Overflow call answering for law firms
Overflow call answering covers the calls your own people cannot take: the second line ringing while reception is on the first, the lawyer in court, lunch, and the hour after five. This guide sets out how firms set overflow up, what it costs on a per-call service, and what an overflow call has to leave behind so it does not become a message nobody files.
What counts as an overflow call
Four kinds of call make up a law firm's overflow. A call that arrives while the person who answers is already on the phone. A call to a lawyer who is in court, in a conference or with a client. A call outside the hours someone is at the desk. And the burst that follows a court list, a referral or a month when the advertising works. A firm with a receptionist still has all four; a firm without one has them all day.
Three ways to set up overflow answering
Divert to a shared answering service. Most Australian carriers let a number divert on busy or on no answer. The diverted call goes to a service that answers for many businesses, and the firm gets a message by email or text. It works, and it is charged by the call or the minute, so the bill rises with the number of people who ring.
Keep reception, and give each lawyer a line that answers itself. This is how EzyBiz LEX handles overflow. Each lawyer has a business number in the app on the phone they already carry. In Available mode the call rings the lawyer, with the caller's matter on screen, and if they do not pick up,
Answer everything first. Some firms would rather every call is greeted before it reaches a lawyer. In Screen mode
What overflow costs on a per-call plan
A small firm that sends only its overflow to a service might send about 30 calls a month. At that volume the published rate cards in our answering service cost guide work out at about $82 to $120 a month before GST for an Australian receptionist service, and $49 to $199 for an AI receptionist, before after hours surcharges, transfers and text fees. EzyBiz LEX is A$79.99 a month per lawyer with GST included and no per-call charge, so the price does not move with the calls.
What an overflow call has to leave behind
An overflow call is the one nobody at the firm heard, so whatever it leaves behind is all the firm will know. A message in an inbox has to be read, the caller rung back and the details taken again. On a legal line the record also has to be right: the caller's name and number, the other party's name for the conflict check, any close date, and what the caller wants to happen next, with nothing confirmed to the other side.
EzyBiz LEX writes every answered call up as a summary and a transcript and files it to the matter in Smokeball, or to your SharePoint library under the contact, with Clio filing in development. A call back request becomes a task for the lawyer responsible for the matter, not for whoever happened to be free. LEAP and Actionstep are not integrated; firms on them keep the summaries in the app.
Calls at once
A service staffed by people is limited by the operators on its roster, and a burst of calls queues.
Overflow answering, the questions firms ask
Yes. Each lawyer gets their own EzyBiz LEX number for the calls clients make to them directly, and
No. EzyBiz LEX is A$79.99 a month per lawyer with GST included, with
A greeting in your firm's name, and that the call is being transcribed. If the caller asks whether they are speaking to a person,
Each is answered.
Yes. The same line answers at every hour. Leave it in Available and it takes the calls you miss, or switch to Unavailable when you leave and it takes every call until you switch back.
See one call go from ring to file note
Try it for yourself, setup in minutes.
EzyBiz LEX is the lawyer's phone system: a law firm phone system with a law firm answering service built in, which also works as a virtual receptionist for law firms and an AI receptionist for law firms. It answers when you can't, and files every call to the matter.