A virtual receptionist for law firms that knows the matter before it answers
A receptionist's job at a law firm is not answering the phone. It is knowing who is on it, what they want, whether the lawyer wants to be interrupted, and what to write down afterwards. EzyBiz LEX is a virtual legal receptionist that does that job on every call, for every lawyer in the firm, at every hour, and it tells callers what it is.
Three different things are sold as a virtual receptionist
Search for a virtual receptionist for lawyers, or a legal virtual receptionist, and three different products come back under the same name. Before comparing prices, it is worth knowing which of the three you are being quoted for, because they are not the same product and do not cost the same shape of money.
An operator at a call centre
A person who answers for dozens of businesses from a script, usually billed per call or per minute, with an email or a text as the record. This is an answering service under another name, and the guide on AI receptionist versus answering service sets out how the cost changes as the calls do.
A person working remotely for your firm
A receptionist employed or contracted to your firm alone, working from home, on a salary or a retainer. The best version of this is a good receptionist. It is also the most expensive, it covers the hours one person can, and the firm still has to work out what happens to the calls at 7pm.
Software that answers the line
EzyBiz LEX is this kind. It answers in the firm's name, works from the firm's services, hours and rules, and files the record itself. It is automated, and it says so to every caller. What follows is what it has to do to earn the word receptionist rather than just the word virtual.
What a receptionist does across a day at a firm, and what the virtual one has to match
Written as a job description, because that is how you would hire a person for the desk, and it is a fair way to judge software that wants the same job.
Answers in the firm's name, first ring, every time
Not the fourth ring, not voicemail after six. The greeting is your firm's, the hours and services are yours, and the caller is told at the start that the call is transcribed. It picks up at 2am and it picks up when three people ring at once.
Works out who is calling and why
A number match greets an existing client by name. A new caller is asked what the call is about, in plain words, and the answer decides what happens next. Nothing about a matter is discussed with anyone whose identity has not been verified.
Keeps the wrong calls off your line
In Screen mode, cold callers, lead sellers and wrong numbers stop at the desk and never ring your phone. They are not filed, because a record of a marketing call is clutter on a matter. Genuine callers go through.
Briefs you before it puts the call through
A receptionist at a desk says "it's Priya Sharma about Friday's hearing" before transferring. EzyBiz LEX puts the contact, the matter and the last thing they said to you on your screen before you answer, and in Screen mode adds a one-line summary of what this call is about.
Books the diary, or takes a time
A consult goes into the Smokeball calendar linked to the matter, if you allow bookings. Otherwise the receptionist takes a call back time that suits the caller, and it becomes a task on the matter for the lawyer responsible, due in the business days you choose.
Writes the note, and files it
This is the part a front desk rarely does well, because the phone is ringing again. Every call becomes a summary and a transcript on the matter in Smokeball, or in your SharePoint library under the contact, with Clio in development. The note is written by the time you look at your phone.
One receptionist, three lawyers, and the call that is for one of them
A shared front desk knows that a call about the Sharma matter goes to the lawyer on the Sharma matter. A virtual receptionist has to know the same thing without being told.
On EzyBiz LEX each lawyer has their own Australian number and their own line, with their own mode. A client of one lawyer rings that lawyer's number and reaches that lawyer's receptionist, which knows their matter. The firm's main number is ported or forwarded in and directed to whoever you nominate, so the front door still exists. When the receptionist takes a message or a call back request, the task is created on the matter for the lawyer responsible for it in Smokeball, not for whoever happened to be nominated on the main line, and the summary lands on that lawyer's phone.
Modes are per lawyer too. A lawyer in a hearing sets Unavailable from the Home tab and every call to their line is taken by the receptionist. A colleague at their desk stays Available and calls ring straight through, briefed. Nobody rosters anything, and the firm never has one person's court day become everyone's voicemail. The owner adds lawyers from the EzyBiz Teams web console and assigns each their own subscription.
The best virtual receptionist for a law firm passes six tests on a demo call
Every vendor will show you a good call. Run these on the demo line yourself, in this order, and you will know within ten minutes.
Ring it at 2am
It should answer on the first ring, in the firm's name, and take the intake as well as it does at 10am. If the demo can only be run in business hours, you have learned something.
Ask "do you act for Margaret Chen?"
The right answer is the same whether the firm does or not. A receptionist that says "yes, I'll put you through" has just told the other side who your clients are.
Ask whether you have a case
It should say plainly that that is a question for the lawyer, and offer a consult. Anything else is advice from a receptionist, which is a complaint waiting to happen.
Ask if you are speaking to a person
It should say no. A service that is built to be mistaken for staff will be mistaken for staff by your clients, and they will not thank you when they find out.
Ring from two phones at once
Both should be answered. A service limited by operators on roster will queue the second call, and the second call is the one you wanted.
Ask where the record went
Then open your practice management system and look. If the answer is an email, or a portal you have to log into, the receptionist has taken a message and left the filing to you.
EzyBiz LEX is built to pass all six, and the demo call is the place to try. The privacy and data residency questions worth asking any vendor are a separate list, and they are in the AI receptionist guide.
A$79.99 a month per lawyer, and nothing changes on day one
One plan, A$79.99 a month per lawyer through the App Store or Google Play, with the receptionist, the number, transcripts and Smokeball and SharePoint filing included, and no contract. Start by forwarding your existing number on no answer, so the virtual receptionist only takes the calls your desk did not, and move to a dedicated number when you want one. Setup is a short phone call with the assistant, and founding pilot firms are set up by the founder, with the price locked for twelve months and a sixty-day walk-away guarantee. Details on the pricing page.
Virtual receptionist questions firms ask
The words are used for the same three products: a call centre operator answering for many businesses, a person employed remotely for your firm alone, and software that answers the line. EzyBiz LEX is the third. The answering service page covers what happens to the call once it is answered; this page is about the front desk job itself.
No, and it does not pretend to be. It introduces itself as the firm's customer service system, tells every caller the call is being transcribed, and answers honestly if asked whether it is automated. In Screen mode the people who need a person get one: genuine callers are put through to you with a one-line brief.
If the caller's number is on a contact record, yes. It greets them by name, and before you answer your screen shows the contact, the matter they belong to and the last thing they said to you. That is the briefing a good receptionist gives before transferring a call, done for every call.
Yes, if you allow bookings. A consult the receptionist books lands in the Smokeball calendar linked to the matter, and moves or disappears when the client reschedules or cancels. If you would rather book yourself, it takes a call back time instead.
Behind them. Forward on no answer, or after hours only, and the virtual receptionist takes the calls that ring out at lunch, when the desk is on another call, and after five. Your receptionist's routine does not change, and the calls they could not take are on the file rather than in voicemail.
A$79.99 a month per lawyer, everything included, no contract. It is not a replacement for a person who runs your front office; it is the receptionist for the hours and the calls nobody is at the desk for, at a price that makes sense for a two-lawyer firm.
Run the six tests on a live call
Book my demo call with the founder and try them on the demo firm's line yourself, then watch the file note land on the matter.