straight through when the lawyer is free, a mode that changes with one tap, and each call filed to the Smokeball matter with a finished file note, at a price that does not move with the number of calls.
Sources
Smith.ai's receptionist, AI receptionist and pricing pages, its help centre articles on updating availability by SMS and on using an existing number, the Smokeball Support Hub article on the Smith.ai integration and the Smokeball marketplace listing. Prices are in US dollars. All retrieved 30 September 2026. Smith.ai is a trademark of its owner and is not affiliated with Avocado Pty Ltd.
Questions about EzyBiz LEX and Smith.ai
Smith.ai's website does not say either way as at 30 September 2026. Its live agents are in North America, its prices are in US dollars, and Smokeball's marketplace lists its integration for the USA. Ask Smith.ai directly about Australian numbers.
Smokeball's support article for Smith.ai describes a general lead for a new caller, and a task with a phone message that is not automatically assigned to a matter. EzyBiz LEX files each call to the matter as a completed task with the file note, plus a memo or a document, and also creates leads, callback tasks that sync both ways and calendar bookings.
Smith.ai's help centre describes texting the keyword redirect to your Smith.ai number, which sends all calls directly to you until you text normal. The feature is enabled by emailing support. In EzyBiz LEX the equivalent is one tap on Available in the app, and the matter is on screen when the call arrives.
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 Smith.ai's public website and Smokeball's support documentation on 30 September 2026. If something on the Smith.ai side has changed, tell us and we will correct it.
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